Implementing Character Trait Vocabulary Across the Grades
For years I have shared the research and work of Patrick Manyak titled Character Trait Vocabulary: A Schoolwide Approach. Manyak explored the implementation of a schoolwide approach to teaching character trait vocabulary to improve students' comprehension and expressive language skills. The study focused on how explicit instruction in character trait vocabulary can enhance students' ability to understand, compare, and discuss complex characters in literature.
In the full research article, Manyak outlines a comprehensive approach that includes selecting key character trait words, teaching these words through direct instruction, and reinforcing them across the curriculum throughout the year.
The approach is designed to be applied schoolwide, ensuring that all students, regardless of age or ability, are exposed to and regularly engage with Tier 2 vocabulary.
The research presents evidence showing that students who received consistent instruction in character trait vocabulary demonstrated a better understanding of character analysis in reading and were more capable of expressing their thoughts and ideas during discussions and writing activities. The research highlights the importance of integrating vocabulary instruction with other literacy activities and suggests that a systematic, schoolwide approach can have a significant impact on students' overall literacy development.
I highly recommend paying a one-time fee of $10 to access the article to get the whole picture.
Here are my top take-aways.
It all sounds so great! However, how does one go about this kind of school-wide implementation?
How do you get everyone on board, and how do you make implementation easy for already overwhelmed teachers?
Great research and ideas are one thing, successful implementation is another.
Over the last few months, we have designed a project to easily implement the objectives of Patrick Manyak's work with character trait vocabulary. We developed a K-5th grade character trait list tailored to each grade level. We then created a corresponding bulletin board set for each grade. These bulletin boards feature the character trait words alongside pictures, which serve as visual aids.
(These are not the same words chosen in the study, but our reasoning for selecting each set aligned with Manyak’s reasoning.)
Throughout the school year, teachers can explicitly teach these character trait terms and incorporate discussions about them in the context of the characters within various content areas. Additionally, teachers can add sticky notes or character pictures to the bulletin board to reinforce learning and track the development of character traits as they appear in different contexts.
A vocabulary instructional routine is an easy way to gain the multiple exposures and intertextual thinking recommended for highly effective vocabulary instruction.
You can find this routine described in more depth in the Reading Rev project as well as in the article.
Implementing Step 4: Deep Processing
After the character terms have been taught, ample opportunity should be given for students to think analytically about the characters. This is an example from a 5th grade lesson about the character development of two characters in Secret Garden. Notice that the students are encouraged to not only choose the character traits they believe applied, but to defend their reasoning to classmates using text evidence.
This project aims to boost students' overall vocabulary and comprehension across the grades by providing a consistent and engaging method to reinforce character trait vocabulary school-wide. Manyak states, “I hope that many educators will consider adopting the school-wide approach to character trait vocabulary. I considered it a quintessential ‘low investment, high return’ practice. It is brief and easy to use; yet, if implemented schoolwide in the elementary setting, it offers students up to 120 rich literacy terms and tremendous experience analyzing and comparing characters.”
You can access this project in the Reading Rev VIP site or here. We can’t wait for you to try it and let us know the results!
~Bri
Manyak, P. (2007). Character Trait Vocabulary: A Schoolwide Approach. The Reading Teacher, 60(6), 574–577. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20204505
