Academic Vocabulary · Grades 4 and up

Helping Students Access Academic Language

As students move beyond third grade, academic vocabulary and language demands increase across the curriculum. Students encounter increasingly complex words, unfamiliar vocabulary, and sentence structures that require them to connect word meanings with spelling, pronunciation, and grammatical function.

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One base, four jobs in a sentence

  • constructVerb
  • constructionNoun
  • constructiveAdjective
  • constructivelyAdverb

Spelling, pronunciation, meaning, and grammatical function, connected through one word family.

The approach

Explicit, multicomponent instruction

Explicit, multicomponent instruction can help students build the interconnected word knowledge they need to read, spell, understand, and use academic language.

By integrating morphology, phonology, orthography, semantics, and syntax with intentional vocabulary instruction, educators can help students explore how words work and how they contribute to meaning in sentences and across content areas.

  • MorphologyThe meaningful parts of words
  • PhonologyThe sounds in words
  • OrthographyHow words are spelled
  • SemanticsWhat words mean
  • SyntaxHow words work in sentences

Explore our professional learning and instructional resources designed to help educators bring these connections into practice.

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Professional learning

Accessing Academic Language: Three-Part Professional Learning Series

Explore a three-part series focused on understanding academic language demands after third grade, learning the essentials of morphology, and building academic vocabulary through high-utility Tier 2 anchor word families.

Includes

  • Understanding Academic Language Demands After 3rd Grade
  • Morphology Essentials
  • Building Academic Vocabulary Through Tier 2 Anchor Word Families
Explore the Professional Learning Series
Professional learning + resources

Accessing Academic Language: Professional Learning and Instructional Resources Bundle

Combine the three-part professional learning series with practical resources for applying the concepts in instruction.

Includes

  • The full three-part series, plus:
  • Word Families Sets 1 and 2
  • Lesson-creation templates
  • Word chain demonstration videos
  • Suffix spelling chart
  • Chart of common Latin morpheme senses of meaning
Explore the Bundle