By Timi Alabi
From my experience of supporting schools, one of the recurring challenges teachers express is how to teach vocabulary effectively. It is a grey area for many, and understandably so. The curriculum demands coverage of an extensive amount of vocabulary every year, including Tier 1, 2 and 3 words, spelling rules, and common exception words. The complexity isn’t just in teaching these words, it’s in ensuring they are understood, retained, and used meaningfully by pupils over time.
In this blog, I’ll share practical, manageable strategies that support effective vocabulary teaching without overwhelming teachers or learners.
One of the key sources of confusion is the blurred line between teaching of spelling and teaching vocabulary. In many classrooms, spelling and vocabulary are taught at the same time and in the same way. A good example is the teaching of the common exception words. Pupils are taught how to spell these words and they might even get them all right in their spelling test but often don’t know the meaning of many of the words. Hence, can’t use them in context.
It is important to recognise that there is a clear distinction between the teaching of spelling and vocabulary and require different approaches.
The DfE Writing Framework makes this distinction clear: ‘Most children need systematic teaching, with opportunities to practise and reinforce their spelling knowledge. As with handwriting, spelling teaching should be explicit, cumulative and engaging.’
For vocabulary, the guidance highlights the EEF’s recommendation: ‘The EEF advises that schools extend vocabulary by explicitly teaching new words, providing repeated exposure to them, and providing opportunities for pupils to use them.’
Although these two areas can complement each other, teaching spelling is not a substitute for teaching vocabulary. Learning how to spell a word without knowing its meaning or application does little to support pupils’ overall literacy development.
Before I proceed to some more practical steps, it is important to note that one of the most effective ways to expose pupils to a range of vocabulary is through regular, meaningful reading experiences across the curriculum. This supports both word recognition and language comprehension. When pupils encounter words in context, they are more likely to understand their meanings and remember them. This exposure to a range of texts will not only expand their knowledge but also their understanding of vocabulary. It is also a great way to see these words being modelled and used in context.
Practical and effective ways to teach vocabulary in the classroom.
1. Be Realistic: There are thousands of words pupils could learn, but it’s not possible, or necessary, to teach them all. Focus on what’s most important. Don’t feel discouraged by what you can’t cover; instead, focus on teaching a small, purposeful set of words really well.
2. Be intentional: To select the vocabulary to teach your pupils, when planning a topic or unit of work, choose 5-8 words that you want your pupils to master and confidently use in their speech and writing by the end of the unit. These could be either tier 2 or 3 words. For younger children, you can include some tier 1 words too. These words must be purposeful and carefully chosen. They must be words that will deepen the pupils’ understanding of the topic or learning focus; words you want them to use confidently in discussion and writing. While other vocabulary will inevitably come up, these core words should be your main focus.
3. Teach key vocabulary before writing: Pupils can only write about what they have a good knowledge of. They can only write effectively when they have a secure grasp of the language they need, so don’t rush to give children writing tasks without some explicit teaching of the vocabulary they will need to produce a high-quality piece of writing. Invest time to introduce these vocabulary, model them in context, and link them to the topic in meaningful ways.
4. Regularly revisit: Drip-feed these chosen vocabulary into every lesson (for that subject) by giving them the opportunity to regularly, informally rehearse and discuss these in different ways. This could involve quick oral recaps, dual coding (e.g. actions and words or pictures and words), quick sharp partner discussions, embedding vocabulary into shared writing etc. This informal, frequent repeated exposure is what really makes the learning stick.
Also have these vocabulary written or displayed openly where it is easily accessible so that they are reminded to use them but also won’t have to worry about spelling them correctly as spelling isn’t the focus.
5. Be ambitious: Don’t be afraid to be ambitious with your choice of vocabulary, even for younger children. Children will rise to expectations when supported effectively. Don’t hold back; with scaffolding and context-rich examples, young learners can grasp and use sophisticated words. The Oxford Language Report (2018) highlights that ‘a vocabulary gap begins early and has long-term consequences. By being intentional and aspirational with the words we teach, we help close that gap.’
The most important thing to remember is this: children retain vocabulary through repeated, purposeful, and contextualised exposure, not by rote memorisation or weekly tests.
