5 Tier 2 Words Every SLP Should Teach

Looking for examples of Tier 2 words? You probably already know that there’s a lot of evidence supporting Tier 2 Vocabulary instruction because these high-frequency, academic words occur across the curriculum (Elleman et al., 2019).

I’ve thoughtfully studied the academic language that seems to be especially important for our students to know!

Here are my top 5 Tier 2 vocabulary words to start with!

(I added a freebie at the end!)

1. Evaluate

This Tier 2 word can be found in every subject…

• Language Arts – Evaluate how the author changed her writing style in this chapter.
• Math – Evaluate how the equations are different.
• Science – Evaluate how the increase in heat affected the liquid.

Here are 4 quick ways I use a research-based approach to teach it:

• Morphology – the word “evaluate” includes the word “value,” which gives clues about its definition (i.e. to carefully think about something in order to examine its value). (Elleman et al., 2019)
• Phonological-semantic approach – You’ll see in the example below that I use the phonological features of the word to create a mnemonic that deepens students’ semantic understanding of the word.

• Derivatives – Simple, but supported by research, this approach encourages using derivatives of Tier 2 vocabulary words. (For example, evaluating as shown in the photo above.

• Contexts – I teach the word across contexts or activities that allow students to apply the word. In this case, students evaluate whether or not Eva and Val will be late to a show they have tickets for. They also evaluate Eva’s friendship with Val! (As you can see, I enjoy incorporating mnemonics and narratives!)

I share even more of my vocabulary instruction secrets and all of my comprehensive lessons HERE.

2. Conclude

The ability to understand what it means to draw a conclusion is paramount for our students across the curriculum.

Your students need to draw conclusions about:

• fiction and nonfiction texts
• science experiments
• mathematical word problems

Find out more about the comprehensive, fun and research-based way I teach “conclude” HERE.

3. Specific

Ever ask your students to be more SPECIFIC? Whenever students are describing or summarizing, there are almost always opportunities to elaborate with more specifics! There are times in which students must be specific across every subject level, so this is a must in my book!

4. Evidence

I think this is my favorite Tier 2 word to teach. Helping our students learn how to find evidence to draw conclusions and support their opinions is incredibly important and powerful in every discipline. It’s such an important concept to master as students move into the upper grades.

See more about how I teach this word HERE.

5. Convince

Last, but not least, convince is another essential word for our students across the curriculum. After students find evidence, form opinions and draw conclusions, they often must make a convincing argument!

Want to dig a little deeper into this vocabulary word?? Grab a mini-lesson for this word in my freebie library by signing up below!