Scott article

This article caught my attention because it is something that I have noticed in the different schools I have been in. It is proven that students from urban under privileged areas tend to have a smaller vocabulary than other children their age who are in wealthier areas. I was really surprised when i read that the average three year old from professional parents has a higher vocabulary that the parents of three year olds on welfare. I found this to be mind boggling. How is it possible that a three year old just learning language had a higher vocabulary than  an adult parent of a three year old. This really made the point of the article real to me. there is a gap in the schooling and something needs to be done to help close that gap and raise the vocabulary of these underprivileged students. The article mentioned that to close this gap more time is needed working with vocabulary. It needs to be introduced at a younger age and this can be done through simply things such as reading aloud to students. Also blending content knowledge with learning vocabulary. Another surprise I found while reading was that the article mentions that Dictionaries are a poor tool for learning new vocabulary. It says that the average adult may know hundreds of thousands of words, they will be unable to define them or use them in context.
As a teacher, no matter where I work it is important that I introduce vocabulary as early and often as possible in order to give my students as many academic advantages as possible.