Teachers across the content areas have told us they recognize their students’ problems with vocabulary, but don’t always know how best to help them. Word Generation presents teachers with a common language for discussing literacy and comprehension strategies across the curriculum. The program incorporates research-based principles of vocabulary learning, such as the need for multiple exposures to target words over several days and within different contexts—an approach that can be difficult to honor in traditional vocabulary curricula.

While the weekly topics will not connect directly to the regular curriculum in most instances, they will give teachers an opportunity to help students explore issues that are deeply relevant to their content area. Each topic is divided into four strands, enabling teachers in English, social studies, math and science to present issues connected to his or her own subject.

Some topics are emotionally charged. The paragraphs are designed to encourage students to look beyond their initial response to examine the facts surrounding a particular controversy. The program includes suggested structures for facilitating debate and exposure to multiple points of view.