Vocabulary Development

It seems that in 2nd grade vocabulary isn't stressed very much. At this point it is simply about getting ideas onto paper and using the correct grammatical methods. It seems that students and teacher are more concerned with spelling words correctly in the early elementary grades. I feel it is still important to use a wide range of vocabulary with children throughout the day. This enhances their vocabulary and allows them to draw upon unfamiliar words within books. My teacher has a dictionary that the children can use when trying to figure out an unfamiliar word while reading. I have found that most students will ask an adult or a neighbor. In the beginning of the year, I did notice a bulletin board labeled "Overused words." It was a graveyard for those words and the children were told to "try" and not use them. I noticed the teacher would circle them in their work and encourage them to think of new words. This can be very beneficial when attempting to expand students' vocabularies verbally and written.