Paper clips for vocabulary

The competition was created in partnership by speech language pathologist Caroline Lee and librarian Lori Herndon to focus on specific verbs that are considered essential academic words to help students be successful and construct sentences with detailed accuracy. 

Students are so focused on making the longest paperclip chain — the winner will win a popsicle party — that they don’t even realize the learning they’re doing, Herndon said. 

“You can’t tell them that,” Herndon joked. 

Meaningful vocabulary and specific verbs are strong indicators of future success, Lee learned from a workshop, who said she started the competition to target students from a lower socioeconomic background or who have special needs. 

Heather Elementary is unique, with a significant population of students with mild, moderate and severe special needs — there are three speech pathologists on site, more than at any other school in the San Carlos School District.

While some students may have parents with doctorate degrees, others rely on the school for exposure to academic language. The vocabulary challenge looks to equip students from all backgrounds, Lee said. 

“Because of the inclusivity of our campus, and the diversity of student needs, this helps close the gap for students,” Lee said. 

In addition to students using the verbs themselves, even the sheer exposure to hearing their peers repeatedly use the words helps establish the language in their vocabulary. 

“The more opportunities you have to use the word, the more you acquire it,” Lee said. “Because they see it all around, we know these words are going to solidify.” 

Words include assist, predict, required, announce. A popular student favorite is organize, possibly to parents’ surprise, Herndon said. 

Each word is presented with a visual aid, synonyms and an associated gesture to help solidify the verbs in the vocabulary.

In just a couple weeks, students will stand alongside one another to stretch out their chains as far as they reach, to see who has the longest. Regardless of how long each classes chain is, students remain excited until the end to try their best.

“That fact it’s so long is motivating,” one student said. “It’s always motivating when you know you still have a chance.” 

Repetitive exposure is key for retention, Lee said. It takes at least 15 exposures to a new word for it to feel a part of the student’s vocabulary, and even more for students with learning disabilities. 

Since students visit Herndon each week in the library, she can introduce the words and students can practice using these verbs on a regular basis. If students see Herndon around campus, they also can try to earn paper clips, too. 

“They completely surround me at recess,” Herndon said. 

This is the third year the challenge has occurred, and each year Herndon has to buy more paper clips. She started off giving out about 500 the first year, but this year every few weeks she needs to replenish her stock.

It’s trouble when Herndon doesn’t have enough paper clips on her, and kids are sure to remind her for the few she owes when they see her again. 

“They go nuts over this, so it’s definitely working,” Herndon said. 

There’s less than two weeks before the competition ends, and Herndon is ordering more paper clips, but she and Lee are happy to buy as many as they need. 

“It’s so much more than a popsicle party,” Lee said.

ana@smdailyjournal.com

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