Domain-Specific Tier-3 Vocabulary — Building Your Topic Word-Bank

Teacher reads a Montgomery excerpt heavy with Tier-3 marine-biology vocabulary (cephalopod, chromatophore, neural, predator). Children list 3 unfamiliar words.

• Read with pacing
• Pause at each Tier-3 word
• List on the board

Today you build your Tier-3 word-bank — domain-specific vocabulary for YOUR research topic. Tier-3 words are TOPIC-SPECIFIC: a biology topic has 'habitat, ecosystem, species, adaptation'; a history topic has 'era, era-name, political, social, economic'; a geography topic has 'region, climate, terrain, settlement'. These are NOT Tier-2 (general academic) — they only matter inside your topic. They are the precise words that show you UNDERSTAND the topic. Use the MG-22 template. For each word: WORD line, DEFINITION line, EXAMPLE-FROM-MY-RESEARCH line, SYNONYMS line. Target: 10-15 words. Use ≥5 in your report (you may use more). Watch teacher fill a sample Tier-3 word-bank for the Sojourner Truth topic.

• Each Tier-3 word is PRECISE for the topic. Pick words from your sources that you didn't know before. Build the bank as you read.

  model WORD: enslavement / DEFINITION: the state of being held as property / EXAMPLE: 'Sojourner experienced enslavement from birth.' / SYNONYMS: bondage, captivity. WORD: abolition / DEFINITION: ending the practice of slavery / EXAMPLE: 'She joined the abolition movement.' / SYNONYMS: emancipation, liberation. WORD: suffrage / DEFINITION: the right to vote / EXAMPLE: 'She also advocated for women's suffrage.' / SYNONYMS: voting rights. WORD: oration / DEFINITION: a public speech / EXAMPLE: 'Her oration at Akron is still remembered.' / SYNONYMS: speech, address. (and so on through 10-15 words).

  prompt Teacher fills sample Tier-3 word-bank for Sojourner Truth.

• What makes a word a Tier-3 word vs. a Tier-2 word?
• How many Tier-3 words should you target for your bank, and how many should appear in the report?

M-4-S-VOC-15-A Chart

Reproduction of MG-22 at 11x17: 12-slot card with WORD / DEFINITION / EXAMPLE / SYNONYMS columns. Sample completed card for Sojourner Truth topic with 10 words filled (enslavement, abolition, emancipation, suffrage, advocacy, oration, segregation, manumission, jubilee, fugitive). Print-ready, dyslexic-friendly font.

MG-22 Chart Physical / non-image

Tier-3 domain-vocabulary word-bank template: blank card with 12 slots, each with WORD line, DEFINITION line, EXAMPLE-SENTENCE-FROM-MY-RESEARCH line, and SYNONYMS line. Child fills with the 10-15 domain-specific words they encountered in their sources. Sample completed card for a Sojourner Truth research topic: words = enslavement, abolition, emancipation, suffrage, advocacy, segregation, oration, manumission, intersectionality, jubilee, plantation, fugitive. Print-ready 8.5x11 (one per child per term).

• Open MG-22 template. List 10-15 Tier-3 words from YOUR sources. For each: word + definition + example from research + synonyms.

  scaffold MG-22 template (1 per child); G4 dictionary per pair; topic-vocabulary prompt cards (animal / state / historical figure / scientific phenomenon / cultural tradition)
• Star 5 Tier-3 words to integrate into your report. Mark in your outline where each will fit.

  scaffold Star stickers; outline reference

M-4-S-VOC-15-B Illustration

Reference image of a Grade-4 child's filled MG-22 template for a golden lion tamarin research topic: 12 words (habitat, ecosystem, endangered, captive-breeding, predator, primate, canopy, undergrowth, conservation, species, biodiversity, extinction), each with handwritten definition, example, and synonyms. Print-ready 8.5x11.

MG-22 Chart Physical / non-image

Tier-3 domain-vocabulary word-bank template: blank card with 12 slots, each with WORD line, DEFINITION line, EXAMPLE-SENTENCE-FROM-MY-RESEARCH line, and SYNONYMS line. Child fills with the 10-15 domain-specific words they encountered in their sources. Sample completed card for a Sojourner Truth research topic: words = enslavement, abolition, emancipation, suffrage, advocacy, segregation, oration, manumission, intersectionality, jubilee, plantation, fugitive. Print-ready 8.5x11 (one per child per term).

• Show your word-bank with ≥10 entries.
• Identify 5 starred for integration.

• Star your most surprising Tier-3 word.
• Predict: tomorrow we revise the draft with named moves.

• Add 2 more Tier-3 words from your home reading tonight. Bring tomorrow.