fifth and sixth graders in which new words were consistently rnisinter- preted, the authors concluded that tasks relying on the dictionary are "a waste of time."
Arbitrary vocabulary lists, the authors argue, isolate words from any context. Reading proves to be the most effective vehicle for vocabulary- building because it makes the reader want to understand new words. The authors found that only through "reading several million words per yearv-at least one and a half hours each...