A pupil may read a subject passage accurately but fail to connect its ideas because key terminology is unfamiliar. Brief preparation should unlock the text without teaching every word or explaining the whole passage in advance.

Choose a small number of terms that carry the main meaning. Teach them clearly, keep them visible and return to them when they appear in the text.

Select only essential terms

Choose words that:

• represent a central concept;

• are needed to follow the argument or process;

• have a subject meaning different from everyday use;

• are likely to recur in the topic;

• cannot be understood easily from the surrounding text.

For a science passage on rates of reaction, collision, concentration and catalyst may be essential. Other descriptive words can be addressed during reading.

In geography, relief may need explicit attention because its subject meaning differs from its everyday meaning. Words with an everyday and a subject meaning are easy to overlook.

Teach meaning, pronunciation and use

Use a concise sequence:

1. Say the term accurately.

2. Give a clear subject-specific definition.

3. Show it in a diagram, example or sentence.

4. Contrast it with a non-example where helpful.

5. Ask the pupil to explain it in their own words.

6. Keep the term visible during reading.

For equilibrium, the teacher might show two processes continuing at equal rates, contrast this with a reaction that has stopped and ask the pupil to explain the distinction.

Copying a definition does not show that the term can be used. Ask for an explanation, example or application.

Activate just enough background knowledge

Identify what the writer assumes. A brief recap, image, timeline, diagram or earlier example may be enough.

Before a historical interpretation of appeasement, pupils may need a concise reminder of the political situation and prior events. They do not need the teacher to paraphrase every argument before they read it.

The purpose is to give the pupil a starting framework into which new information can fit.

Distinguish meaning from decoding

A pupil may understand photosynthesis when it is spoken but struggle to read the written word. Another pupil may pronounce it accurately without understanding the process.

Teach pronunciation and word structure where needed, but check conceptual understanding separately. One does not guarantee the other.

Return to terminology during reading

When the term appears:

• ask what it means in this sentence;

• connect it with the diagram or example;

• note whether the writer adds a qualification;

• compare it with a related term;

• ask the pupil to use it in a concise summary.

This moves the word from a pre-reading list into subject knowledge.

Use examples across subjects

• Science: model, force, solution and current have specialist meanings.

• History: revolution, source and significance need disciplinary interpretation.

• Geography: development, relief and sustainability carry conceptual weight.

• Mathematics: factor, product and volume must be understood precisely.

Subject teachers are best placed to identify the words that unlock their texts.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Pre-teaching every unfamiliar word.

• Asking pupils to copy definitions.

• Selecting interesting terms that are not central.

• Ignoring words with different everyday and subject meanings.

• Assuming pronunciation proves understanding.

• Explaining the entire text in advance.

• Removing vocabulary support before the pupil has used the terms.

Evidence and further reading

The Education Endowment Foundation’s Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools recommends targeted vocabulary instruction within disciplinary literacy. Its article on word consciousness across the secondary curriculum gives practical subject-specific context.