Below are some examples of academic vocabulary. Decide which tier they represent, and drag each example into the appropriate column. If you prefer, you can also do this activity using a form with radio buttons. Some browsers may work best with (or show only) one or the other format; use the one that works best for you.
| Examples | Tiers | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | |
| words that occur more frequently in text than in speech | words that are usually supported in the text | ||
| words of our everyday, conversational, language | |||
| words that appear across disciplines — literary and informational texts | |||
| words that are not usually supported by the text | |||
| content-specific words | |||
| words that rarely require instructional attention | |||
| words that appear more in informational text than literary text | |||
| words that are often more precise than our everyday language | |||