Disciplinary Facets
Table of Contents
Bloom's Level
Use
Setting
Activity
Technology
Related Strategies
Description
Disciplinary facets is a cross-disciplinary vocabulary development strategy where students explore words that have multiple meanings. Students organize the disciplinary facets of multiple-meaning words by writing each definition and identifying the corresponding academic discipline or context for that definition. For example, the word tableau has several facets: Tableau means a picture or table in the French language, in art, it is a particular type of painting or photograph where people are arranged for a dramatic effect, in drama, it is a group of actors who use their bodies to make frozen pictures that represent a scene, and in the technology field, it is the name of a visual analytics platform. When students use disciplinary facets, they develop a deeper understanding of words with multiple meanings and can use them appropriately in various contexts.
When To Use It
As a learning strategy, use disciplinary facets when you want students to:
- use context clues to determine the meaning of multiple-meaning words
- use visuals to support vocabulary development
- make cross-disciplinary connections during a unit of study
- use vocabulary appropriately when reading, speaking, and writing
As an instructional strategy, use disciplinary facets when you want to:
- expand students’ vocabulary to improve reading comprehension, speaking, and writing skills across contexts and academic disciplines
- expose students to meaningful words that are commonly misunderstood
- teach students how to use context clues to infer meaning
- make cross-disciplinary connections during a unit of study
How To Use It
Advance Prep
- Identify a list of multiple-meaning words based on the instructional material students will encounter during the unit of study. Choose words that are both relevant to the unit of study and applicable in other academic contexts.
- Prepare a disciplinary facets graphic organizer or plan to have students create their own. A typical structure includes about 4-6 circles where a center circle is for the focus term, and multiple connected surrounding circles contain definitions of the word in various contexts or academic disciplines. Each outer circle is labeled, “What it can mean in …” where students fill in the appropriate discipline or context (e.g., What it can mean in science, What it can mean in history, What it can mean in my community, etc.). Students add the appropriate definition to each outer circle.
Implementation
- Introduce the disciplinary facets graphic organizer by explaining that it is a tool to help students explore and understand words that have multiple meanings. Explain that they will encounter different facets of words as they communicate and engage in their academic career and the world around them. Understanding how the meaning of some words can change based on the context or academic discipline will strengthen their vocabulary and help them use words appropriately.
- Ask students to share a few examples of words with multiple meanings, and model how to use the graphic organizer to note the different meanings.
For example:
Focus Term: Solution
- What it can mean in math: an answer to a problem or the value(s) that make an equation true
- What it can mean in science: a homogenous mixture
- What it can mean in everyday language: a method for solving a problem or handling a challenging situation
If using a pre-printed graphic organizer, students can leave circles blank that are not needed or add additional circles to represent more meanings. Alternatively, students can create an organizer and add circles to fit the various facets of a word.
Introduce one focus word at a time and have students predict or record the meanings they encounter in different contexts. Encourage students to write the definitions in their own words and add illustrations to help them visualize and distinguish the multiple meanings.
Model for students how to use context clues to infer a word’s meaning as they engage with instructional material, including cross-disciplinary examples. Ultimately, you want students to discern the meaning of words in different contexts independently. Explicitly teaching them how to use context clues and having them practice with disciplinary facets will improve their ability to do so.
Before, during, and after a unit of study, review the disciplinary facets graphic organizer(s) and discuss the various meanings of words across disciplines and contexts. Incorporate activities for students to practice using the words appropriately during the unit of study and across disciplines.
Pros
- supports strong vocabulary development
- promotes the use of context clues and critical thinking
- facilitates cross-curricular connections
Cons
- It may be challenging to fit focused vocabulary study into an instructional unit.
- Definitions must be reviewed and validated to prevent misconceptions.
- Cross-disciplinary collaboration may be needed to reinforce students’ understanding and practice with multiple-meaning words.
Culturally Responsive Application
Using disciplinary facets provides a structure for students to explore multiple-meaning words across academic disciplines and contexts. In addition to defining terms based on what they learn through cross-curricular instructional material, students can define words according to their cultural context. Allowing students to explore all the facets of a word’s meaning can be culturally affirming. It can broaden the vocabulary of all students, leading to more effective communication across cultures, contexts, and disciplines.
Emerging English Language Support
It encourage students to consider the multiple meanings that words take on in various contexts to help them see vocabulary acquisition as “part of learning language, and to understand language as a living, growing phenomenon rather than a list of items with definite meaning boundaries.
Students with Disabilities Support
It helped student think about how words have different meanings and do different meaning work depending on the context.
Subjects
1.1 Literature, 1.2 Informational texts, 1.4 Writing, 1.6 Language, 1.7 Reading in science & technical subjects, 1.8 Reading in history & social studies, 1.9 Writing in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects, 2.1 K-8 mathematics, 2.2 High school number & quantity, 2.3 High school algebra, 2.4 High school functions, 2.5 High school geometry, 2.6 High school statistics & probability, 3.1 Earth and space science, 3.2 Life science, 3.3 Physical science, 3.4 Engineering, technology, and application of science, 4.1 Civics, 4.2 Economics, 4.3 Geography, 4.4 History, 5.1 Computing systems, 5.2 Networks & the internet, 5.3 Data & analysis, 5.4 Algorithms & programming, 5.5 Impacts of computing
Why It Works
Disciplinary Facets purpose is to help learners think about how words have different meanings and do different meaning work (such as differing parts of speech) depending on the context or class in which they are used (REF47). Interdisciplinary projects involve unrelated academic disciplines in a way that equires them to cross disciplinary boundaries to create new knowledge and theory in pursuit of a common research goal (REF48). Interdisciplinary approach helps learning about processes and not just content, students learn to integrate knowledge, rather than compartmentalising it (REF49).