LINCS is a mnemonic device for ingraining new words. It helps students to make memorable connections and relationships between the word and it’s meaning.For example, I vividly remember the first time I heard the word minuscule as a child. I looked up the definition (because in contrast to many of my future students, I was bookish) and read that it meant “extremely small; tiny.” In my mind I made a connection that “minuscule” sounded like “mini school” and to this day I invision a teeny tiny school anytime I hear the word minuscule. That’s the type of thing that children with normal language do naturally. Unfortunately, our students with language impairments do not do it naturally. In fact, they have a hard time doing it at all – even with our training and lots of practice.
This is the LINCS strategy; a way to give a word meaning that will “stick.”
- Research shows that a student in the 50th percentile (in terms of ability to comprehend subject matter taught in school) with no direct vocabulary instruction will score in the 50th percentile ranking.
- The same student, after content-area terms have been taught in a strategic way, raises his/her comprehension ability to the 83rd percentile.
What a wonderful post!
Thank you so much!