What is Membean?
Membean is an online vocabulary and reading comprehension that has been adopted by over 3 million students and 250,000 teachers as well as has won a couple of awards. It offers interactive, colorful scenarios for practicing vocabulary which the students then use in passages and questions in a manner similar to those seen in state and national tests.
How Membean Teaches Vocabulary
Membeans presents the concept of the words as first subcomponents or basic building blocks that the learners can comprehend. Instead of just listing out the vocabulary words, each one comes with different usage examples to ensure the students understand it well. The program aims at familiarization with word elements such as roots, prefixes, and suffixes. This enables the students to understand and store in their memories’ thousands of words and their meanings.
Some key aspects of Membean’s pedagogy:
- Contextual Learning: The words are not given in isolation, but in example sentences and that way, the meaning does not fade out.
- Adaptive Scaffolding: Afterward, fading is done gradually to encourage the student develop independent words.
- Spaced Interval Practice: This is done across the time to ensure the retention of the words for a long time.
- Mastery Learning: Students progress through curriculum based on their own level of learning rather than through set tests.
Engaging Format
However, unlike boring and repetitive drill and kill vocabulary products, Membeans comes with nice attractive environments such as Membean City and Spacebean, Flocabulandia. The motivational aspect underlying games enables children to continue learning words for a longer period and play at the same time.
Students are rewarded with points, badges, and trophies as a way of motivating them. In fact, there is even a possibility to use an avatar with accessories that can be used as rewards. Friendly competition increases fun because students are competing against their fellows on usage and spelling.
How Membean Develops Reading Comprehension
Developing the reading comprehension entails a mastery of vocabulary and content but also familiarity with the genres of texts and kinds of questions that will be assessed.
Membeans integrates vocabulary into reading passages at higher Lexiles, so I thought it would be good for her. Following vocabulary instruction, students apply the use of words learned in context by responding to factual questions.
Listening to more varied music improves language flexibility. Passages include; Informational texts, literatures, stories, poems, etc. It also covers different levels of difficulty, from main idea, to inferential, to vocabulary in context questions.
How Membean Builds Long-Term Reading & Vocabulary Skills
As opposed to memorizing vocabulary words hours before the test, Membean aims at knowledge retention that extends beyond the next week’s quiz. The spacing effect when combined with mastery learning resulted into very long retention periods that are quite impressive.
It is common for schools to use Membeans for months and when they administer tests, they find that their students have improved on their vocabulary greatly. It is effective to retain word knowledge since Membeans establishes an increasing level of familiarity with every word before the fading process.
Continual usage also helps students to build up vocabulary knowledge. Because Membeans uses the technique of context repetition, students only build one’s word mastery as they meet the words they had encountered before.
Effectiveness of Membean
The authors of Membeans have provided extensive research and years of efficacy evidence to show that the Membeans instructional approach is highly effective in developing outstanding K-12 vocabulary skills.
Research Basis
It applies a number of evidence-based learning practices such as retrieval practice, interleaving, and spacing that are effective when it comes to learning and mastering vocabulary. It stems from years of collaborative work with Teachers College, Columbia University.
Independent Studies
Various other researches have evidenced Membeans effectiveness in enhancing students’ vocabulary levels as well as reading skills as opposed to control groups. In different school environments, learners progressed in word learning in an impressive manner.
A study conducted by the Johns Hopkins University indicated that learners using Membeans had their vocabulary intake tripled than before. The Strategic Education Research Partnership determined that a semester of Membeans raised student achievement on state tests.
Awards & Recognition
Membean has earned distinguished awards recognizing both its pedagogical excellence and technological innovation:
- EdTech Digest Cool Tool Awards five years consecutively
- ASU GSV EdTech Innovation Award
- Tech & Learning Best of Award 3 years straight
- District Administration Top 100 Product
For that reason, Membean remains in the list of the most effective and valuable vocabulary and reading programs for educators to help students develop.
How Teachers Use Membean
Some teachers use membean as a standalone program for vocabulary development, others use membean to support students’ literacy across the school. Membean fits well with curriculum and/or assessments.
Here are some of the top ways teachers leverage Membean:
Vocabulary Instruction
This is because there are many vocabulary words that are used in subject area textbooks and class readings that can be assigned for mastery learning. I like how it has built-in quizzes so student can practice retrieval.
Test Prep
Exposure to words found in high stakes state assessments should be taught focusing on those vocabularies used in SBAC, PARCC, and state assessments through passage assignment.
Reading Intervention
Increase the rate of reading development in low achievers or ELL students by practicing reading comprehension as well as developing endurance. Begins at the lower Lexile with supported vocabulary.
Literacy Initiatives
The schools use Membean in order to up the quantity as well as the variety of the texts read. The features of the Membean reporting include the standards-based analytics where the teachers can monitor the progress.
How Students Use Membean
Membean is an adaptive, systematic and game based vocabulary learning solution for students. But how exactly do students use the product?
Learning Words
- View interesting clips that provide information on the usage of certain words.
- Full fill-in-the-blank and multiple choice questions to check comprehension
- Games which support spelling through repetition desensitization
Reading Comprehension
- Build on students’ abilities to read different kinds of texts, including informational and literary ones.
- Underline in the questions or answer areas the main idea, inference and vocabulary questions.
- Exposure to different linguistic varieties and difficulty levels
Fun Learning Environments
- Experience Membean City, Flocacbulandia and spacebean worlds
- Accessorize hipster avatar with hats, glasses, angel wings and tails
- Users can be awarded trophies and badges for effective mastery of the words.
The vocabulary, which the students obtain on Membean, translates into confidence, self-efficacy, and ultimately success on tests involving a lot of word attack skills.
FAQs
Q: How does Membean support long-term vocabulary retention?
A: Membean supports long-term vocabulary retention through spaced interval practice and mastery learning, ensuring that students retain vocabulary knowledge over time.
Q: How does Membean personalize learning for students?
A: Membean personalizes learning by adjusting the vocabulary curriculum and reading comprehension material based on the learner’s capability, offering the right level of difficulty for each student.
Q: What research supports the effectiveness of Membean?
A: Membean’s effectiveness is supported by extensive research, including studies conducted by Johns Hopkins University and the Strategic Education Research Partnership, which found significant improvements in vocabulary intake and state test performance.
Q: What awards has Membean received?
A: Membean has received several prestigious awards, including the EdTech Digest Cool Tool Awards, ASU GSV EdTech Innovation Award, and Tech & Learning Best of Award, recognizing its excellence in pedagogy and technological innovation.
Conclusion
Membean is a comprehensive and innovative tool for vocabulary and reading comprehension that effectively supports students and teachers in the learning process. Through its engaging format, adaptive learning methods, and evidence-based practices, Membean helps students develop strong vocabulary and reading skills that are retained over the long term. The program’s success is evidenced by its widespread adoption, positive research findings, and numerous awards. Whether used for vocabulary instruction, test preparation, or reading intervention, Membean is a valuable resource for enhancing literacy across different educational settings.
