Task b) assesses basic comprehension of the word. Most students wrote a sentence containing the word 'memorable' in the same context they stated ina) e.g.,the context of a funeral: He was a memorable man. This level of word knowledge can be associative: students may be able to associate the word with other words or a context (e.g., a word used at funerals) but not understand its meaning (Stahl 2006).

Task c). The definitions students write hereexplicitly show their level of comprehension of the word. Almost all students wrote a short definition of 'memorable' as something or someone that is remembered. A small group defined the word as solely applicable to people who have died. Trials showed that the definition most students used at this point of the resource was extended in the remaining exercises.

Task d). This assesses students' ability to find meaning by identifying rootwordsand word parts. Most students connected 'memorable' to 'memory' and/or 'remember', e.g., It looks like memory, and,'Mem' comes from re'mem'ber. However, only a small group identified the suffix 'able' in 'memorable' as meaning 'capable of', e.g., 'Able' means you can do it. (See the VAT section below for more on suffixes).     

At this point, students read the story Playing with Words, in which an image of missiles described as going 'really, really fast' is made more vivid and memorable by the verb 'rocketed'. The application of 'memorable' in the less usual context of writing and intentional effect gives students the opportunity to form a deeper understanding of the word.
 
Task e) i). This task assesses two skills: firstly, basic word recognition in identifying the word 'memorable' in the story; and secondly, the ability to identify the surrounding text which carries meaning. Most trial students found the word 'memorable' in the story and copied the word in a brief and appropriately meaning-giving context into e) i), i.e., the first paragraph:

"When I was a little boy, I loved playing with words and phrases in my mind. I was always trying to make them more memorable. For instance, if someone said "the missiles went really, really fast over the sky", I'd change that line to something like "the missiles rocketed over the sky".

The first sentence only is also acceptable. About half of the students copied other memorable events from the story as well, such as "I felt such a huge rush of exhilaration that I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life writing" from page 22. While this and other examples are certainly examples of memorable events, for the sake of simplicity and focus students should be restricted to the one example where the word 'memorable' is used. The extra examples students gave appear to be a result of confusion as to what the task required, including the misunderstanding that the whole table had to be filled. A small group put the text sample in the wrong column.

Task e) ii). Using context is an important part of working out the meaning of a new word. Context is also important in learning to extend knowledge of a word.In e) ii) students are asked to write about the meaning of 'memorable' suggested by the text they chose in e) i). About half of the trial students successfully completed the task by concentrating on what the text suggested about the meaning of 'memorable', e.g., It tells you that making something sound more interesting you will remember it better. The remaining trial students mostly paraphrased the text or commented about the story in general rather than focussing on the meaning of 'memorable', e.g., When he was little he was always trying to make words memorable. Summaries of the narrative generally do not tell us anything new about the meaning of 'memorable'. The difficulty of this task is probably due to the table format and the novel aspect of focussing on word meaning in the context of a story rather than on character or narrative. It is reasonable to predict that more vocabulary work of this kind will reduce task confusion.

Task f) About half of the trial students showed increased word knowledge by writing a broader definition of 'memorable' than they did in c), for example, this trial response to e): Creating something you want to be remembered and a past incident or memory that won't be forgotten, compared to the same trial student's answer for c): A past incident that won't be forgotten.

A small group seized on the use of 'memorable' in Playing with Words and ran with it to the exclusion of all other meaning when they wrote a definition in f), e.g., Playing with words to make them more fun, and, You make the sentence more interesting. These two students answered, ?, and When someone dies you memorable respectively for c). These students show some understanding of the less widely used meaning of 'memorable' in the story despite having little or no prior knowledge of the word's more widely understood meaning. This may indicate that some students with a relatively low vocabulary are actually competent with vocabulary when applied to a task. 
 
Task g) This assesses the students' ability to generate use of the word in a new way (novel usage is considered to be the highest stage of word knowledge). About half of the trial students wrote a more complex and novel sentence than they did in b), for example, this response to g): I want to create an amazing piece of art that would be memorable, compared to the same student's trial response to b): Last Christmas was very memorable. This student has demonstrated a shift along the vocabulary acquisition continuum for this word by drawing on the meaning of 'memorable' explored in Playing with Words. Task h). Students may raise issues or questions about the way their understanding of the word has developed. A small group of students asked questions along the lines of how they could make life more memorable. This might provide a starting point for a class discussion or a way forward.