Semantic Feature Analysis

My teacher geek is showing lately with vocabulary graphic organizers.  I have been creating them for all of my inclusion classes to the point that I think my co-teachers are tired of seeing them. In spite of their annoyance, I was tired of the here-today-gone-tomorrow practice of memorize and match that my students have been doing.  So, I have been looking for ways to make them wrestle with the vocabulary a little bit instead of just memorizing and reciting.  My favorite of late have been Semantic Feature Analysis.  I was introduced to these little beauties during college.  A great resource for them is this book:

I'm fairly certain there are some newer editions of this text.  In fact, I think this one is sold as a collectible edition, which kind of made me feel old. Semantic Feature Analysis are great if you want to help students compare and contrast different vocabulary words and you just can't handle another Venn Diagram.  SFAs also work great for organizing vocabulary words into categories.  Here are two examples I created for my science and social studies classes.

Feudalism SFA

Tools Used to Study the Universe SFA


There are a number of ways students can mark the sheet.  They can write yes (y) or no (n) in each cell of the grid to indicate if the word and the feature are associated with one another.  They can use check marks and only place a check in each cell of the grid where the feature and the word are associated. My students usually prefer the check marks because the grid can get crowded and confusing with all the y's and n's.  SFAs can be used before reading to activate prior knowledge about the subject they will be reading.  During reading students can revisit the completed SFA and make adjustments.  

If you have some struggling readers in your room, here are some suggestions from Reading Rockets to differentiate the assignment:

• Adjust the number of categories depending on the learner. Use concrete words and features for learners who have difficulty with abstract thoughts.
• Begin with items that are fairly dissimilar and move toward using items where the differences are more subtle.
• Follow up assignments can vary from using the information learned about one category to assignments that ask students to compare and contrast across categories.

There are also some great examples of SFAs on the Reading Rockets site.