Reify (v) and Reification (noun)

Over the years, and with several readings of Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe’s Understanding by Design and related books, I have finally managed to din into my own head the importance of teaching students conceptual knowledge that transfers within a domain, and even across domains. I’ve come to think that teachers, whatever their subject and grade level, are in the business of reifying.

Here are two context clues worksheets on the verb reify and the noun reification. They are words, I am increasingly convinced, that students should learn as soon as it is developmentally appropriate. If nothing else, these words will help students understand that there are two basic cognitive categories, the abstract and the concrete. These two words may well help instantiate the difference between concrete and abstract nouns, something I find students with low level of literacy struggle to distinguish–and something that definitely gets in the way of learning on a broader scale.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.