Poverty Impacts Vocabulary

I spent the last two days at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, the site of the summer Gear Up program for Native American youth.  On Monday morning I assisted staff in assessing over 120 eighth graders in reading.  It was as I expected.  The students are orally fluent, they can read the words with the best of them but when it comes to making meaning and retelling what they read or having a grasp of the meaning of individual words (vocabulary), we have our work cut out for us.  It is really compelling to see their needs and not be able to instantaneously apply a FIX!
A side benefit of my trip was becoming acquainted with some of the staff selected to spend the next five weeks with these students.  Young people who have a fire in their bellies to make a difference for these kids.  I was lucky enough to sit and discuss education with four of them yesterday afternoon.  They have such dreams about being able to make changes in a system.  To teach, unlike they were taught!  To really care about whether or not these students benefit from their time at this summer program.  I was enriched by their remarks and the conversation with them underlined my passion for what I am doing.
I recently listed to a podcast by Michael Graves regarding his study of vocabulary instruction and its importance.  He stressed the deficiencies caused by poverty.  I would underscore the reality of truth in his remarks.  How can these young people make meaning while reading when their "theory of the world in their heads" lacks the meaning of words read and heard.  I am on a search to gather some of the very best "word" activities to assist teachers to improve vocabulary of their students.