Planned, individualized vocabulary instruction is an essential ingredient of developmental reading classes, and deserves special attention, since expanding word knowledge is the one area related to reading comprehension in which student progress can be directly observed and measured by the learner in daily or weekly increments. The two factors that appear to exert the most positive influence upon vocabulary acquisition are the utilization of students' personal experiences and existing knowledge, and the use of context, or deriving a word's meaning from the surrounding text. A teaching strategy that integrates these two factors refines the vocabulary acquisition process through carefully structured, active individual involvement. Each week students are required to identify 10 previously unknown or partially known words from within a range of printed materials designated by the instructor. Students print the unfamiliar word on one side of an index card. On the other side, they write the sentence in which the word was found, the dictionary pronunciation guide entry, and a paraphrase of the dictionary definition. Teachers then check the cards for semantic appropriateness. The cards may be used as flashcards to evaluate student word knowledge. This method enhances student/teacher interaction and the initial and cumulative word knowledge evaluations, while growth in the students' card decks helps to increase their confidence. (HTH)