SUMMARY
The purpose of the following mixed methods research study was to introduce an academic vocabulary strategy, word consciousness, to students with challenging behaviors and discover the effects that word consciousness has on these students’ verbal and physical aggression in the a self-contained, special education classroom. The author provides information on word consciousness and how this concept was implemented in the classroom. Results from the study demonstrate that word consciousness has varied effects on students with challenging behaviors. In particular, data indicated that word consciousness decreased some students’ incidences of verbal and physical aggression; however, other students made no behavioral or academic gains from the intervention. Regardless, this research introduced and developed students’ word consciousness of academic vocabulary.