To do well in reading, students need to have a well-developed vocabulary on their own developmental level. The vocabulary a student possesses provides background information so that meaningful reading of new content can occur. A language-rich learning environment is necessary for students to thrive in the listening, speaking, reading, and writing vocabularies. For vocabulary growth to take place, the teacher needs to establish definite objectives in terms of knowledge categories, skills, and attitudinal ends to be achieved by students. This paper discusses the following reading strategies and tools in vocabulary development: sustained silent reading, individualized reading, basal readers, the "big book," and the dictionary. The paper also discusses vocabulary development across the curriculum. It concludes that an interdisciplinary vocabulary curriculum needs to be planned so that with each academic area students can experience challenges in vocabulary growth. (NKA)