This study examined the added value of a vocabulary plus phonological awareness (vocab+) intervention against a phonological awareness (PA only) intervention only. The vocabulary intervention built networks among words through attention to morphological and semantic relationships. This supplementary classroom instruction augmented existing literacy curriculum in a 71 primarily Spanish-speaking English Learners (EL) in grade one, many "at-risk" of reading difficulty. Vocab+ lessons drew from expository text, and words were revisited throughout the program. The PA only group received a previously validated phonological awareness and decoding instruction with no vocabulary instruction. The treatment group (vocab+) spent 30% of the intervention on PA and decoding. Students demonstrated expected gains in vocabulary, while maintaining gains in phonological decoding equivalent to those of the PA only group. This study demonstrates initial justification for dedicating limited instructional minutes to vocabulary building in early literacy interventions while still dedicating a small portion of time to phonological awareness and decoding. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)