Vocabulary Enhanced Classics

[3andme]

I just wanted to recommend the Kaplan Sat Score Raising Classic series for those who still read hard copy books. These are popular literary classics with important vocabulary and definitions on the left hand side and the text on the right hand side. See Look Inside for an example. The vocabulary words are also bolded in the text. There is an index in the back of the book which shows all the vocabulary which has been defined in the text. Obviously, they don't define every word but I think they have selected appropriately challenging but not too obscure words. 

 

While it looks like these were originally devised to enhance vocab for the SAT specifically, I find these very useful for general vocabulary acquisition. I've used two of these with my ds and they really helped to reinforce vocabulary as ds's not the type to look up words on his own.  We usually go through the words together before reading each chapter for familiarization, then while reading the text the definitions are easy to consult without interrupting the narrative flow.

 

This might also be something useful for coop literature classes as it would alleviate the need to independently compile separate vocabulary lists for each chapter since it's built in to the text and they are reasonably priced.

 

Here's a list of the ones I've found: Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, The Scarlet Letter, Wuthering Heights, The War of the Worlds, The Tales of Edgar Allen Poe. Some of the reviewers noted that the Frankenstein book is based on the less common 1918 edition of the novel and has some plot variations from the more commonly used later edition.

 

In addition to these classics, there are a number of other vocabulary enhancement novels that were specifically written for the purpose of SAT vocabulary prep. I haven't tried any of these but they might be worthwhile.although I think the new SAT doesn't focus as much on vocab. as the old version.

[Sunshine State Sue]

Thanks for sharing!

 

I was telling a high school English teacher I know that I (with a master's degree) do not feel very confident in my writing abilities and a lot of that is due to my poor vocabulary.  I never wanted to take the time in my school days to learn the words I didn't understand that I ran across in my reading.  He was very heartened to hear that because he is like a vocabulary nazi in his classroom and gets lots of complaints.  Plus, he seems so beat down by the high stakes testing that are imposed here in FL.

 

I can see how these books would make learning vocabulary in context so much easier than stopping to look up the words in a dictionary, on a phone or computer, etc.  And,  the ones you linked are cheap!

[TarynB]

Thank you for sharing this and for taking the time to provide links! Looks great!