2 Questions -- Kindle/Nook & Vocabulary

[1Togo]

How do most of you handle vocabulary from literature books? For example, I recently read Treasure Island as prep for discussing it with dd. I wrote two pages of vocabulary that we should review, and I know she will need to look up many of the words. Should I discuss those words before she reads the book or should I ask her to keep track of and look up words she does not know even though that would interfere with the flow of reading?

 

Dealing with vocabulary leads me to my Nook question. Do any of you use a Nook with school reading? I love books, and we have bookcases and storage containers full of books. I never considered using a Kindle/Nook, but I see ways it could be beneficial for school, especially for literature since the student can get definitions instantly and change font size.

 

Any ideas would be helpful. We've finished our first nine weeks of school, and I am tweaking before we start back.

 

Bonita

[JudoMom]

How do most of you handle vocabulary from literature books? For example, I recently read Treasure Island as prep for discussing it with dd. I wrote two pages of vocabulary that we should review, and I know she will need to look up many of the words. Should I discuss those words before she reads the book or should I ask her to keep track of and look up words she does not know even though that would interfere with the flow of reading?

 

Dealing with vocabulary leads me to my Nook question. Do any of you use a Nook with school reading? I love books, and we have bookcases and storage containers full of books. I never considered using a Kindle/Nook, but I see ways it could be beneficial for school, especially for literature since the student can get definitions instantly and change font size.

 

Any ideas would be helpful. We've finished our first nine weeks of school, and I am tweaking before we start back.

 

Bonita

 

I love my Kindle for reading, but I don't love my Kindle for anything I want to study. For things I want to study, I like to have a real book so I can flip back and forth and re-read or scan what I've read. I do love the definition feature, especially when I'm reading classics, but I'm just reading for pleasure. If I had to discuss what I was reading or write about it, I would want a hard copy.

[Pam in MA]

As far as vocabulary words, I like what J.R.R. Tolkien said, something about encountering the words in their native environment first. We usually take a guess at them, look them up right away if it's imperative to follow the storyline, otherwise wait until the end of the section, chapter, whatever. Then go back and reread the paragraph after you've read the definition.

 

Don't know enough about how Nook/Kindles work to comment on that!

[regentrude]

I'm for reading first. Usually the context is sufficient to understand the meaning of an unfamiliar word. (This works even if you are reading in a foreign language - you do not need to know every word to understand the sentence, but learn those words from the context; sometimes from repeated exposure.). If it is essential, one can use a dictionary for the occasional very important word.

My DD has a huge vocabulary simply from reading; she only now started to look up words occasionally (she is reading Herodotus and Homer).

We do not write word lists.

[swimmermom3]

I'm for reading first. Usually the context is sufficient to understand the meaning of an unfamiliar word. (This works even if you are reading in a foreign language - you do not need to know every word to understand the sentence, but learn those words from the context; sometimes from repeated exposure.). If it is essential, one can use a dictionary for the occasional very important word.

My DD has a huge vocabulary simply from reading; she only now started to look up words occasionally (she is reading Herodotus and Homer).

We do not write word lists.

 

:iagree:We use MCT for vocabulary which I find to be effective because the words chosen are words often used in classic literature. I have never been a fan of making kids write word lists out of the books they're reading because as you pointed out, it can break their concentrations. My kids use the context, me, or finally a dictionary. I'm not sure why, but it has become a contest through the years to see if they can stump me. Sometimes I give them an absurd definition which they'll catch and then head to the dictionary. One method is not better than the other; I just would have a mutiny if they had to stop in the middle of their reading and look up more than one or two words. If it's technical, the older ones will jot down the page number, look it up when they are done reading, and go back and insert it in text if they need to.

Edited September 5, 2010 by swimmermom3
pronoun abuse

[Mom22ns]

I'm in the read first camp.

 

I use an itouch and an iphone for books. We use Stanza and enjoy that we can touch a word to get the definition. I'm reading Uncle Tom's Cabin right now and ds is reading Treasure Island. I think we have both made use of this feature. I really never thought I'd switch to an ereader instead of a physical book, but now I've really come to like it. I keep debating an ipad or kindle.

[LatinTea]

I really like my Kindle. I have the 2nd generation one and would like to own the latest gen. I am planning on giving this one to my 16 yo dd for Christmas so she can read the classics i have loaded. I don't buy books, as of yet, because there are so many free ones I haven't read (neither has my dd). The main thing (to me) that differentiates it from iTouch is the way the page looks. The screen is like a piece of paper, not a tiny computer screen. So, with that, my dd can still have the look of a book.

 

Also, as you mentioned, she will also get an instant look-up (in the dictionary or even Wikipedia), which is a step up from waiting to look the word up. I agree that, with a paper book, waiting is the best policy, but with the eReader, I love to look the word up right at the moment of reading it (takes 3 seconds, tops). ALSO, another feature that is useful is the highlighting and note taking feature. I LOVE that as writing in the margins of books is just so hard for me to do. There's never enough room and it just bothers me to writing in a book like that! I know my dd feels the same way, but does like note taking with her other gadgets.

 

I hope I didn't stray too much from the subject. :001_smile:

Edited September 29, 2010 by LatinTea

[MIch elle]

many times if I don't know what a word means, I also don't know how to pronounce it correctly. I said hyperbole incorrectly for years! So when you do see the word in context you know how to pronounce it and have some recollection of it's meaning.

 

I've been an avid reader since 7th grade and my vocabulary wasn't that great because I skimmed over the words when reading. I never learned the definitions & pronunciations.

 

That's also a problem with the Kindle - definition but no pronunciation. The computer is better for definitions & hearing the pronunciation. But I still LOVE my Kindle.

[Kates]

I'm in the reading first camp, but my ds needs to have context before he'll retain a word. He'll ask me what it means when it comes up in a book, we'll discuss it, and later it will show up on his vocab work (courtesy of moi). ;)

 

I'll be getting him a Nook for Christmas/birthday; I've looked at both, and I prefer the Nook for various reasons. We'll be using it partly for the convenience of having a lot of books all in one place (we travel a lot, so he likes to read in the car) and partly because he's dyslexic - and can easily change the font type and size to one which doesn't seem to float all over the place in front of him.