Vocabulary Workbooks?

[Slipper]

My middle daughter is in 7th grade and will be going into the 8th next year. I had never thought about doing vocabulary with her as she does well but now realize it is something we should be doing. Does anyone have recommendations?

[madteaparty]

We use Sadlier Oxford and I am happy with them.

[Mrs Twain]

I am very impressed with Word Wealth Jr.  You have to get it used because it is out of print.  It is my favorite vocabulary resource ever. Perfect for middle school.

[Hypatia.]

We use Sadlier Oxford Vocabulary Workshop also.

[kchrrs]

I am very impressed with Word Wealth Jr. You have to get it used because it is out of print. It is my favorite vocabulary resource ever. Perfect for middle school.

Could you tell me more about Word Wealth and how you use it? I can't find a lot of information about it, but everything I have found gives it glowing reviews. Thank you!

[Mrs Twain]

There is Word Wealth which I believe may be for high school level (?). Word Wealth Junior I think was generally used as a middle school text.

 

It is a small textbook. The book is divided into three parts, so I am using it for 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, one part per year. You could go through it faster if you like, though.

 

Each part is divided into "units" which take about a week each to complete. The first day we read through the new word list with the definitions. The next days are spent doing exercises using the new words, such as writing the definition of each of them according to the context of how they are used in example sentences, or a fill in the blank paragraph where the student has to figure out where all the new words go. There is also a test at the end of each unit which is either dictation sentences or fill in the blank with the new words.

 

It takes me about ten minutes per day to work with my son. It is important with vocabulary to talk about the words together, whichever program you use.

[kchrrs]

Thank you very much for describing the program. I appreciate it.

[Suzanne115]

Last year, we used Vocabulary Workshop.  I liked it, but my daughter didn't.  This year, we switched to Vocabulary Cartoons.  She likes it a lot more.  I haven't received her standardized test results this year, but it really does seem to be helping.

 

 

Suzanne

[3andme]

You can take a look at Word Wealth Jr. at archive.org. You do need to create an account there to borrow it first.

[Aloha2U]

Barnes and Noble is currently offering WWJ as a free NOOK Book (eBook—Digitized from 1962 edition).

[kchrrs]

Barnes and Noble is currently offering WWJ as a free NOOK Book (eBook—Digitized from 1962 edition).

Thank you so much! I look forward to exploring the book further.

[HS Mom in NC]

Something that teaches Latin and Greek Word Roots like English From the Roots Up.

[Mom2OandE]

I downloaded it from B&n but I can't make heads or tails of it. Maybe it's the copy but its a lot of jiberish.

[Alte Veste Academy]

I recommend this oldie but goodie! :D

 

The WTM has a great vocab program. A post-it system makes it simple to implement.

 

Keep a vocabulary notebook. Every day when she finishes her reading, you just check the notebook. Viola! A vocab program.

 

Draw an arrow on two tiny post-it notes; make sure the head of the arrow is at the edge of the post-it. Instruct her to stick the note in her book when she encounters a difficult word. She might be able to tell what the word means because of the context. That's fine. Just encourage her to choose two interesting words and direct the arrows to those words. When she has finished reading, have her relocate the two words and make two entries in her vocab notebook.

 

word - (part of speech as used in the sentence) - definition. (You can add synonyms if you want) Copy the sentence from the book; underline the word. (Title of the book & author, page #) Use the word in a sentence of her own.

 

cowered (verb - past tense; intransitive) - to crouch, as in fear or shame. (Synonyms cringe, recoil) And suddenly in his rush, perhaps because his breath was failing him, he hid himself inside a thorny bush and cowered among its leaves (The Inferno - Dante, 108). Fearful and ashamed after chewing his master's shoe, the dog cowered under his lord's angry grasp.

 

This kind of exercise just demands more work from the child. She has to determine the part of speech. She has to select from the synonyms listed. Then she has the opportunity to copy a beautiful sentence; encourage her to read the sentence aloud and think about why the author chose that particular word. Then she has to formulate a sentence of her own; you can use this opportunity to work on developing more sophisticated sentence structures. (See Kane's Oxford Guide for ideas.)

 

Take the time to review the notebook once a week? A fabulous vocabulary program!

 

If you have to have some kind of test in order to prove to someone that you are doing "vocabulary," just make up a short quiz for the fifth day. Dictate the words. Have her define them and use them in a sentence. Viola! Done!

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

From this thread (the apparent nemesis of your thread, LOL): http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/311229-building-vocabulary-wo-workbooks/

[southmetromom]

You can take a look at Word Wealth Jr. at archive.org. You do need to create an account there to borrow it first.

I appreciated this link. I downloaded the free e-book but I cannot make any sense of it. It seems like a book written in olde English with many unusual characters. Did anyone else have this problem? thanks.

[nansk]

I appreciated this link. I downloaded the free e-book but I cannot make any sense of it. It seems like a book written in olde English with many unusual characters. Did anyone else have this problem? thanks.

The link at archive.org is wrong. It points to an old British law book.

 

[Kareni]

I recommend this oldie but goodie! :D

 

 

From this thread (the apparent nemesis of your thread, LOL): http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/311229-building-vocabulary-wo-workbooks/

 

It was fun re-reading that thread. I'll repost here what I said then since it seems pertinent.

 

"I think that reading is perhaps the best prep for a large vocabulary. If you're looking for some less formal resources for the Logic stage, I'll recommend a couple.

 

Vocabulary Cartoons: SAT Word Power by Sam Burchers

 

and the sequel Vocabulary Cartoons II: SAT Word Power by Sam Burchers

 

I learned a lot of my vocabulary reading the column It Pays to Increase Your Word Power in the Readers Digest when I was growing up. Here's a link to an out of print collection of the column."

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Slipper]

Thanks everyone! My biggest problem at the moment is that she is 13 years old. :) DH and I are convinced that she was attacked by brain eating zombies or aliens came and sucked out her brains. She has always scored very well on standardized tests but this year her vocabulary score went way down (which was odd). It wasn't a fluke as I started paying closer attention after that time. I thought that reading more books (structured reading) would help, but it hasn't. My youngest daughter has enthusiastically tried to help by making comments such as, "Teenagers are so narcissistic" which will send DD13 tearing through the house looking for a dictionary but that's probably not the best approach. 

 

I've ordered the Sadlier-Oxford workbooks for the girls and will probably also order the Vocabulary Cartoons books as well. 

[3andme]

The link for Word Wealth Jr. on Archive.org is strange. It works for me when I click on it and I pasted it directly from the page. At any rate, the problem seems to be there are two listings for this title and one is incorrect and as pointed out links to an old english book by mistake but the other one works. Alternatively, you might try using this google search and clicking on the 1st link. You want the one that has (1962) in the title "Word wealth junior, a vocabulary book and speller (1962)".

[crazyforlatin]

http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/vocabulary/levels_a2h.cfm?sp=student

 

I don't really consistently use these workbooks with DD, but once in a while when I feel like maybe we need to study vocabulary, I whip out one. Because she reads a lot, it was difficult finding the right level, so to save money I went up higher to level E. The above link has the audio and games for each book. And because she does study Latin, many of the words even in level E seem like they have been covered in Wheelock. I do like the many different activities in the book and the free audio.

 

ETA: when I was looking for the right level, I somehow missed looking at the website for lists of words.

[HS Mom in NC]

 

"I think that reading is perhaps the best prep for a large vocabulary."

 

 

 

 

Yes, and no.  My kids have always had incredible vocabularies for their ages. People are always commenting on it.  It's not just because they read a lot.  It's because they read independently and we read aloud to them a lot of high quality books with excellent writing and vocabulary.  If your children are just reading books like Diary of Wimpy Kid and Junie B. Jones with very low quality writing, content and vocabularies, then reading a lot isn't going to do the job.  If your children are reading a lot of C.S. Lewis,  Tolkien, L'Engel, Hale and other great writers, they're going to have dramatically better vocabularies.

 

When I say “a lot†I mean at least a couple of hours a day when you add up read alouds and free reading once they learn to read independently.  See old read aloud threads here at TWTM boards for more details.

[SeaConquest]

Since I haven't seen it mentioned, I will also throw out Vocabu-Lit:

 

http://www.perfectionlearning.com/vocabu-lit-program

[Roadrunner]

Since I haven't seen it mentioned, I will also throw out Vocabu-Lit:

 

http://www.perfectionlearning.com/vocabu-lit-program

I never knew this publisher. Went to look at the vocab programs and discovered they sell literature as well. Unfortunately I can't find the samples anywhere.

[SeaConquest]

I never knew this publisher. Went to look at the vocab programs and discovered they sell literature as well. Unfortunately I can't find the samples anywhere.

 

That's strange, because I can find several that say, "look inside."

 

For example:

 

http://www.perfectionlearning.com/browse.php?categoryID=2086

 

You can also find some of their selections on the Great Books Foundation website:

 

http://store.greatbooks.org/grades-6-8/perfection-learning.html

[Roadrunner]

That's strange, because I can find several that say, "look inside."

 

For example:

 

http://www.perfectionlearning.com/browse.php?categoryID=2086

 

You can also find some of their selections on the Great Books Foundation website:

 

http://store.greatbooks.org/grades-6-8/perfection-learning.html

I was looking at integrated language arts books. Still can't find the samples, but the descriptions sound great!

[Kareni]

Yes, and no.  My kids have always had incredible vocabularies for their ages. People are always commenting on it.  It's not just because they read a lot.  It's because they read independently and we read aloud to them a lot of high quality books with excellent writing and vocabulary.  If your children are just reading books like Diary of Wimpy Kid and Junie B. Jones with very low quality writing, content and vocabularies, then reading a lot isn't going to do the job.  If your children are reading a lot of C.S. Lewis,  Tolkien, L'Engel, Hale and other great writers, they're going to have dramatically better vocabularies.

 

When I say “a lot†I mean at least a couple of hours a day when you add up read alouds and free reading once they learn to read independently.  See old read aloud threads here at TWTM boards for more details.

 

Yes, you make a good distinction about reading a lot of quality books versus simply reading a lot, and I agree entirely.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

[Mrs Twain]

Vocabulary is best learned when children hear the words used in context (rather than just reading them in books).  Word Girl on PBS uses a completely evidence-based approach to teaching vocabulary.  What they do is the best way to learn vocabulary.

[Arcadia]

Because she reads a lot, it was difficult finding the right level, so to save money I went up higher to level E.

 

ETA: when I was looking for the right level, I somehow missed looking at the website for lists of words.

My older looked at the list of words in the sample pages and pick level C. He reads a lot and the workbook is a fun thing for him so we probably end up with a new level every 4 months.

 

He likes to scan the QR code using my phone to do the interactive quiz online.

 

SAT QOTD was another fun thing he like eventhough not all questions are vocabulary related.

[ecj98]

Vocabulary from Classical Roots

 

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[SkateLeft]

My girls used Vocabulary from Classical Roots in middle school. In high school, they both used Vocabu-Lit, because they preferred the literary context. We used J in 9th and K in 10th, as they both had very strong language skills. I haven't previewed the new editions, but I'm planning on using the 9th grade book with my son in the fall.

[fourisenough]

I was all set on using Word Wealth Junior, but I discovered Vocabu-lit via this thread and I really like it! The fact that it is CC aligned and has Smarter Balanced-type questions on the assessments is a bonus for me; my DD 10 will likely attend PS for high school, so exposure now will be helpful. Not sure if we would get around to the writing prompts as I have a fairly writing-heavy year planned for her.