Help with English 3- grammar, vocabulary, reading, ACT Prep

[BusyMom5]

I'm looking for resources for next year- 11th Grade.  I have figured out the list of specific areas I want to target, but I am not finding anything that really sounds like it would work.  A little about this daughter- she wants to be a writer, and she writes novels for fun- daily.  She has APD, so sometimes things that most of us have 'heard' over the years have not translated for her-particularly vocabulary.   I notice a lot of usage errors, like she chooses a word that doesn't necessarily mean what she thinks it means- close, but doesn't fit the situation, or she will use a word in an incorrect form.  She does like big, fancy words!  I do not need anything with regard to essay form, paragraphs, writing voice, persuasive techniques- those she has!  I feel like we are at the refining her writing phase.  I plan to use Writing and Rhetoric Book 10 Thesis, and then Rhetoric Alive! (I think), and finish with Senior Thesis toward the end of the year.  CAP programs have worked beautifully for her!  She loves the conversation in them, easy to use and understand.   

I am looking for resources, including books, workbooks, full programs- anything that hits my target areas:

1.  Grammar- this DD will ace any workbook-type grammar, but it doesn't always come through in her writing.  I would like something that focuses on revising, finding errors, word usage, VS agreement, even choosing better phrases for a specific type writing.  The only thing that I have found that comes close is Fix-It Grammar- we did the first 2 levels years ago.  She does push her essays through Grammerly, and can figure out the errors about 80% of the time.  When she writes a chapter in her novel, it may contain 100+ errors!  I would love for her to be able to get that down so that her natural writing comes across correctly and clearly.  

2.  Vocabulary- She has completed Word Roots 1, 2 and 3 and I am considering WR4.  She has struggled with learning vocabulary in years past and has to focus on it.  I was looking at Cartoon Vocabulary for the SAT.  

3.  Spelling- a program that focuses on commonly misspelled words that aren't always easy for Grammerly or other Word programs to find.  I do not want an actual spelling program with a spelling list each week- that ship sailed long ago!  This child will never be a super-speller and she knows it.  We tried many programs in earlier years including Apples and Pears, which had good success (for her).  

4.  Reading for content-  This DD isn't a fast reader, and she often takes a long time to read for content.  If it's a subject she doesn't understand, it's impossible!  I would love a program that has short passages, and comprehension questions.  Something that touched on strategies for understanding a text, key words, ect.  Thinking of something like a before-college how-to for reading dense textbooks.  She can note-take, this is more about understanding.  

5.  ACT Test Prep- do you have a favorite resource?  

 

Thank you for any suggestions!  

[MamaSprout]

For vocabulary, a good one that helps with context is Vocabulit. We did the "Common Core" edition because we liked having the nonfiction passages in a addition to the literature (now that version is called 5th edition). I don't think it's technically CC with the new edition, though I think it kept the nonfiction words. Vocabu-Lit | Rainbow Resource

Spell Well for high school students might fit your need. It is technically spelling lists, but you execute it any way you wanted. We did this program and I did create my own dictation sentences, but I think I was mostly sitting at my computer and plugging it into a dictionary site that gave examples from literature for dictation. (They suggest dictation sentences rather than "spelling tests" since it helps with context and and other areas of language arts. Spell Well for Older Students (susancanthony.com) 

I like Warriner's old school "Composition and Grammar" series, but as it's an old textbook, it isn't straightforward for scheduling and sometime tricky to match TE with student text. Something that does what you are talking about in a simple way is the Elements of Style Workbook: Elements of Style Workbook | Write From History | 9781642810059 (rainbowresource.com)

When I tutored kids, I found that some of them that had trouble with reading for content actually had issues focusing on what they were reading (there a lots of other potential problems, of course). They just kept re-reading the same lines over and over. For a couple of them, we did sessions using a slightly-below-level science textbook that had comprehension questions at the end of each section. You could use whatever you have on hand that has short sections with some questions. I would make them read with a bookmark on the line ABOVE the one they were reading. They had to understand what they had read in each line before moving to the next one. Then they would answer the questions at the end of the section verbally to me. It's free to try, anyhow.

The Black Book series does a good job of talking about how the test works for ACT. We don't really have a favorite though.

Edited February 5, 2021 by MamaSprout

[RootAnn]

Have you thought about pulling some of her own writing & point out a few of her errors each day & have her look through more of her writing for the same types?

I found that was helpful with my writer who would confuse stairs with stares or there with their as examples.

You can highlight a rough sentence & have her rewrite it in different ways.