AbraVocabra: The Amazingly Sensible Approach to Teaching Vocabulary (AbraVocabra Series)

I'm a middle-school speech/language pathologist always on the lookout for ways to efficiently (and enjoyably) increase vocabulary in my students. I've used this book for the past 4 or 5 weeks, using the first three word lists, and so far I'm liking what I'm seeing. The words are very common words, but when I pretest my kids (know it, sort of know it, heard it but don't know it), almost all of the words fall into the heard-it-but-don't-know-it category for them. Because the words are easy and common, my students are generally able to deduce the meaning from the context sentences provided for each word. They enjoy playing with the words (drawing them, Pictionary, Charades, Round Robin stories, giving examples, relating a word from one list to one on another list, etc.). The book gives activities to get you started playing with the words -- and orients you to the idea of playing rather than working with the words. For the "program" to be effective, I'd say you need to have at least 5 minutes to play with the words at least 3 times a week. For such a small time investment, however, the payoff is pretty big.

Memorizing word lists isn't exactly a highly-recommended vocabulary instruction method. But I have to admit, my kids have painlessly learned 30 useful words in 5 weeks, retained them well, and are even starting to bring them up in conversation. So I'm actually liking this book and its approach.

About a year ago, I found this gem when I was searching for a way to prepare my students for standardized testing. Their skills in vocabulary usage had been weak the previous year. I knew that trendy vocabulary games geared to "trick" students into learning words they would likely never use were not going to be successful in my classroom. Sooooo, I ordered this book and included it in my class. Each Monday the students copied that week's word list from an overhead transparency. Each day we reviewed the words. Students earned points toward a class educational movie day for finding the words in a newspaper, magazine,etc., for using the words properly in a sentence, or for using the words in another assignment. Each week students wrote a story correctly using each of the words. On Friday, they were tested. This book contains many wonderful ideas for utilizing its word lists. Each word list is accompanied by a test which requires students to match the definition and the word, but more importantly, the test evaluates the students' abilities to use the words in context. By the way, the stories on the test are always very amusing, high-interest pieces. One weakness that I noticed is that there are a few typographical errors, but this can become a positive element in the classroom if it sparks conversation among the students. Talk about a teachable moment! Also, this book contains no graphics, but that was not a problem with my students.