Words - Learning and Using Them

Dateline: Oct. 27, 2009

Religious Words Practice

I got this post from a Vocabulary Blog. It's repeated here with permission. Thanks Topsy.

The topics used in the games at Vocabulary Website cover a wide variety of subjects and curriculum areas. Several of the topics offered in the games at Vocabulary Learning Run are related to religion. If you are playing either Match Game, Quiz Game, Unscramble, Word Search, Crossword Puzzle, or Hang Mouse, you can choose any of the following topics using words related to religion:

Religion (for lower grades)
Biblical Cities (for middle/upper grades)
Religion and Philosophy (for upper grades)
Hebrew Yiddish origin (for upper grades)

Any of these lists would be good for a unit study on religions of the world, a geography theme on cities of the Bible, and for more advanced vocabulary studies of religion, philosophy, or word origins.

Words that you might come across in these lists include:

orthodox
decalogue
oracles
Sedom
Jerusalem
Bethlehem
jubilee
schlock
theology
church
prayer

If your students are preparing to study religion, Vocabulary Games offers a terrific way to supplement your curriculum with fun and educational vocabulary building games!

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Dateline: Oct. 26, 2009

The Word Homeschooling - State by State

Although we use the word homeschooling broadly, it actually means something a little different in each state. The laws about education and mandatory school attendance and what constitutes education are set by each state so our country enjoys at least fifty different rules about it. I say at least because in some states, there are a few different ways and sets of rules about homeschooling.

State Overviews

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Dateline: Oct. 25, 2009

Homeschooling Mainstream

I like this post about homeschooling going mainstream so I thought I'd quote part of it.

WOW… Could it be possible? Homeschooling bordering on the mainstream? I sure would like to let a few people in on that one! But for now, I am thrilled to know that homeschooling is growing fast. That means there are alot of others out there just like me! That helps dispell the loneliness, but sometimes we need interaction on a more personal level. I know there are the tried and true methods of homeschool support groups -but ours is pretty small and we don’t do too many activities. So for me, I have looked into online alternatives. There are online support groups and even homeschool forums. I have been getting involved in some of these, and it has helped me to see the “big picture.” There are so many wonderful home schooling families out there. If you are feeling “alone” in the home education world – try one of these. You’ll soon begin to see that homeschooling may be “bordering on mainstream” after all.

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Dateline: Oct. 24, 2009

Great Writing, Blogging, Vocabulary

Some blogs that I like to read and why:

Blogging about Blogging - Provided by the BlogWritingCourse.com. I particularly like learning about the nonprofits that do well blogging.

Blogging about Vocabulary - That blog provides much of the inspiration for this one. She writes well.

Blogging about teaching writing online - The Time4Writing Teacher's blog is interesting.

Blogging about Online homeschooling and education - OK, we all blog about that. But this lady has a PhD in education and six kids. And a sense of humor and faith. I'm wowed!

Online homeschooling - This blog is more conceptual about how homeschooling fits into education, what is education, and how it's all changing.

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Dateline: Oct. 23, 2009

Nitpicking Words - Lousy with vocabulary

I hate to admit but we spent a weekend recently nitpicking.

Since I had a lot of time to joke with the kids and I hate to waste a potential teachable moment, I harped on about the words. As I went through my daughters hair, I asked if she knew what the lice's eggs were called. Answer nits.

I asked her if she knew what it was called when I went through her hair looking for lice eggs.

It took her awhile before the light bulb went on.

Nitpicking! "Yes, it's detailed painstaking laborious work. See where the word comes from? Our language is lousy with such terms."

Sadly, she missed this reference so I dragged her through it.

"What's the singular of mice?" Mouse. Good.

"And what do you call a person who is mouse-like?" Mousey. Good.

Now what's the singular of lice? And what do you call a person who is full of them? Louse and lousey. Superb.

I love expanding my vocabulary with games. That's the great vocabulary.co.il website.
For focused education, the vocabulary games on SpellingCity.com are awesome.
For online vocabulary education integrated in a complete language arts program, go with Time4Learning.com. For grade level info:

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Dateline: Sep. 8, 2009

Homeschool Language Arts

I just read sometime that speaks to me: Language Arts Homeschool is the Heart of a Great Education.

Yup, I think it's by our careful selection of vocabulary that we learn to master nuance, logic, and precision. Sloppy speakers are almost always sloppy thinkers. I' recommend word games early on. I'm not talking about the phonemic awareness type rhyming games to learn phonics, which is important. I'm talking about right through K12, working on your exact use of language arts.

But wanting your child to have strong reading, writing and reasoning skills is not enough, you need the right language arts homeschool curriculum.

But there are so many language arts programs and approaches. How do parents choose the right homeschool language arts program? How do they mix other resources with their preferred homeschool curriculum?

Blogs I like: Homeschool Communication and Homeschool K12

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Dateline: Sep. 6, 2009

Homeschool Vocabulary 4th Grade

Building Vocabulary in fourth grade is more of the same. The 4th grade homeschool online program integrates language arts with vocabulary and literature. Here's some literature that you read (all provided).

Fourth Grade Vocabulary

Vocabulary building strategies are emphasized throughout Time4Learning’s fourth grade language arts program. Vocabulary exercises encourage students to identify prefixes and suffixes, using this information to determine the correct meaning of a word. Animated vocabulary lessons cover synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms. Literature-based study of topics such as pioneers, natural disasters, African American poetry, and inventors present themed vocabulary words. Ten concentrated units offer traditional vocabulary lists. Math vocabulary is introduced with vocabulary words relating to quantity and size. Units culminate with a vocabulary test to assess understanding.

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Dateline: Sep. 4, 2009

3rd Grade Vocabulary

In 3rd grade, they learn:

louce lice
mouse mice
house.....houses...

Weird language, our English.

Third Grade Vocabulary

Time4Learning’s third graders begin their language arts program with enjoyable, animated vocabulary exercises. The initial vocabulary lessons cover synonyms, antonyms, prefixes, suffixes, and homophones. Throughout the third grade language arts program, students are exposed to vocabulary building strategies within the context of reading comprehension exercises. Vocabulary units present themed vocabulary lists covering math vocabulary, social studies vocabulary, science vocabulary, and more. Units based on literature offer printable graphic organizers to enhance the student’s understanding of definitions.

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Dateline: Sep. 3, 2009

Learning Vocabulary through games

Some learning games are just silly. You don't learn much despite their name. There are others which will actually help you master new materials. My current most popular word game is the slang game on the vocabulary site:

They have collected expressions which are currently in use, not obscene or raunchy, and totally perplexing from the language. Some are sports-based, many are not. There other word games are good but this is the best. I hear that they are going to create printable worksheets soon.

Vocabulary.co.il is a great vocabulary builder. This word game website is a fun way to build English vocabulary.

Vocabulary is Fun is a leading vocabulary website worldwide with the best flash online word games. The vocabulary games include an online word search, an online crossword puzzle, and hangman online (our version is called HangMouse). Users choose the vocabulary list that the online word game will use in the word game. The vocabulary games are popular for use on smart boards for word games to build vocabulary skills in classrooms.

Many people build their English vocabulary through a blend of methods -- by taking English classes, reading books, watching movies in English, and studying English with English language software. Playing word and vocabulary games is a valuable part of learning English. There are thousands of vocabulary words in our vocabulary lists.

Vocabulary.co.il is a fun educational website dedicated to helping you build reading, phonics, or English language skills. We offer Free Online Word Games which are specifically designed to build vocabulary skills and to motivate people to learn through fun practice in spelling, phonics, and vocabulary.

Another way to learn is by taking an online curriculum:

Preschool vocabulary

Kindergarten words

First Grade vocabulary

Second Grade vocabulary

Third Grade vocabulary

Fourth Grade vocabulary

Fifth Grade vocabulary

Sixth Grade vocabulary

Seventh Grade vocabulary

Eighth Grade vocabulary

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Dateline: Sep. 1, 2009

Great Resources

I mostly focus on words for homeschool curriculum but I just found a great collection of totally free resources. Look at this collection of fabulous learning resources on a great site for homeschools and regular schools. And I quote:

Dolch Words - This collection of Dolch or Sight words is perennially useful. There is both background information and lists ready-to-use.
Compound Words - Kids love studying compound words. Teachers love teaching them. Does your school have a Compound Word Day? It should!
Sound Alike Words or Homophones - All students and many adults benefit from practice distinguishing the right spelling and usage of its and it's; they're, there, and their; and to, too, and two.
Word Confusion - This article reviews homophones, homonyms, homographs, and synonyms. Need a quick reminder?
Contractions - You can build lists using words like: I’ll, we’ll, shouldn’t, and they’re. There are lists of what contractions SpellingCity.com supports.
Abbreviations - You can build lists using abbreviations such as titles (Mr. Dr, Mrs.), measurements (oz., pt, qt.), and geographic terms (Blvd., Pkwy., and Rd.)
Possessives - SpellingCity has added some sample possessive forms of nouns, both plural and singular, for spelling and grammar practice. For example: aunt, aunts, aunt's, aunts', boy, boys, boy's, boys', lady, ladies, lady's, ladies', doctor, doctors, doctor's, doctors'. As background, SpellingCity has always included both the singular and plural forms of nouns and the the forms of verbs (ex play, playing, played).

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Dateline: Aug. 30, 2009

Synonyms - The Myth

I've long believed that there is almost nothing so rare as a true synonym. I mean, if two words meant exactly the same thing, what's the point of having them. One would become dominant: the other archaic.

I think the reality is that there is almost always a slight distinction in meaning between two words. Large is different than enormous which is different than big, than giant, than gross, than oversized.

Too much of our education seems to spend time talking about words that mean the same thing. If that were true, what's the point of having so many words?

It's illogical and sends the wrong message.

Click to learn my favorite vocabulary building sites and places to learn high frequency dolch words.

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