Vocabu-Lit®

Building Vocabulary Through Reading

Vocabu-Lit® encourages self-directed learning by equipping students with multiple research-based strategies to unlock the meaning of words in context. The 30 lessons and 300 words in each level of Vocabu-Lit® provide student's with a full year of instruction and ample assessment opportunities.

The Vocabu-Lit® Difference

By using authentic literature from a variety of genres, students see how to APPLY WORD STUDY STRATEGIES TO ALL THEIR READING.

“Students have the opportunity to learn how great authors use words effectively, expanding their knowledge of word meanings, syntax, and style. Reading high-quality texts provides the opportunity for analysis of ways in which mature writers use words and grammatical structures.” – Juel, C. & Delfres, R.
Exercises incorporate learning science to IMPROVE LONG-TERM VOCABULARY RETENTION.

“In a word-learning experiment, repeated retrieval of the vocabulary words enhanced learning only when the repetitions were spaced. Simple changes that incorporated spaced retrieval practice took performance from nearly total forgetting to extremely good retention one week after an initial learning experience.” – Karpicke, J.D., & Bauernschmidt
Lessons review just ten words at a time so students can FOCUS THEIR LEARNING and deepen their understanding.

“Given that students are learning vocabulary in social studies and science as well as reading or language arts, there needs to be some basis for limiting the number of words so that students will have the opportunity to learn some words well.” – Beck, Isabel, L., McKeown, Margaret G., and Kucan, Linda.
Multiple exposures in a variety of contexts BUILDS STUDENT CONFIDENCE to make new words part of their everyday and academic vocabulary.

“Vocabulary instruction should provide students with opportunities to encounter words repeatedly in a variety of contexts. Research indicates that students “learn a little from the first encounter with a word and then more and more about a word’s meaning as [they] meet it in new and different contexts.” – Graves, M.F.
Interactive editions feature a wealth of digital tools to ENHANCE ACCESSIBILITY AND COMPREHENSION for all students.

“Text-to-speech software...eases challenges for students to decode text fluently and has been found to positively affect reading comprehension for students with disabilities.” – Chen, I., & Yen, J.

Beginning-of-Year Pretest

If you are using the Interactive Edition of Vocabu-Lit® there is a Beginning-of-Year Pretest assessment allows one to baseline students vocabulary knowledge at the beginning of the year.

Students will complete a variety of vocabulary exercises including:

Sentence Completion
Synonyms and Antonyms
Word Meanings
Figurative Language
Analogies
Classic Roots and Affixes
Academic Vocabulary

Unit Opener Activities

Learning science shows embracing difficulties builds perseverance and spaced retrieval increases retention.

Students engage in a purposeful struggle to apply previous knowledge to words they may never have seen before and draw inferences from words and information they already know.
This preview activity will help students recall the master words when they encounter them later in the unit.

Lesson Exercises

Using authentic selections from classic and contemporary literature and nonfiction, students use scaffolded close reading exercises, students extract word meaning from context.

Exercise 1: First Read

Students read the selection and answer questions to establish a basic understanding of the passage.

Exercise 2: Using Context Clues

Students read the selection a second time, this time focusing on the Master Words and annotating any context clues that provide meaning. From this information, they develop their own definition and compare it to a dictionary definition.

Exercises 3–6: Build word mastery with multiple exposures to Master Words

Activities represent a variety of research-based vocabulary strategies.
Activities reinforce each other, increasing in complexity.

Exercise 7: Write About It

Every lesson features a writing prompt related to the featured passage that requires students to use the Master Words in their Response.

Multi-Lesson Tests

Multi-Lesson Tests improve retention and student vocabulary usage. These tests cover the first three lessons of the unit and the fourth and fifth lessons of the unit. These tests are 20 questions in length covering a range of exercises, including:

Sentence Completion
Synonyms
Antonyms
Context Clues
Analogies
Multiple Word Meanings
Shades of Meaning
Root Word Families
Idioms

Unit Assessments

Unit Word Study

Unit reviews improve retention and extend student vocabulary usage. Each of the 50 vocabulary words in the five prior lessons are covered through a range of exercises, including:

Classic Roots and Affixes—what are the meanings of Greek and Latin affixes and how do they change the meaning of a root or base word.

Idioms and Sayings—use context clues to determine the meaning of idioms and sayings in which one or more unit Master Words appear.

Academic Vocabulary—feature general as well as domain-specific academic vocabulary words from the unit.

Figurative Language—opportunities to analyze and practice writing figurative language, including imagery and figures of speech.

Unit Review Test

Unit Review Tests are available in the Interactive Edition and Test Booklets of Vocabu-Lit®.

Each of unit ends with a Review Test with four-sections of questions. These tests cover words introduced in the various chapters of the unit. These tests are 20 questions in length covering a range of exercises, including:

Academic Vocabulary
Allusion
Context Clues
Class Roots and Affixes
Figurative Language
Foreign Words and Phrases
Formal and Informal Usage
Idioms
Shades of Meaning

Unit Assessment

Each of the six units ends with a five-section assessment is between 15-20 questions.

Section I
A short passage with 10 Master Words from the unit and 10 multiple-choice questions.

Section II–IV

Passages from classic literature featuring two or more Master Words from the unit and

related multiple-choice questions similar to those found on standardized assessments.

Section V

A writing prompt based on topics and themes in the unit.

Unit ACT® Practice Test

For Grades 9–12 each Unit contains a Unit ACT® Practice Test is provided in Vocabu-Lit®. These Unit ACT® Practice Tests are only available online in the Interactive Edition.

These assessments are modeled after the SAT® tests to provide students with exposure to the types of questions they will encounter on these tests. These practice tests are 10 questions in length.

Unit SAT® Practice Test

For Grades 9–12 each Unit contains a Unit SAT® Practice Test is provided in Vocabu-Lit®. These Unit SAT® Practice Tests are only available online in the Interactive Edition.

These assessments are modeled after the SAT® tests to provide students with exposure to the types of questions they will encounter on these tests. These practice tests are 10 questions in length.

End-of-Year Tests

All levels of Vocabu-Lit® include an End-of-Year Test as part of the program in the Interactive Edition or the Test Booklet. The Interactive Edition for Grades 9–12 also contains a Review ACT® Practice Test and a Review SAT® Review Test.

End-of-Year Test

End-of-Year Test is available in the Interactive Edition and Test Booklet for Vocabu-Lit®.

The End-of-Year tests are approximately 70 questions in length providing a summative assessment for each level. Students will complete a variety of vocabulary exercises including:

Sentence Completion
Synonyms and Antonyms
Word Meanings
Figurative Language
Analogies
Classic Roots and Affixes
Academic Vocabulary

Review ACT® Practice Test

A Review ACT® Practice Test is provided in Vocabu-Lit® for Grades 9–12. This practice test is only available online in the Interactive Edition.

These assessments are modeled after the ACT® tests to provide students with exposure to the types of questions they will encounter on these tests. These practice tests are 10 questions in length.

Review SAT® Practice Test

A Review SAT® Practice Test is provided in Vocabu-Lit® for Grades 9–12. This practice test is only available online in the Interactive Edition.

These assessments are modeled after the SAT® tests to provide students with exposure to the types of questions they will encounter on these tests. These practice tests are 10 questions in length.