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• How to Teach Vocabulary
  
• Vocabulary Bingo Game
  
• Latin & Greek Roots
  
  
• How to Read a Dictionary Etymology
• Reference Books
• Vocabulary Games & Word Games
• SAT high-frequency vocabulary lists
• Word-a-Day e-mail services
• Cool Stuff
• Favorite Vocabulary Products

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How to Read an Etymology

A good college dictionary is a precious resource in any study of roots. Have you ever really looked at the word origin information at the end of many entries? Each carries a wealth of information. The format may vary from one publisher to another, but if the word comes from Latin or Greek, you will generally find the same information. Here is the Random House Webster’s College Dictionary entry for transmit.

L transmittere to send across = trans- TRANS- + mittere to send.

This typical entry tells you quite a bit. I've color coded the entry and the explanation. Notice that the words in the source language (Latin) are italicized.

• The source language, abbreviated (L). It may refer to a specific form of Latin such as ML (Medieval Latin) or NL (New Latin).
• The original word in the source language (transmittere).
• The definition of the original word (to send across).
• The roots which form the word (trans- + mittere).
• If one of the roots has its own entry elsewhere in the dictionary (TRANS-), it is simply listed here in all cap's, not defined. Go to the entry to find the definition.
• If a root does not have its own entry (mittere), it is defined here.

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Reference Books

• Vocabulary Vine and Science Roots (roots curricula)
• Word Stems: A Dictionary by John Kennedy, Soho Press, Inc. (roots dictionary)
• Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms by Donald J. Borror (biology)
• A good collegiate dictionary such as Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
• Vocabulary for High School Students curriculum

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Word Games

• Vocabulary Bingo
• Pictionary using words from their vocabulary list.
• Make a game of how many times they can use list words in a day.
• Misuse a list word and see who catches it; challenge them to do the same.
• Let them make up oral sentences, but say the list word in Pig Latin.
• Have them make one oral sentence using all today’s list words.
• Synonym Toppers
• Misheard words
• Adverb acting
• Restaurant Vocabulary Games
• Synonym Pile

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SAT high-frequency vocabulary lists

• Interactive SAT vocabulary quizzes for 720 words
• Jacob Richman's Interactive SAT vocabulary quizzes for 3,500 words
• Quia SAT Vocab Matching for 100 words
• A Year's Worth of Words – 366 words, more fun than the rest.
• Top SAT Words – 108 words
• Test Prep Review – 750 words
• Free Vocabulary.Com – 5,000 words

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Word-a-Day e-mail services

• Merriam-Webster Word of the Day
• Daily buzzword (a WOTD for kids)
• Vocab Vitamins s (formerly "MyWordaDay")
• A Word a Day
• Cool word of the day
• Garner's Usage Tip of the Day
• and more at Building a Better Vocabulary. See the Using the Internet section toward the bottom of that web page. There’s more Word-A-Day sites, SAT vocabulary quizes (very good!), and crossword sites.

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Cool Stuff

• Plumb Design Visual Thesaurus
• M-W Toolbar, instant definition for any word on any web site

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Favorite Vocabulary Products

• Vocabulary Vine and Science Roots (roots curricula)
• Vocabulary for the High School Student and Vocabulary For the College-Bound Student by Harold Levine et al. Amsco School Publications.
• Vocabulary Cartoons. The SAT Word Power volumes cover close to 300 vocabulary words each.

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