I’ve noticed a disturbing trend among South Florida high school sophomore and junior students. They lack the level of vocabulary that is necessary to score well on the ACT and SAT tests. My students have explained to me that the only time they study vocabulary is in conjunction with the novels they are reading in English class. I’m used to using the Vocabulary Workshop books by Sadlier-Oxford with students from 6-12 grades. The books use letters or colors to indicate the level. For 10th-grade level E or F is appropriate and for 11th and 12th-grade levels G and H work well. These are older books which have been discarded by many school systems in favor of online vocabulary practice but since the ACT and SAT are pencil and paper tests these books are very useful. You can find new copies on Amazon or check out thirftbooks.com to find inexpensive used copies. The books don’t sing and dance like the online practices (I’m being facetious here) but each unit provides enough practice so students are able to master the word list each week.
Parents can offer this to their students as an option to prepare for the ACT/SAT tests as early as middle school. I can’t emphasize enough how important vocabulary is for great scores on the SAT or ACT tests. If students don’t know what the words mean they can’t answer the questions correctly. Here’s an easy and painless way for parents to help improve their student’s scores. Start early and keep it up! 