The latest selection for 2009 Word of the Year comes from the good people at Merriam-Webster. Unlike other dictionary publishers that anoint an annual word, Merriam-Webster bases its winner and runners-up on actual user lookups to its online dictionary and thesaurus. So instead of the novelties selected by its competitors (distracted driving from Webster's New World, unfriend from New Oxford American), Merriam-Webster's choice is an old word that worked its way into current events: admonish. Continue reading...
Last week, as we announced ten winners and ten runners up to the Vocabulary Video contest we ran in partnership with the New York Times Learning Network, we couldn't help but notice that two of the top twenty videos were submitted by students working with Elizabeth Ellison, a teacher at the Robert C. Fisler School in Fullerton, CA. We reached out to Ellison to ask her about her vocabulary teaching program. What's driving her students' success? Continue reading...
As Bilbo tracks his dragon, tame the vocabularian beasts that block your path with our List of the Week: Vocabulary from The Hobbit. Learn them before you see the film! Continue reading...
When middle school literature teacher Kathy Zimbaldi first pitched the idea of Vocabulary.com to her principal at St. Vincent de Paul School in Houston, TX, she was pretty sure the tool would bring meaningful word learning to the literature curriculum. What she didn't realize? It would also help her hack Summer Reading...and land her students a David-beats-Goliath feel good monthly leaderboard win. Continue reading...
What's the best way to start the month of February? With one teacher's inspiration to her students competing in the Vocabulary Bowl. Continue reading...
In the world of competitive word-learning, the biggest summer tradition involves a little school from Texas mastering the most words in North America. Continue reading...
In anticipation of the announcement of the winner of The Man Booker International Prize this Wednesday, we're awarding our own prizes to the nominees today. But don't look here for an analysis of literary merit. We're considering these writers only in terms of their usefulness to vocabulary learners. Continue reading...
The Houston Independent School District has made boosting literacy a district-wide goal, and to that end, it has rolled out Vocabulary.com to all middle school and high school students in the district. In the process, Houston ISD schools have dominated the nationwide Vocabulary Bowl. Continue reading...