Vocabulary.com Blog
Articles about Teaching
As a teacher of English as a foreign language, I've developed a bit of an aversion to adjectives. Show me too many and I break out into a prolonged, painful and unpleasant rash. Or should that be painful, prolonged and unpleasant? Or...?
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When you hear the words academic vocabulary, you might think of words that live only in academic journals — awkward words such as insomuch, heretofore, or conversely. These words would never roll off your tongue and you would never expect to encounter them on prime time television or on the magazine rack as you wait in line at the supermarket.
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Here at Vocabulary.com we're in the process of building a library of ready-made lists based on literature commonly taught in English and ELA classrooms. Please use them! And check out these tips for getting more out of them when you do.
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We've just added five new Vocabulary Lists based on Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner! Check them out here.
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Last week, ninth grade English teacher Marc Ginsberg gave a talk on using web-based vocabulary instruction tools to align middle and high school curricula with the Common Core. Check out his presentation here!
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When Snoopy takes out his typewriter and begins to compose a novel atop his doghouse, he always begins with "It was a dark and stormy night..." This phrase — originally appearing in a schmaltzy 19th century British novel — has come to symbolize all that can go wrong with melodramatic writing, especially the clumsy attempts of a writer trying to evoke a dramatic setting within the first sentence of a work of literature.
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Tips & Tricks
Teachers Share Vocab Strategies on #engchat
Vocabulary.com's Ben Zimmer and Georgia Scurletis host discussion
Last night, Vocabulary.com executive producer Ben Zimmer and director of curriculum development Georgia Scurletis hosted the weekly #engchat session, with a focus on fresh approaches to vocabulary instruction. Teachers shared resources, inspiration, and strategy.
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