Improve Your Vocabulary, Improve Your SAT or ACT Score

I recently realized that lack of a broad vocabulary hinders many students from scoring higher on the SAT or ACT test.

Improve your vocabulary, improve your score.



Sounds easy, right?

It is easy if you don't wait until a week or a month before the test to cram 100 new words into your head.

I am teaching an SAT Essay class at our homeschool co-op this year. I have taught this class several different times over the last eight years.  

For the first time, I have added weekly vocabulary words for the students to learn.

My goal is for the students to incorporate the new words into their spoken and written vocabulary.  

Each Friday, for nine weeks, the students learn 12 new words which gives them  

100+ Vocab Words (open and print the list)

To help the students remember the words, I ask them to do the following:

1.  Monday- Write down the word and the definition
     in a  steno notebook. 
      I do not allow them to cut and paste the words into a 
     document they can print. 
     The manual process of writing the words helps them start 
     remembering the definition.
      A steno notebook has a line dividing the page so words   
      can be written on one side, definitions on the other.

2.  Tuesday- Write a sentence with each word.  Review 
     the words and definitions.
      This helps put the word in proper context and (hopefully) 
     helps with correct spelling.

3.  Wednesday- Review the words.  Students should be 
     adding them to their spoken vocabulary.  It is said  
     that if you use a new word 3 times a day, it will become 
     yours.

4.  Thursday- Review the words.  Have a family member 
     or friend quiz you on the definition of the word and  
     the correct spelling of the word.  
      The quiz on Friday is given in crossword puzzle form and
      requires correct spelling.

5.  Friday- Crossword Puzzle quiz over all 12 words.    
    Students are given a cross word puzzle with definitions of 
     the vocabulary words as clues.  I do not provide a word 
     bank, so they will need to have reviewed the words every 
     day to know which words will fit the puzzle.

 For each 3 week period, students are given a three week comprehensive quiz which covers three weeks of vocabulary words.  

I make my crossword puzzles at  The Teachers Corner.  The website offers free puzzle makers.  This would be a fun way to test other information, too. 

The words I put on my list were chosen from other SAT lists found at a variety of websites and from practice SAT tests.  I tried to choose words that students probably don't know.  Of course, some students have a broader vocabulary based on their reading habits and what they hear spoken.

Start your student learning vocabulary by downloading my list and following the steps above to learn the words.  From there, branch out with other vocabulary lists, making sure to spend enough time with the words to make them your own.
     
 Improving your vocabulary can be easy.