When I was teaching, whenever I considered adding a new tool in my classroom, it had to meet my criteria:
- Convenient
- Flexible
- Meaningful
- Academically Rigorous
Our Vocabulary Power Plus Online program would have made the cut. So, why is Prestwick House’s Vocabulary Power Plus Online program a useful teaching tool for your classroom?
- The program is convenient for students AND teachers. Since it is web-based, the activities can be done anywhere there is an internet connection. Each lesson takes a typical student around 15-20 minutes to complete with fidelity.
- Teachers have the flexibility to assign lessons as they please. Students are also able to go back and redo activities.
- Instead of doing busywork, students get meaningful practice in an interactive and self-paced platform. We have also found that students who score an 85% or higher on the practice activities are more successful in retaining and applying the words not only on the quizzes, but also in other academic assignments.
- The program introduces students to 315 academically rigorous words that they will likely see in other texts, as well as on the SAT and ACT.
If you are interested in testing out Vocabulary Power Plus Online for yourself, I can set you up with a free trial. Just click here to get in touch with me.
Because of the flexibility of the program, people have been using it in a few different ways. Some do the standard “on your own” assignments, while others take the students to the computer lab on a particular day each week. Here are some other creative ways to incorporate Vocabulary Power Plus Online into your planning.
Use as Part of Station Rotations
Since older students often have trouble focusing their attention for more than 15 consecutive minutes, I decided to incorporate stations into my lesson plans. I chose 3-4 activities that students would complete during each rotation. Because Vocabulary Power Plus Online lessons are meant to be completed in 15-20 minutes, they would be a perfect station to incorporate into the rotation. And if students don’t finish, the program saves their progress, and they can pick up where they left off on another day. Best of all, this station needs no teacher prep!
Homework
While some schools have moved away from assigning homework, not everyone has chosen to completely ditch it. When I was teaching, we were supposed to give “meaningful assignments” as homework—not just have students finish whatever they didn’t get done in class.
With Vocabulary Power Plus Online, you can assign students different lessons to complete either that night or over time. Because the program is web-based, any student with access to the internet can access the vocabulary lessons anywhere. In addition, students will get immediate feedback on how successful they were on each activity.
Teachers can see in real time how many lessons students have (or haven’t) completed, their current scores, and how long it took them to complete the activity. If a comment is needed, it can be easily added to the student’s dashboard for feedback.
Extra Time
Another difficult element to balance in a full classroom is pacing. In a class of 24-35 students, not everyone will learn at the same tempo. There will always be a few students who finish ahead of the rest. Teachers know that those students can often create distractions to those who are still working. I would have loved to have had the Vocabulary Power Plus Online program at my disposal for those exact moments. Students could easily transition from their completed work to completing vocabulary activities.
Use as a Jumping-Off Point for Other Activities
Although Vocabulary Power Plus Online is an interactive, web-based program, you can use it as the starting point for other creative ideas you may have (teachers always have the BEST ideas). While you can use the program to teach new words, try to also incorporate it into additional supplemental activities.
As I shared in my last blog post, I often played quick games like SPARKLE to help covertly reinforce word meanings. You could use the words in a Spelling Bee or a Vocabulary Bee. Make a word wall so the vocabulary is always staring at the students—they can’t avoid the words if they are looking at them every day!
Virtual Instruction
When I permanently left the classroom in 2019, COVID-19 hadn’t hit yet. I didn’t have to navigate virtual or hybrid teaching. Now, as I talk with my friends who are still teachers, I realize how hard it is to balance in-person instruction with virtual instruction.
If I were a teacher now, I would use Vocabulary Power Plus Online as an additional resource to assign to students who are learning virtually. Once you have a structure in place for taking the quizzes, it is a tool that students can use with very little teacher oversight.
In addition, the data that teachers get from the program is an easy way to see how students are progressing.
Adding Vocabulary Power Plus Online to your teacher toolbox will make life easier for you, and your students will get access to 315 academically important words. If you would like to try out the program for yourself, I can send you a link so you can demo the student program to see the activities and quizzes we offer. Send an email to kelley@prestwickhouse.com to get started!
Vocabulary Power Plus Online
Looking for a vocabulary program that’s engaging, educational, and easy to integrate into the classroom? Vocabulary Power Plus Online has you covered. Created for grades 9-12, this completely digital program is designed to improve your students’ vocabulary skills in just a few minutes a week. Over the course of the series, your students will learn more than 1,200 high-level words, thanks to interactive exercises, context-based activities, and summative assessments. Free trial accounts are available now!
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