![]() These lay the foundation, really, for the entire course, and equip the student to complete each lesson with understanding, and to build each lesson on the last ones (and last words) completed. It’s important to do the lessons in order, especially the first six ones, which introduce both the teacher and the student to the prefixes and suffixes used with each word root in the course. There are also mini-quizzes (the “Check-Up”) to test kids on their understanding of the work completed. In each chapter, there were “Word Fun Facts” to share “Word Alerts” that showed similar words that weren’t from the same root and learning extensions and “Mini-Lessons” which not only gave deeper understanding but helped keep things fun. At the beginning of the course, I did more with him, but the further we progressed, the more he understood the exercises’ outlines and purposes, and the more he could do on his own. Then, we’d work together on the exercises in his book each day. I introduced each word root, prefix and suffix to him (as the lesson plan indicated). WordBuild the Game, for the word root “vent” ![]() ![]() I let him pick the words he wanted to work on each day in the computer game, although I did figure out (sort of late in the game) that it was a better learning activity for him if he did the words in the game that we were doing in the physical lessons! It’s laid out so easily for the teacher all I had to do was to follow the lesson plan as it was written, make sure a dictionary (we used the online ) was available, and work with Jackson on each lesson. There’s also a “Help” button which plays a game instruction video.īasically, we followed the course’s lesson plan as without any changes. There is a button which allows students to print a list of the words they’ve composed, each time they play. Once they’ve composed a word, they click on “Check It!” to see if they’ve made a real word or not. Then, they select prefixes and suffixes from columns on the left and right of the game board to form new words. To play, students select one root from a list of more than 200. Background music can be turned on or off (classical, funk, rock, jazz and more). WordBuild the Game, which requires either a Windows 98 or a Mac OS X operating system, helps kids to take all that they’re learning in Elements 1 to learn to form new words in a competitive game. ![]() The curriculum itself teaches these via games and exercises, rather than just rote memorization, so students enjoyably learn each morpheme by working on a lesson for about 15 minutes each day. (Basically, that will give you a full year’s course.) Each of these words is derived from either Latin or Greek, and comes in the forms of roots, suffixes and prefixes–the “key elements.” These “key elements” are known as “morphemes,” which are simply the core parts of words. WordBuild: Elements Level 1, suited for students in grades 6-10, teaches 25 word roots from the English language in 28 lessons. And, one that will have a lifelong effect on him! So, introducing Jackson (who’s 13) to this world of discovery via Dynamic Literacy‘s WordBuild: Elements Level 1 was a fantastic experience. It can truly be a mark of an educated person. I believe that this is a skill that’s not only vital for SAT and other standardized tests and college prep, but for lifelong enjoyment and learning about words. I had always been a book nerd and had a decent vocabulary, but this class transformed the way I looked at words…and used them!īecause of this amazing experience, I’ve always wanted to teach my son the secrets of word decoding that I’d found so useful. In this class, I learned that I could decode the meanings of words simply if I knew the meanings of their roots plus any suffixes or prefixes added to them. One of the college classes which had the most powerful and enduring effect on me was an upper-level class I took on Greek and Latin vocabulary. I am always interested to check out curricula which teach vocabulary based on word roots, suffixes and prefixes and their meanings. The WordBuild: Elements, Level 1 Set includes the Student Activity Book, a Teacher Edition, and a CD of WordBuild the Game for computers. Through the Schoolhouse Review Crew, we recently received Dynamic Literacy‘s excellent vocabulary development curriculum, WordBuild: Elements, Level 1 Set (Includes WordBuild the Game) to use and review.
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