We’ve received and purchased several awesome resources from The Critical Thinking Co. over the years, and now we’ve had the opportunity to try out a copy of Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1, written by Nancy Forderer, with my 8th grade daughter. With these big tests on our mind, I was hoping to run across a good resource to help her with her vocabulary, so this was good timing for this review.
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We received a digital download eBook version, which must be downloaded and run on a computer running Windows. If you are using a Mac or Chromebook, be sure to pick up a paperback copy for the same price. The digital version opens within its own program, and you are able to browse the entire book, as well as print whatever you’d like.
The cover is in color, but all of the other pages are in gray scale, so that is very helpful to save on printing costs if you choose to do that! Alternatively, you could easily have your student read from the screen and answer separately in a blank notebook or on a sheet of paper as you assign various parts of the lessons to them. Answers are located in the back section of the book.
Vocabulary Virtuoso book is great for test prep for middle school and high school students approximately in 8th-12th grades, or even for adults.
There are 20 different lists for students to tackle, each with 9 ambitiously difficult vocabulary words to study, define, and use through the exercises. If you’re keeping track, that’s 180 words, and 85% of those words are ones that are found on current PSAT and SAT word lists.
Each list emphasizes a particular part of speech, like verbs, adjectives, or nouns. Each lesson begins with a sheet that includes the word, a pronunciation of the word, the definition, and a sentence using the word in context. Following, there are 6 activities per list for the student to complete, labeled A-F.
Your student will be filling in the blanks and defining and using their new vocabulary words in different ways. In some of the activities, the student defines the words, in others, they will identify synonyms or alternative definitions for the words, in others, they will fill in the blanks in stories with the correct vocabulary word, and so on. I love that it challenges students to use some critical thinking skills in selecting the correct answers.
After every 4 lists, there is a Review section for the previous 4 lists. There are 3 activities for these reviews, including a crossword puzzle, a page of multiple choice questions, and a page of fill in the blank exercises. These are fairly quick and to the point.
We have been working somewhat slowly through the lists. My daughter is in 8th grade, but is currently working on some 9th grade work. I will continue to have her work slowly on this and count it toward her English I credit for 9th grade.
We’ve been working at a pace of one activity per day, so each list is taking 7 school days to complete, with one being the introduction to the new list, and then one per exercise A-F. The review activity could easily be completed in one sitting, or could be stretched out to one per day, to make the review last 3 days.
On our slower schedule, this is hardly adding any time at all to the school day, and my daughter is getting test prep and a vocabulary component to her language arts credit that her regular curriculum doesn’t provide enough of, in my opinion. She is also using critical thinking skills!
We both like this resource and are looking forward to continuing to use it for her freshman year. When we’re done with this book, I’ll likely look into Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT SAT Book 2 so she can learn even more for 10th grade.
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Many other resources from The Critical Thinking Co. were reviewed for students from 3rd grade to 12th grade. Be sure to click the banner below to find out more about the other titles families used during the review period, including: Book 2 of Vocabulary Virtuoso, Pattern Explorer Beginning, Elementary Math Games, Critical Thinking Detective – Vocabulary Book 2, Dare to Compare: Math Level 2, Middle School Math Games, and Building Writing Skills – Essential Tips & Techniques.
