Hello, hello! I'm looking for a few kindred spirits to kibitz with me in a klatch. I don't want to be the cause of any kerfuffle, or sound juvenile, rather, I merely hope to inspire a bit of jollity. I don't want to alienate you, or cause you consternation, and I hope that my chatter won't befuddle you, as you wrestle with my jargon. Are you with me? No, I haven't lost my mind, lol, I'm just trying out a few of the colorful vocabulary words that the girls and I have picked up from Vocabulary Riddles Book 1 that we received from The Critical Thinking Co. to review.
If you thought that learning the alphabet was only for the preschoolers, you were mistaken! Vocabulary Riddles Book 1 - A-Z Catastrophes brings a lighthearted tone to the task of teaching more challenging vocabulary words for grades 4-8. This book couldn't have arrived at a better time. We were beginning to wrap up the school year for my 7th and 8th graders. This proved to be the perfect blend of learning and fun, a refreshing enhancement to our last bit of studies for the year. If you had asked my daughters how they felt about beginning a new vocabulary review at that point, they may not have responded with much enthusiasm. After quickly flipping through the pages, the lighthearted whimsy of this book won them over.
This is a 30 page (the last 4 of which make up the answer key), paperback, consumable book. In Vocabulary Riddles Book 1 - A-Z Catastrophes , students will work through the alphabet, learning more challenging vocabulary words as they solve riddles. There is 1 page for each letter. The layout for the lessons are simple to work out, but in case you find yourself a little lost at first, the inside cover takes you through all of the steps.
Let me break it down a little further. Each letter has two riddles to solve, which are presented through alliteration. Are you rusty as to the meaning of alliteration? The dictionary defines it as "The commencement of two or more words of a word group with the same letter." Here's an example:
"Q's Query about the quagmire did little to quell her qualms."
Each riddle contains 4 vocabulary words to learn and define. After each riddle, there are 6 questions to answer in order to decode the meaning of the featured words. They will ask you to decipher the meanings through synonyms, antonyms, definitions, and parts of speech. You'll want access to a dictionary for many of these, I'm sure. Some of the words have more than one meaning, so it's important as you go through the questions, that you see the context that is being used. It's very simple really.
With 26 pages of riddles, we easily finished this book in a month's time, completing about a page every day. We worked on this together, taking turns reading the questions, and decoding the meanings. Some of the words brought lots of laughter! This was an easy addition to our homeschool. Now, reading, vocabulary, and language arts, are strengths for my daughters, so I'm sure that had to do with the overall enjoyment of this book. We love words, and the more unusual and interesting, the better. For those of you with kids that have an aversion to vocabulary, well, you may have different results. Even if that is the case, the lessons are short and fun, and a great way to keep your language arts studies engaging. Your students will be prepping for those looming college tests without knowing it! You can use these as a precursor to your regular lessons, or during longer trips when you find your family "carschooling", and everywhere else you can think of. Right now, the price is $6.49 on their website, so it's very affordable. I have found it to be a fantastic addition, and I'll be checking out other titles. Why not try it for yourself?
Find The Critical Thinking Co. on social media:
Google+
Crew members also reviewed a few other titles by this company. Check them, out!
Understanding Pre-Algebra
Critical Thinking Detective Book 1
Something Fishy At Lake Iwannafisha
Critical Thinking Detective Vocabulary
Dare To Compare Level 1
Read other Crew reviews about this, as well as other resources from this company, by clicking the banner below!
No comments:
Post a Comment