Vocabu-Lit J Teacher (Common Core Edition)

Combine vocabulary building with exposure to quality literature and what do you get? Vocabu-Lit! In each of the lessons, a short (half-page) segment of literature is provided. The 10 master words to be studied in the lesson are shown in bold print in the reading selection. Literature selections in the original edition includes classic and contemporary fiction while non-fiction, speeches, and primary source material was added to the Common Core and 5th editions. Vocabulary exercises include writing a definition of each word before and after looking it up in the dictionary, choosing synonyms and antonyms from a list provided, filling in the master words in analogies, and filling in the master words in a sentence.

Common Core significantly changes literature studies, and we see that in this series - which is still an excellent vocabulary series, by the way. First of all, the literature selections are different. In Book F (6) there is overlap in only seven (out of 30) selections. In Book I (9) there is more overlap - twelve out of 30. Gone are selections from Swiss Family Robinson, The Prince and the Pauper, and Anne of Green Gables (to name just a few). New inserts include retold Shakespeare, Pride and Prejudice, and, interestingly, a biography of Steve Jobs among many others.

CCSS requires a wider selection of reading genres - informational, retold drama, and critical essay are among the additions. To give you an idea of the types of literature included, in Book F (6) there are eight informational, three poems, nine fiction (plus one historical fiction), four autobiographies (plus one biography and one memoir), one critical essay, and one retold drama selection. This sort of coverage seems to be pretty consistent across grade levels.

Once you get into the actual literature/vocabulary lessons, the general format and coverage is similar to the older editions. There is a half-page or so passage followed by six exercises. Some of the activities are identical to the older edition - synonyms/antonyms, sentence completion, for instance. The definitions sequence is almost the same with students asked to give context clues in this new edition. A few of the exercises are new - shades of meaning, related words and meanings, and using words with multiple meanings. The games are gone, but each lesson includes a writing assignment (lots of variety here). One of my favorite "adds" in this new edition are the lessons on literary analysis.

For each of the six units, there is a word study section that includes a lesson on classic roots and affixes and a lesson on some aspect of literary analysis. Each of the six units also includes a Unit Assessment patterned after SAT, PARCC, and Smarter Balanced item types (fill in the bubble) - short literature passages followed by multiple-choice questions and concluding with a writing question.

The Student Books are consumable worktexts. The Teacher Book is a replica of the student with answers filled in. Also new with this edition but available now for both is a Test booklet and Answer Key. 165 pgs, pb. ~ Janice