Educator Resources

Put the Visual Thesaurus to work in your classroom

Word Count

Writers Talk About Writing

The Noun Game

November 16, 2009

University of Illinois linguist Dennis Baron explains how a simple grammar lesson can lead to a clash of civilizations.

Everybody knows that a noun is the name of a person, place, or thing. It's one of those undeniable facts of daily life, a fact we seldom question until we meet up with a case that doesn't quite fit the way we're used to viewing things. Continue reading...
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Word Count

Writers Talk About Writing

How Does English Instruction Add Up?
November 9, 2009 - 10 Comments

Wordshop

Vocab activities for your classroom

Marzano's Six Steps to Effective Vocabulary Instruction

October 22, 2009
Ed researcher Robert J. Marzano suggests that we can help close the achievement gap by explicitly teaching subject-specific academic vocabulary to those students who are lacking the background knowledge to succeed in school. We urge you to check out this handy-dandy chart that demonstrates how the Visual Thesaurus can help you implement Marzano's six steps of vocabulary instruction. Continue reading...
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Edulinks

Useful sites for educators

All the News That's Fit to... Teach

October 22, 2009

These sites help educators incorporate current events into their teaching, across the curriculum. 

The New York Times Learning Network

TIME for Kids 

Scholastic's Upfront

NewsHour Extra's Teacher Resources

NBC News iCue

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Contest Corner

Wearing Many Hats: Enter Now!

October 6, 2009
Here's a reminder of our current contest, based on the different roles of historical figures. Enter and you can win a Visual Thesaurus T-shirt! Continue reading...
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VOCABGRABBER

Automatically create lists of vocabulary from any text using the Visual Thesaurus VocabGrabber.
Try it now!

SPELLING BEE

Think you are a good speller? Take the Visual Thesaurus Spelling Bee and find out!
Click here to start.
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Featured Lesson Plan

Vocabulary Bursting with Energy

November 11, 2009
How can students use the Visual Thesaurus to review key vocabulary associated with the sources and properties of energy? Continue reading...
Click here to read more articles from Lesson Plans.

Why Visual Thesaurus?
The Visual Thesaurus is an ideal teaching resource for children of all ages, with a visually captivating display that engages students in learning new words and concepts. To find out more about how you can integrate the Visual Thesaurus in your classroom, click here.

Visual Thesaurus :

Proven Results

A federally-funded study has found that the Visual Thesaurus can significantly help students struggling with reading comprehension.

Read all about the research here.

Instructional Videos

using the Visual Thesaurus in the classroom

Want to learn how to use the Visual Thesaurus to add some extra oomph to your classroom activities? Just click on the instructional videos above!

Calendar

Events for Educators
Nov 20 - Dec 11: November-December WordMasters Challenge
It's time for the first WordMasters Challenge of the school year! Click here for details.
Nov 30: November Webinar for Educators
Our free monthly webinar helps educators get the most out of the Visual Thesaurus.  Continue reading...
Dec 21: December Webinar for Educators
Our free monthly webinar helps educators get the most out of the Visual Thesaurus.  Continue reading...
Jan 8: Word of the Year / Word of the Decade
The American Dialect Society will be selecting the Word of the Year at its annual meeting in Baltimore, MD. In addition, the ADS will choose a The ADS will also be anointing a Word of the Decade for 2000-2009. Visual Thesaurus editor Ben Zimmer will be participating as a member of the ADS Executive Council. Read more about the meeting here, and submit your entries for Word of the Decade here.
Jan 12 - Jan 15: VT @ FETC
The Visual Thesaurus will have an exhibit at the 2010 Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. Visit us at Booth #457! Click here for conference details.