The bad news: SAT reading scores have reached an all-time low, and recently released NAEP scores reveal that American students' vocabulary growth is "flat." The good news: It's no longer 2012. It's 2013, a new year, a time to buy gym memberships and to overhaul your vocabulary instruction. Just do it.  Continue reading...

Okay, I'll commit educational blasphemy. I'm not a fan of whole-class/large-group discussions. I don't care what you name them (one of the most common monikers is Socratic seminars), but get more than 10 people in a group and it becomes a license to zone out.  Continue reading...

For the holiday season, vocabulary expert Susan Ebbers discusses several interesting differences between happy and merry, providing applications and lesson suggestions for grades K-12.  Continue reading...

In this excerpt from Vocabulary Strategies That Work — Do This, Not That!, Kent State professor of education Lori G. Wilfong brings a visualization strategy called "Sketch to Stretch" to vocabulary study.  Continue reading...

In September, my younger child turned 16. The day before her birthday, I opened the mailbox and pulled out a blue envelope. Her paternal grandparents had sent her a card. Her face lit up, and not just because there was a check inside. She'd gotten mail.  Continue reading...

It's been about three months since I started my job as a teaching assistant at the University of Pittsburgh. Since doing so, I've not just left behind Brooklyn for the 'Burgh, and "Fuhgedaboutit" for "Yinz want some food?"; I've also adapted my vocabulary, too. The words I use in my classroom now are different from when I taught high school. This is a challenge, and one I've been interested to watch my students — all first-semester freshmen — take on, as well.  Continue reading...