Lists featured on Vocabulary.com were created or vetted by the Vocabulary.com curriculum development team to meet a certain standard of list quality. Please use them — they're here to make your life easier, and we want teachers especially to know they are a tool they can trust. (Watch this one-minute video to learn how to search for a list before you make your own.)
But there is no reason you can't hold your own lists to the same standards. Here's the process we use for list creation boiled down into six steps. (Be sure to watch this short video on list making for the basics of how this works.)
- Keep your lists short and sweet. When learning a new set of vocabulary, it's important not to bite off more than you (or your students) can chew. Our curriculum development team attempts whenever possible to create lists of 30-50 words each, as it is hard for your brain to internalize much more than that in a single learning chunk.
- Choose "meaty" words. When we create literature lists, we look for two types of words: those that are particularly meaningful within the context of the story and words students are least likely to know. We all learn better when we're not bored and when students sense that list learning is a waste of time, they will stop engaging.
- Include example sentences. The human brain is primed to learn vocabulary by seeing words in context. When creating a list, choose "Browse example sentences" to scroll through the hundreds of thousands of sentences drawn from literature and the web we provide, or use the text box to write your own.
- Use text-specific context whenever available. Our list builder tool makes it easy to create text-based lists with sentence example drawn straight from the text. Just cut and paste in electronic copy and we'll pull out vocabulary for you. (Watch this video to learn how.)
- Match definitions to context. If you've chosen "Even staunch supporters of the rules are now questioning them" as an example sentence, be sure to chose the definition for staunch that reads, "adj., firm and dependable especially in loyalty" and not "v., stop the flow of a liquid." You can change the definition easily with the "Choose Definition" option.
- Check to make sure the words on your list are learnable. The words people most want to learn are learnable on the site, and we are making new words learnable every day. Nevertheless, when you make a list, make sure to look for the green check mark indicating that every word on your list is ready to be learned.
