We love resources from The Critical Thinking Co. and were eager to try Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 for our tenth grader.
What is Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1?
Vocabulary Virtuoso: PSAT-SAT is ideal for late middle school and high school students, from about Grades 8-12.
Each lesson includes 9 vocabulary words, most of which are taken from current test lists.
There are six activities that follow each vocabulary list, giving your student plenty of in-context usage of each new word. The tasks include:
- Choosing vocabulary words to fit in sentences
- Completing sentences based on given synonyms of vocabulary words
- Using vocabulary words to complete a story
- Matching vocabulary words with definitions
- Completing each sentence with a phrase to show comprehension of vocabulary words
Vocabulary Virtuoso comes in Book 1 or Book 2. In each books, there are 20 lists plus 5 reviews. This gives plenty of regular review to ensure proper comprehension and understanding. If your teen doesn’t do well on a review, you could always go back and re-study words before moving on.
How We Used It
My tenth grader worked on this daily. We didn’t quite make it to the end of the first review because my teen completes four days of school per week instead of the normal five.
However, it was still an easy way to get proper vocabulary practice into his day without adding another 45-minute subject. He thought is took 10-15 minutes per day, which isn’t much time – but added together throughout weeks and months, this would definitely increase his vocabulary comprehension.
My teen was very happy with his progress and felt that the structure of this book was excellent in teaching him the words through proper in-context usage, and also drilling the definitions with many layers of practice before moving on to a new list.
We will definitely continue using this book until we’re finished. And I’m going to purchase an additional book for my rising tenth grader!
Recommendations
I highly recommend any resource from The Critical Thinking Co. We have used several of their books through the years and have never been disappointed in the quality. These books are not busy work. They are essential drill and practice for critical thinking skills.
If you need a vocabulary resource for your middle or high school students, I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase a product from The Critical Thinking Co.
Check out the deal they’re offering you until the end of the year! I’ll be taking advantage of it too.
And be sure to check out additional reviews of their many products from The Homeschool Review Crew.
