Books to Help Teens Develop a Better Vocabulary
A superior vocabulary not only ensures your teen will be able to read advanced materials, but will affect her daily interactions because people with extensive vocabularies have better auditory comprehension. A poor vocabulary has been implicated in academic failure, and understanding a variety of words is linked to academic success. A key component of building vocabulary is books, although they might not be the tomes that initially come to mind when you think about vocabulary instruction.
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Dictionary
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Hardcover dictionaries are almost passe as online versions are quick to use and convenient. However, to build vocabulary, it is important for teens to unplug long enough to pick up a book and read without distraction. Buy a dictionary for your teen so he will have it at his fingertips as he reads material that challenges his skills. Building the habit of looking up unknown words will not only improve his vocabulary now, but create a lifelong learner of new words. Don't buy a beginning or intermediate dictionary for a teen because they have a limited number of entries. Instead, buy him a standard dictionary that has all of the words he is likely to encounter.
Variety
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Reading rich and varied text is one key to developing vocabulary, according to the South Dakota Department of Education. Rather than trying to persuade your teen to study words superficially through a vocabulary study guide, encourage her to read a variety of material so she will learn word meanings through context. This strategy also provides her the opportunity to learn nuances and connotations of words that are difficult to discern in vocabulary-building books. Fiction and nonfiction books are both valuable resources -- just ensure she is reading books at or above grade level so her vocabulary doesn't stagnate.
Graphic Novels
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When adults from another generation hear the term "graphic novel," comic books often come to mind. These books go far beyond the comic genre, however, and can be surprisingly sophisticated. Graphic novels are helpful for building a teen's vocabulary for two reasons. Most teens are interested in reading them, and a book that is read is far better at increasing vocabulary than one that sits on a bookshelf. The pictures in these books also provide visual contextual clues that give words new life, particularly for struggling readers.
Goal-specific Books
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If your teen wants to increase his vocabulary so he will perform better on the SAT, ACT or other standardized test, by all means buy a vocabulary study guide created by Barron's, McGraw-Hill or Kaplan, among others. Many companies have put considerable effort into studying the vocabulary that is likely to make an appearance on the test, and as a result, can offer highly targeted vocabulary practice. Note that these books will be most effective if you work with your teen to include the vocabulary words he is learning in daily conversation and use.
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