Vocabulary.com is a learning website used to teach users words by exposing them to a variety of questions and activities. With a basic account, you can use 10 questions per day for free. If you don’t buy the full version however, you’ll have additional limitations such as: not being able to create classes, assign work, play games, etc. Luckily, you won’t have to face that problem any more.
Mr. Schutz and Mr. Perry as well as other school staff members worked hard to gain the website’s full access, so students can use the site to its full potential.
“If you really want to make vocabulary meaningful to you, get into it a little bit, and you’ll see that it’s a lot of fun, and you’ll learn things at the same time. What could be better than that?” asks Mr. Perry, a junior English teacher at Mayo High School.
Mr. Perry and Mr. Schutz had been using Vocabulary.com regularly for a while until the subscription (pay wall) restricted most of the learning tools on the site; “We looked for other resources that would help, that would give students a lot of freedom to study vocabulary any way they wanted, but we couldn’t find any.” Now that the school has full access to Vocabulary.com, you won’t have to learn with any restrictions.
The premise of the site is easy and will become very familiar to gamers upon beginning with the site. “It’s a lot like a new character in a video game, when you start out; you have zero points, but with each question you get right, you earn points, so you ‘level up,'” Perry explained. The difference is that “a video game character is only virtual; it’s not real, but when you level up, you are truly learning and strengthening not only your vocabulary but also your reading comprehension and thinking skills.”
This is what the practice questions look like within the site.
How do you gain points? According to Mr. Schutz, “you have to go to the ‘practice’ section and answer questions. You also try to master words, which is done by answering a certain number of questions related to that term.”
Especially during the Vocabulary Bowl, mastering words is the way to earn points.
So, why is learning vocabulary important?
Expanding your vocabulary is found useful for developing knowledge and skills in multiple aspects of language and literacy. It improves all areas of communication: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Having an advanced vocabulary is crucial for a student’s success not only in school but throughout life. Research shows that kids need to understand 98% of the words they’re reading to fully understand the text. Everything that we process from teachers, requires words which we need to understand in order to learn.
Having a strong vocabulary not only improves your communication skills, but it also adds a deeper meaning to the message you’re trying to share. There are little hidden meanings within words, and like Shakespeare did, those complicated words can make the language rich and precise, which we need to use when we’re adding emotion to our sentences. For example, when you’re texting your friend and you can’t tell if they’re joking or angry, a lot of times the vocabulary you use can help convey some of that sentiment more effectively.
The same thing applies to persuasive writing. If you’re really trying to convince people to agree with you, vocabulary is key. Vocabulary.com is a website that will undoubtedly help all learners who struggle with communication or comprehension.
Aside from using the site for learning, Vocabulary.com hosted a global academic competition. The Vocabulary Bowl started on October 1 and ended on November 30th. Even though we were classified as a “rookie school” in the competition, we won second place in the state of Minnesota!
Another Vocabulary Bowl will take place during second semester, beginning in February, so convince your teachers to set up their vocabulary.com classes, then sign up. Anyone can compete to win bragging rights and awards. If you don’t want to compete as a part of the school or class, just know that individual competitors who are signed up through the school get automatically registered to compete against learners of all ages to see who can master the most words.
Once you are signed up, you don’t need to wait for a teacher to give you a list of words to practice. The website has thousands of lists that are available, but you are also free to make your own. This would help you focus in on the terms that are most difficult in a certain class. It can also aid in your quest to raise your ACT scores, since there are plenty of lists created for that test and the PSAT/SAT.
Once again, to get full access to the paid website, ask your teacher to set up a classroom on Vocabulary.com, and they’ll send you a link to join through the school’s account. If they’re not able to give you access, you can find Mr. Perry in room 2-248, and he’ll add you to an open classroom where students who aren’t already given easy access to the site can join: “Seriously, the full site is available for all Mayo Spartans, so everyone should have access. If you are a student who wants to use this site but don’t have a class that uses it. See me, and I’ll set you up,” Perry says. So, if you like competing or wish to expand your vocabulary for school or yourself, check out the website Vocabulary.com and enjoy the subscription Mayo High School has prepared for you.
Currently, the Top 10 Mayo High School vocabulary students are
1. Sidamo Wallace
2. Maice Darweesh
3. Nate Rea
4. Carrick Hoffmann
5. Cruz Negrete
6. Logan Hockert
7. Siham Mohamed
8. Lauryn Fort
9. Princess Ke
10. Logan Fitzgerald
