Category Archives: Vocab

Vocabulary is often a weak spot for many of my students. There’s no quick and easy fix – vocabularies take time and practice to develop. And, in my opinion, becoming a rabid reader is the best way to do so. Read, read, read!

But, in the short term, how can you increase your vocabulary? Membean is a great online program that provides a variety of multimodal practice.

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow

One of my favorites is the root tree – so you can quickly see how one root creates a variety of words.

So by knowing that “dict” means say, you can probably figure out these words:

• predict – “pre” means before – to declare or tell in advance
• benediction – “bene” means good – utterance of good wishes; a blessing
• contradict – “con” means against –  to speak against
• malediction – “mal” means bad – to speak badly of; a curse
• dictum – an authoritative pronouncement; judicial assertion
• indict – to charge a person with a crime, especially formally in writing; accuse

More resources

The Direct Hits books also focus on root words.

I’ve created root sheets for my students as well. Here are chron and circum.

Here’s a sample of the words that showed up on the May SAT test.

• paradoxical*
• antithetical*
• cajole
• melodramatic*
• sinecure*
• laconic*
• substantial
• histrionic*
• extemporaneous*
• cohesive
• cryptic*
• satirical*
• chagrin*
• elixir
• ebullient*
• effusive*
• voluble*
• boon*
• narcissistic
• stolid
• dilettante*
• amateur
• bohemian
• fortitude*
• serendipity*
• gregarious*
• auspicious*
• parochial*

See why I love the Direct Hits books so much? All the * words are in the Direct Hits Core Vocabulary of the SAT 4th Edition books!