WORDLY WISE 3000 PRODUCT REVIEW
-By Kelly Burgess
Wordly Wise 3000 is a vocabulary building workbook series
available for grades K-12, brought to you by Educators Publishing Service.
The vendor recommends the use of the Teacher’s Resource Books
in order to fully implement the lessons for levels K-1, but levels 2-12 can
reliably be used as stand-alone vocabulary workbooks without the use of the
teacher’s guides.
The latest release is the new 3rd edition. Having used both 2nd and 3rd
edition workbooks, I can say that the content is essentially the same, but the
visual appearance of the 3rd edition is definitely more appealing
with the use of more color on the pages.
From the vendor’s website, here are the key features of
Wordly Wise 3000:
Skills
& Strategies
·
Vocabulary
development
·
Reading
·
Critical thinking
·
Using a dictionary
and pronunciation key
·
Word usage
·
Test
taking/assessment
·
Context clues
·
Synonyms and
antonyms
·
Multiple-meaning
words
·
Using word parts to
determine meaning:
·
prefixes
·
suffixes
·
Greek and Latin
roots
·
Homophones
·
Picture clues and
captions
·
Analogies
·
Word origins
·
Repeated exposure in
many contexts
There are 15-20 units in each workbook, each focusing on a specific
new word list. I’m going to focus on
book 4 for the purposes of this review. The
words are introduced in dictionary-style format with definitions, pronunciation
guide, and sample sentences using the word in context. This is followed by a series of 5 workbook
activities:
- Finding Meanings - the student matches two phrases that make a true sentence about one of the words and then rewrites the completed sentence
- Just the Right Word – the student replaces a bolded phrase in the given sentence with the vocabulary word it defines
- Applying Meanings – the student is given a question that gives application of the vocabulary word and then must choose one or more of the multiple choice answers that correctly answer the question
- Word Study – the content of this exercise varies with such topics as synonyms, antonyms, word origins, prefixes, suffixes, etc.
- Passage – the student reads a passage on a non-fictional cross-curricular topic such as history, science, literature, etc. and then answers comprehension questions that in some way use the vocabulary words from that unit
After every four lessons, there is a review activity in the
form of a crossword puzzle. Words from
the previous four word lists are used to answer the clues.
Word lists are repeated in the margin on most pages of the
workbook to keep the student from wasting time flipping back to the initial
word list for each given unit.
My children have thoroughly enjoyed using these workbooks,
and I’ve seen a definite advancement in their range and accurate implementation
of vocabulary. I love that this is a
product I can use throughout their homeschool experience, even through the high
school years. The predictable format
makes the lessons very user-friendly so the student can progress without much,
if any, guidance from the parent.
Answer keys are available for purchase with solutions to all
of the workbook activities to enable quick grading of your student’s work if
you so desire. In addition, if you wish
to test your students for comprehension, you can purchase an optional test book
with quizzes for each unit in a multiple choice format. The answers are included in the back of the
test booklet.
In addition, you get free access to their website to enhance
the student’s learning. This is one of
my kids’ favorite features of the product.
At www.wordlywise3000.com,
you can click on the “student” area and access audiovisual files that “teach”
each of the word lists, complete with self-check activities that give immediate
feedback. The audio files can also be
downloaded for learning on the go.
Students can also play a variety of games, such as hangman and
battleship, which aid the student in checking their understanding of the
words. My kids really enjoy those, and
it’s a great way to get them to keep practicing application of their words!
It’s easy to adjust the program to each student’s skill
level by simply reviewing the word lists on the interactive website I mentioned
above to see where you feel your child’s level of understanding best fits into
the program. It doesn’t necessarily have
to correspond with their “grade” level.
With the predictable number of activities, I have found it easy to
schedule out the book over the course of a school year, or you can simply let
your child progress at their own pace.
It’s up to you!
At a cost of $11.50-$13.20 per workbook, Wordly Wise 3000
provides a good return for a minimal investment. I really like that I don’t have to buy a lot
of frills to go with it, and it includes enough material to fill up the school
year with a solid foundation of vocabulary expansion.
I think the main positives of this program are the overall
value, ease of use, effectiveness of the activities to reinforce the learning,
and a predictable format that is easy for the student to follow and easy for
the parent to plan into the school year.
A potential negative is that with it being a workbook format, it
wouldn’t be a good fit for a child who dislikes that type of learning. Also, because the format is predictable with
the same types of activities in every unit, the repetitive nature could become
boring for the student if he/she dislikes any of the specific activities. My oldest son, for example, really dislikes
doing reading comprehension questions, so the “Passage” activity is the one he
really dreads doing. But overall, I
highly recommend this series for kids aged 5-18.
Read more about Wordly Wise 3000 on the TOS Homeschool Crew
Review Blog http://homeschoolcrew.com/?s=wordly+wise
(there
wasn’t a specific link about Wordly Wise on the TOS blog, so I put this link in
merely as a filler for the purposes of the review sample).
Educators Publishing Services provided this product to me
free of charge for reviewing purposes, but I was in no way influenced as to my
impressions of the product. My opinions
of Wordly Wise 3000 are entirely my own.
(Obviously, that’s not the case, but I inserted this disclaimer for the
purpose of following the format for the sample review. I actually bought the products myself and have been using them for the last 8 years!)
