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11+ English Vocabulary and comprehension
Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 10:05 pm
by Qiqi
Hi
Can anybody recommend a 11 plus English vocabulary list please as while practising with my son on Bond Assessment papaers I found him a bit struggling with some words in English comprehension.
He reads lots of books, but does not seem to know as many words as he should to tackle the comprehension comfortably.When answering questions he always half right but not spot on as suggested on the answers.
Can anybody advise how to improve reading comrehension please.
Qi
Re: 11+ English Vocabulary and comprehension
Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2010 10:33 am
by DIY Mum
Personally, I think the majority of children struggle with word meanings - even if they are avid readers. Infact, looking back when I used to work as a teacher, I remember only having one student at Y5 who was spot on with word meaning (but she was truly gifted and talented).
Also, Bond books are known to be quite challenging for some students.
I don't know of a 'set' vocabulary list that children should know at this age, per se. But maybe you could use a spelling list as an alternative. Schonell's books of spelling 1-3 are quite good in teaching both word meanings and spelling. It also has crosswords.
I wish I had known about this earlier, but the Wordshark programme (which is a CD) is a fantastic resource for teaching vocabulary, spelling and comprehension, (pitched also for KS 3 students). It's also quite a good resource for the KE exams, as it contains mini cloze exercises and vocabulary related to other subjects e.g sciences and humanities etc. Above all, it enables a child to gain ownership of a word in a fun and interactive way rather than 'traditional' methods. You can look out for it on ebay.
Re: 11+ English Vocabulary and comprehension
Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 1:10 pm
by firebrand1
I too think Schonells is very good as its much more than just a spelling list
Re: 11+ English Vocabulary and comprehension
Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 5:04 pm
by yoyo123
Personally, I think the majority of children struggle with word meanings - even if they are avid readers. Infact, looking back when I used to work as a teacher, I remember only having one student at Y5 who was spot on with word meaning (but she was truly gifted and talented).
it is quite interesting sometimes when reading to a class or small group to stop and ask them what they think is meant by a word or phrase...you get some amazing answers sometimes, they must have a completely different picture in their head to the one the author intended!