Books which would help improve vocabulary

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anowicka
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:03 pm

Books which would help improve vocabulary

Post by anowicka »

Hello

Could anyone please recommend any good books with a good vocabulary range for my DD. She will sit the 11+ test in September 2011 so we've got plenty of time for the exam preparation. I think reading is a good way to learn a wild range of new vocab.

Thank you.
Anna
pheasantchick
Posts: 2439
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:28 pm

Re: Books which would help improve vocabulary

Post by pheasantchick »

Oxford English Dictionary!!
rosered100

Re: Books which would help improve vocabulary

Post by rosered100 »

I think she just needs to read as widely as possible but more importantly to note down any wods that she doesnt understand or hasnt come across before to dscuss with you later.

My DS was whizzing through books & I was getting very impressed with his improvement until I had him read aloud to me. He was totally mispronouncing words & when I asked him if he knew what particular words meant , he didnt. He just skipped over them as long as he understood the overall story. We gave him a small notebook & pencil but I still dont think he marks down words. I read ahead small sections in his book of the time & tell him some meanings myself now - lazy boy!!

Also newspaper/magazine articles can use different vocab to usual & are shorter so could be read together & discussed. We got into a habit of pointing out every compound word we ever came across & DS2 who is 7 became the family expert!
twellsmum
Posts: 349
Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2008 2:16 pm
Location: Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Re: Books which would help improve vocabulary

Post by twellsmum »

I bought some of those post it note type arrows (available from most stationers/post office) and stick them by the side of my DC's beds so that if they come across an unfamiliar word when they are reading they can flag it up but don't interrupt the story. They then ask me in the morning or whenever and then have to try to use the word as many times as possible over the next few days. I also make sure my other children hear it and know what it means and they also have to try to use it.

HTH!
medwaymum
Posts: 827
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2007 6:45 pm
Location: Medway & Kent

Re: Books which would help improve vocabulary

Post by medwaymum »

The 'A series of unfortunate events' by Lemony Snicket are great for vocabulary - they introduce lots of unusual words and also give the meaning.
fleximum
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2010 11:16 pm

Re: Books which would help improve vocabulary

Post by fleximum »

I would suggest taking your DD to Waterstones and getting some recommendations from the staff there who I have always found to be tremendously helpful. I wouldn't pick anyting that is overly challenging as that will just put her off but rather, gently get her into the habit of looking up new words and writing them into a vocab book.
anowicka
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:03 pm

Re: Books which would help improve vocabulary

Post by anowicka »

Thank you very much of all the advices. Much appreciated.
tiredmum
Posts: 1161
Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:51 am

Re: Books which would help improve vocabulary

Post by tiredmum »

audio books are good too = my dd picked up lots of new vocab from the harry potter series of audio books, she would listen to them before bed and work out the meaning to words herself by listening to the context, or jot down a difficult word and look it up with me the next day :)
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