Helpful Tips

A few tips from teachers like you to help integrate Vocabulary A-Z into your classroom.

Teacher Tip #1

Include a date in a custom assignment title as a reminder of when a student was first given a particular assignment or when resources were updated.

Teacher Tip #2

Word lists become assignable when you reach 5 words in the list. Maintaining 5-12 words keeps lists and Interactivities times manageable for elementary students.

Teacher Tip #3

Write students' names on plastic cups. Stack them on top of the computer in the classroom. The student whose cup is on top is "up" at the computer. Students can set a timer for a teacher-designated time and then move their cup to the bottom of the stack so the next student can take their turn.

Teacher Tip #4

Use the Assignment report to see at a glance how much of the current assignment a student has completed.

Teacher Tip #5

Give each student a login card so they can practice their vocabulary at home. From the Classroom Roster page on Kids A-Z, select Student & Parent Documents and download the Personalized Student Login Cards.

Teacher Tip #6

Help English language learners by creating lists of common root words and affixes and explaining how these change the meaning of words.

Teacher Tip #7

To protect student privacy, create a login name that doesn't include the student's full name. For example, have students create a unique login name or use the student's first name and only the first letter of the student's last name.

Teacher Tip #8

Use the variety of Vocabulary A-Z reading, listening, speaking, and writing resources with English language learners to reinforce the connection between the written and spoken word and help students succeed in social and academic English.

Teacher Tip #9

If you have a class webpage, add a link to your Kids A-Z class login page.

Teacher Tip #10

Create custom lists of high-frequency words under Your Lessons. Download and print the word cards at your computer station. Encourage readers to practice the word cards as a follow-up activity to their time on the computer.

Teacher Tip #11

Vocabulary A-Z materials provide engaging at-home vocabulary practice for students who are out of the classroom for long absences. Assign Digital Resources or download and print the Printable Resources to create a learning packet for students to complete at home.

Teacher Tip #12

Sister sites Sciencea-z.com and Raz-Plus.com share some resources with Vocabulary A-Z. Subscribe and explore the Learning A-Z Connections on both sites.

Teacher Tip #13

Create a class list in Your Lessons of words students encounter in their reading that they're unfamiliar with. Use the Print and Digital Resources to help students learn and reinforce these words as a class or in small groups.

Teacher Tip #14

Choose words that share a common letter or spelling pattern and tell students to play Word Unscramble for spelling and vocabulary practice.

Teacher Tip #15

Allow students to use Vocabulary A-Z as a reference tool to learn the meanings of unknown words. Navigate to Vocabularya-z.com, but don't log in with your teacher password. Select New Lesson. In the search field, have students type in any unknown word to discover its meaning.

Teacher Tip #16

For English language learners, create lists of words that are difficult to master, such as those with silent letters or multiple meanings, or that are commonly misspelled.

Teacher Tip #17

After creating a word list, use Preview before you Assign to see how the words play in the Interactivities. Sometimes homonyms grouped in a word list can be tricky!

Teacher Tip #18

Give the lists and categories in Your Lessons meaningful names to make word lists easier to find the next time you want to assign them.