Wordsmyth Word Parts: expanding vocabulary with knowledge of prefixes, roots, and suffixes
To support vocabulary learning and teaching, we’ve begun providing word part lists appropriate to different grade levels. For the month of October, we created a list of 24 basic Greek and Latin roots for upper elementary school students.
Watch for more word part lists for different levels in the coming months. Also, you may want to learn more about the Wordsmyth word parts database and how this unique feature can be used in facilitating vocabulary learning and teaching.
Interactive maps in WILD
The Wordsmyth Illustrated Learner’s Dictionary has many hidden treasures. The interactive world maps collection is one such feature you may not have noticed. The Maps Collection contains world maps featuring all of the world’s continents, countries, and important geographical features. With the interactive Continents and Countries Map, you can take your young learners from an overview of the world to a more focused view of each continent and then to each country. The map of North America also features states and provinces. Clicking on any individual country brings up facts about it in the Book. With the other world maps in the Maps Collection, you can also introduce your students to the most important geographical features of our planet, such as its major mountain ranges, deserts, rivers, lakes, and seas.
Word Explorer: writing support feature in our Children’s Dictionary
When you assign a topic to your students, have you thought about providing some vocabulary support for their writing process? Try our Word Explorer in the Children’s Dictionary: a word-finding and knowledge-exploration feature. Imagine your students are writing about spiders—the Word Explorer feature can give them words for what spiders eat, where spiders can be found, what behaviors spiders engage in, what animals are related to spiders, and much more.
Word Explorer is an index of related words that allows a child to find words connected with multiple topics and to explore whole networks of words and their meanings. The dictionary entries also contain an integrated Thesaurus of synonyms and antonyms. The addition of our Word Explorer creates a fun and uniquely valuable educational resource.