As a former English teacher, I am a firm believer in how important vocabulary instruction is. However, as my kids get older, I struggle to find programs that provide solid, challenging instruction for my kids. So I was very excited to get a chance to review the Greek Morphemes (It’s NOT Greek To Me!) vocabulary program from Ready to Teach. The program is designed specifically for secondary level students in grades 7 and up to prepare them for the vocabulary they will see on the SAT and ACT and in college.
First, let me say that this is a very thorough and complex program. I received the student book, instructor’s manual, and the electronic resources on a thumb drive. The activities really get the kids working with the morphemes and using them in a way that truly makes the definitions stick with them. I like the way the program reaches multiple learning styles using study cards, auditory lessons, and viewing the words through power point presentations. The program comes with a student workbook, teachers guide, and power point presentations.
Students will need a notebook or three ring binder and an unabridged dictionary and laminator also come in handy as well. Lessons follow a similar pattern, with students being introduced to the morphemes through the power point, breaking the word down into parts, and figuring out the definition. There is a model lesson plan in the teachers guide that is pretty straightforward and lays out activities for each day of the week. Now, when we started we had to move a little slower because my 7th/8th grader found the work a bit challenging. We generally split each lesson into a week and half to two weeks based on how he did with the words.
On the third and fourth day of the lesson, students create context clues for each word and write definitions in their own words, break the words apart, match the words to humorous definitions, and work with the included study cards for practice. These pre-printed cards are a nice addition to the program. They are color-coded to match the lessons, and you can laminate them and cut them out so they can be handled over and over. My son and I actually spent about two days per lesson working with the cards, playing various games and using them as flashcards.
The Instructor’s Manual includes a list of the morphemes for each lesson, as well as an answer key, which I appreciated because some of these words were even challenging for me! There are also review activities and tests for each lesson. The Power Point presentations included with the program are very easy to follow. I did the first lesson with my son, just so I could see what they were about, but then he was able to do them on his own. Each slide offers a new definition the students take notes on and the slides introduce each part of the lesson.
Greek Morphemes includes 12 lessons total, but I think we will take about two weeks for each lesson, so it should cover a good portion of the school year. There is also a Latin Morphemes program you could add as well. I feel like this is a very solid vocabulary program. I like how easy it is to use, and how in-depth it is. I really think that my son is getting a very deep knowledge of these words, and he is going to be able to use this knowledge a lot in the coming years. The Greek Morphemes program costs $69.95 for the instructor’s manual, student book, and the Power Point presentations. You can also purchase individual products, so if you wanted to use this with more than one student you could just buy a second workbook. I am so happy with this program, I am seriously considering getting the Latin one when we are finished.
To find out what other members of the crew thought of this program, click here:
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