WordBuild Vocabulary Review

This article is in collaboration with Dynamic Literacy.

Learning vocabulary can be tough! It’s important to have a varied vocabulary in order to be a good reader, but there comes a point where you think, “I can NOT stuff one more word into my brain!” Luckily, vocabulary is a lot like phonics, where lots of smaller blocks build together into larger words. Dynamic Literacy takes advantage of this, and focuses on blending prefixes, suffixes, root words with critical thinking to develop a wider vocabulary.

Dynamic Literacy divides their program into two major levels to make it developmentally appropriate:

Foundations – designed for middle-elementary level students who
have mastered phonics and are transitioning their focus to comprehension and spelling. This level is also appropriate for remedial and ESL students who may be older but still need to develop a stronger skill base.

Elements – designed for students who have mastered the Foundations skills, and are now working with texts in multiple academic areas (science, social studies, etc.) Lessons focus on root families and give students the skills to decode words based on their prefixes, suffixes and roots. This is appropriate for students with skill levels equally middle school/junior high and up.

Crew members reviewed three programs from Dynamic Literacy:

WordBuild: Foundations, Level 1 – contain a two-book activity set (for a single student) and a teacher’s edition

WordBuild: Elements, Level 1 Set – a program that includes the Student/Teacher workbooks set plus a computer game (requires Win 98 or higher / Mac OS X).

WordBuildOnline – an interactive, web-based program for studentsCheck out the reviews below to see how Crew members used the programs with their students!