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Wordly Wise 3000, Level 10 Review by Nancy King

Educators Publishing Service, Incorporated
http://www.epsbooks.com/

My daughter and I are word fanatics and have thoroughly loved using the Wordly Wise 3000 for Level 10. When I received the books, the first thing I noticed is the way it is outlined for usage. There are three ways to use the book: daily, three days a week, and five days a week. We chose to use the three-day teaching plan since we are only home four days a week. The teaching plan is all laid out for the teacher, which leaves almost no work for parents, especially if you are teaching an older student. I have used the book as an independent study for my daughter because she enjoys working on her own. One of the products that came with the books was a CD-ROM, which we haven't fully taken advantage of yet but do plan to. I also know that the publisher has an online testing website for these lessons, which could be helpful for many students and parents. Other ways to use the lessons are in class activities, homework, and preparation for standardized tests or spelling bees.

The book is very organized and in manageable lessons, with 15 words per lesson and 20 lessons per book. This is an easy fit into any curriculum. Lessons include word study with Greek and Latin roots, prefixes, suffixes, antonyms, and synonyms. Dictionary-style word lists make it easy for the student to research for more information on the words if necessary. Words are drawn from literature, textbooks, and the SAT--words most likely to appear on high-stakes tests. I like the fact that these lessons encourage wider reading spans and that they teach the use of graphic organizers, definition maps, semantic feature analysis, and Venn diagrams. Reading aloud is also encouraged, but my daughter and I chose to discuss what she was learning instead. As a struggling learner, my daughter liked the word web and word puzzles more than any other part of the lessons.

It was great having the sample lessons since this is the first Wordly Wise product we have used. As an extension to each lesson, we did the Review Exercises together. The only thing I would recommend to the publisher is to consider adding some color to the books. My daughter, like many other youngsters, is drawn to a more colorful curriculum and actually works better with colors. Students on the high school level enjoy colorful illustrations too! I would highly recommend these books to any parent--and have already! They are very well written and put together. The price is very reasonable as well.

Product review by Nancy King, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November 2009

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