This last few weeks, we’ve been reviewing Vocabulary Cartoons 1, SAT Word Power from New Monic Books. Aimed at grades 7-12, Vocabulary Cartoons is a deceptively simple method. Each of the 290 pages contain an amusing black & white cartoon illustrating a mnemonic, aka “memory trick”, for a word, along with the definition, pronunciation, and sample sentences. After every ten words is a review page in an easy-to-understand format comprised of definition matching and fill-in-the blank sentences.
In a sturdy trade-paperback format, it could either be used for formal instruction, or informally, such as a “kept in the car” book. (We’re not the only ones who always have books in the car… right?) In our household, we may end up doing a combination of the two: intentional practice to start with, then “kept in the car” for review.
When I read the back cover and introduction, due to one of the quotes, I mistakenly assumed that the book include a comprehensive test covering all the words. It does not; if one is desired, it could be created from the word list.
Though we only have two in the target grades, all four of my children decided they wanted to try out the book. So I could judge approximately what they had learned, I created a test for the first two sections based on the reviews for those sections. The kids did a pre-test before they had even seen the book, then took the post-test after two weeks of reading/skimming through the pages daily.
The test had 40 questions, two on each word in the first two sections:
Their results, number correct out of 40:
- 9th grader – start: 13, end: 39
- 7th grader – start: 10, end: 23 (visual learning is NOT his strong suit)
- 5th grader – start: 5, end 24
- 3rd grader – start: 1, end: 9
My 9th and 5th grader found that many of the mnemonics came to mind as they were taking the test, while my non-visual 7th grader said that only happened on a couple of words for him. The 3rd grader was a bit overwhelmed, and frustrated that she wasn’t able to remember most of the words. Based on the sample pages, I believe we’d find Vocabulary Cartoons, Elementary Edition much more to her liking and ability level, while still providing challenging words.
Though the book format lends itself to portability, it would be much more homeschool-friendly in a spiral format with photocopy-ready reviews. Blackline masters are available, but at public school prices, making them unaffordable for most homeschools. I’d also have appreciated pre- and post-tests that I didn’t have to create myself.
Two of the kids suggested word-of-the-day posters on their “word wall”: add one per day until the unit was completed. All ended up agreeing that it would be much more convenient then having to track down and share the book.
My oldest son noticed something that I did not: that the fill-in-the-blanks sentences for the reviews is taken word-for-word from the individual pages. He believes it would be more effective for showing comprehension if the sentences were different.
The only other thing we would change is that the words are in alphabetical order. Perhaps they’re “lumped together” for a purpose other then simplicity, but we found it rather annoying. (Twenty “A” words to learn, all in a row – didn’t really surprise me that the kids commented on it.) I’d much rather have them in scrambled order – to enable use as a dictionary, page numbers could be added to the word list in the back.
Overall, I was surprised at how effective the cartoons were, at least in the short term. I’m curious to see how well the kids are able to retain the information after some time goes by, so we’ll be continuing to add new words, and eventually test again.
Vocabulary Cartoons, SAT Word Power may be purchased from Vocabulary Cartoons for $12.95. Vocabulary Cartoons 2 and Vocabulary Cartoons Elementary are also available for the same low price.
To see what other crew members had to say about this product, check out the TOS Homeschool Crew blog post, New Monic Vocabulary Cartoons – SAT Word Power.
**I received this product for free as a member of the 2010-11 The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew so that I could provide you with an honest review of it by our family.**
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Hey stopping by from twitter to see your review. Nice Web site. I like the way you put your reviews up on the corner and crossed them off as completed.