Vocabulary Study

One of the elements (within your control) that will greatly affect your ability to enter the conversations of a college classroom (and thus the conversations that will ensue after college) is your vocabulary.  The greater your love of words and knowledge—knowledge of not just their meanings but their nuances (when to use which and with what accompanying prepositions and tones)—the more profitable your reading, and the more effective your writing and oral communication.

To this end, over the course of this year, you will take it upon yourself to learn a minimum of 200 words per semester: 100 of these words will be among the most common SAT-type words, they will be assigned to you, and they will be tested on a roughly bi-weekly timeline (see the schedule of tests below); the other 100 of these words will be self-chosen from your reading for this class (see attached worksheet) and submitted near the end of the semester at which point you will test me!!!

It is strongly recommended that you get your own college dictionary (either American Heritage, Webster's, or Oxford).  These will last you till your kids need them, and they will work when the Internet is down or your laptop/phone is dead.  That said, if going online for definitions, related forms, and etymology (?), I suggest ahdictionary.com or etymonline.com.  If you have an Apple computer, it comes pre-loaded with the Oxford American Dictionary which is top-notch.

Schedule of Vocabulary Exams

Fall Semester Spring Semester

Vocab Set   1—Aug. 21/22, 2025 (Thu./Fri.) Vocab Set 11—Jan. 8/9, 2026 (Thu./Fri.)

Vocab Set   2—Sept. 3/4, 2025 (Wed./Thu.) Vocab Set 12—Jan. 20/21, 2026 (Tue./Wed.)

Vocab Set   3—Sept. 15, 2025 Vocab Set 13—Feb. 2, 2026

Vocab Set   4—Sept. 29, 2025 Vocab Set 14—Feb. 12/13, 2026 (Thu./Fri.)

Vocab Set   5—Oct. 13, 2025 Vocab Set 15—Feb. 23, 2026

Vocab Set   6—Oct. 27, 2025 Vocab Set 16—March 9, 2026

Vocab Set   7—Nov. 6/7, 2025 (Thu./Fri.) Vocab Set 17—March 23, 2026

Vocab Set   8—Nov. 17, 2025 Vocab Set 18—April 1/2, 2026 (Wed./Thu.)

Vocab Set   9—Dec. 1, 2025 Vocab Set 19—April 13, 2026

Vocab Set 10—Dec. 15, 2025 Vocab Set 20—April 27, 2026