Mom of Many: Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 from The Critical Thinking Co.: A TOS Crew Review

Friday, May 10, 2019

Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 from The Critical Thinking Co.: A TOS Crew Review

Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 from The Critical Thinking Co.

Vocabulary skills are said to be the biggest determiner of success on the SAT. We have been honing these valuable skills with Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 from The Critical Thinking Co.

We are long time fans of this company! Vocabulary Virtuoso PSAT-SAT Book 1 is a 208 page book available in physical copy or downloadable ebook.

This book contains 20 lessons with 9 vocabulary words. 85% of the words are taken directly from the current PSAT and SAT listings. The other words come from academic content in literature, humanities and language arts.

Each word list focuses on a part of speech. Let me show you what a lesson looks like...

In each lesson, the vocabulary words are used in a variety of activities, all in the proper context. This really helps solidify these words into your student's growing vocabulary.

Each word list contains the definition, pronunciation and synonyms. The lists also use the words in concepts like idioms, puns, jargon, irony, euphemisms, aphorisms, allusions and theme.

Each lesson has 6 different activities to complete, including a reading comprehension passage called the Story Challenge. This is a huge boost for the critical reading section of the standardized test! Some activities include completing the sentence, unscrambling the word, writing the word, idiom or phrase to show comprehension of the new word in context.

The stories take place in a fictional classroom setting as the students are learning these concepts.

A review lesson is included every 4 lessons. Review lessons are shorter, with only 3 activities, including crossword puzzles. This volume covers a variety of lessons:

Literary - characterization, idioms, euphemisms, puns, aphorisms, jargon, allusions, irony, theme
Rhetorical - The Art of Persuasion in Speech and Writing, Using the Extended Simile to Write a Poem
History - The Renaissance, Renaissance artists

It's a painless way to add vocabulary building skills into your student's day. I highly recommend it! You will want to check out other great products the Crew has been reviewing: