BOOKS FOR CHILDREN, EDUCATION, AND HOMESCHOOLING
Home of Barb's People Builders

Education is our business!
We supply the literature, workbooks, and teaching
materials you need in all subjects, preschool through high school.

Price codes and discount policy Prices are subject to change at any time. Please check availability by email before calling. Order by title, catalog number,  and complete price with code letter. How to find what you need on this site.

What's New? / Articles / Catalog / Blogs To Make a Purchase Order Frequently Asked Questions / Links Used Books / Sale / Bargain Books Keep informed about special offers & new books  Important Contact Information Upcoming Events We accept PayPal and school purchase orders.

BUILDING VOCABULARY THROUGH CONTEXT AND CONTENT

General and Multiple Approaches to Building Vocabulary
Building Vocabulary through Prefixes and Root Words
Building Vocabulary Through Word Play, Puzzles, Games, and Visual Mnemonics

  Wordplay: 550+ Words you Need to Know, Barron's Education. Second Edition, by Paul Allman. This fabulous resource for high school students and up consists of five audio CDs with a total playing time of about six hours, and a booklet that defines most unfamiliar words on the CDs. What's on the CDs? 

• Seven funny dramatization, each in four acts.

• Dialogues which highlight words for you to learn

• Definitions and reviews of words and idioms after each act.

A bit about the comic dramas on the CDs:

• "The Rambling Panthers" : A high school football team doesn't have much talent, but he players all have high SAT scores.

• "Slap Monahan, Private Investigator": A tough private eye gets help from a talking computer.

• "The Furious Cook": the world's most patient chef loses his cool every time something goes wrong during his cooking show.

• "High School University": a soap opera flourishes as four romantically involved teens muddle through their misunderstandings.

• "Big Mike": News making interviews from the most unlikely places -- inside a basketball, behind a refrigerator, under a toupee, and other peculiar locations.

• "The Meter is Running": A college professor's amusing encounter with a cab driver whose English skills are limited.

• "City of Gold": Distinguished scholars search across three continents for a wonderful treasure

    Purchasing information: Cat. #BTH-1349. $17.99-D

Special novels written to teach vocabulary

This imaginative way to review for the SAT allows students to just read an adventure novel that has all the SAT words used in bold type.  No more memorizing tedious lists. Instead, students encounter words in context using this novel approach. There is a glossary at the back that contains all of those words. Students read, and if they don't comprehend a word in bold type, they look it up to find out what it means in context. The authors suggest students look up even the words they think they know to make sure they are right. Many of the words appear several times in the same book, so there is plenty of opportunity to review built in. There are some exercises at the end of the books to to enable students to see how much they've learned. And there are some hints on making the best use of the book and on studying for the SAT at the beginning of the book. This method will probably work best with a self-motivated student. I t can also be used by teachers who want to use the book for reinforcement or who may want to read this book aloud after teaching the bold-face words used in the portion to be read.  Here are the novels available now:

    Test of Time by Charles H. Elster. In this book students can learn more than 2,000 SAT words in this time-travel adventure set in 1883 in Maine. Here is the publisher's summary: An eccentric writer is finishing a manuscript about a rebellious boy named Huck when it suddenly disappears and in its place appears a strange contraption -- a college student's laptop that has traveled through time. BTH-544. $12.60-D

    Tooth and Nail: A Novel Approach to the SAT by Charles H. Elster and Joseph Elliot. This novel, set on a college campus similar to Yale, involves  an effort by some students and  faculty members to uncover a hitherto unknown letter written by Shakespeare that could change the world's perception of him. The search finally leads to some dangerous and tense moments in the heart of the old headquarters of a secret society similar to Skull and Bones. The first characters introduced are new freshmen, and besides the mystery, students get a feel for everyday life on a new college campus. The novel teaches over 800 word that appear on the SAT.
BTH-545. $11.70-D

Vocabulary Builders, by Michelle Breyer, LDA, 2004. 128 pages. Books in this series are aligned to state and national standards. They are designed to help struggling readers develop better vocabularies so that reading will not be such a chore. The cross-curricular reading selections help students learn vocabulary in context for math, literature, language arts, social studies, science, and life survival skills. Each lesson focuses on only five or six new vocabulary words. The vocabulary words and high-interest content are drawn from the upper elementary grade levels, but the reading level is targeted for struggling readers at the primary reading level so they can learn the words they need to function effectively at their grade levels. Multi-page lessons include a reading comprehension selection to introduce the vocabulary words followed by extension activities to reinforce learning. Several assessments are provided to gauge student performance and progress.

    Vocabulary Builders, Book A is correlated to basal textbooks. The books are not closely graded, but Book A appears to be at about grade 2 or 3 level. BTH-2960. $12.59-D

    Vocabulary Builders, Book B is at a higher level. Illustrations are suitable for middle school or even higher grades. Limited reproduction rights and answer keys are provided.  BTH-2961. $12.59-D

Vocabulary in Context: 1500 Words Every Middle School Student Should Know by Margaret Brinton. The carefully chosen words and accompanying activities in this book were created to help middle school students build an age-appropriate vocabulary so that they will be able to communicate well orally and in writing. Reproducible lessons use vivid imagery and strong context clues to help students discern the meanings of new words. For enrichment and extra practice, there is an additional mini-activity or puzzle. There are 122 lessons in all. 128 pages, including answers. BTH-2964. $11.69-D

Vocabulary Connections from Steck-Vaughn.These books are available for grades 1-8. They build vocabulary where it matters most -- in the content areas. Lessons are thematic, with literature and nonfiction selections to provide context for the words that are introduced. Each book has 144 pages and a bound-in answer key. Activities include crossword puzzles, cloze passages, dictionary skill builders and more. Exercises feature using words in context, making analogies, categorizing, and defining synonyms and antonyms. Each lesson includes a writing activity and test-taking tips to prepare students for standardized tests. Review units reinforce words from previous lessons and help teachers monitor progress. Attractive pictures enhance the text. This books are consumable rather than reproducible. Books are $12.36-D each. Catalog numbers are below. Items in table below are what is left of the older 1997 edition, which comes with a bound-in answer key. The revisions have separate answer keys instead of a bound-in answer key. Supply of these older editions is limited to stock on hand. The revisions are also available. . If you need multiple copies, please  the new editions. See the next entry on this page (scroll down past the table below) for information on the revised version.

Vocabulary Connections from Steck-Vaughn. Revised 2004 edition. These books are available for grades 1-8. They build vocabulary where it matters most -- in the content areas. Lessons are thematic, with literature and nonfiction selections to provide context for the words that are introduced. Each book has 144 pages . Activities include crossword puzzles, cloze passages, dictionary skill builders and more. Exercises feature using words in context, making analogies, categorizing, and defining synonyms and antonyms. Each lesson includes a writing activity and test-taking tips to prepare students for standardized tests. Review units reinforce words from previous lessons and help teachers monitor progress. Attractive pictures enhance the text. This books are consumable rather than reproducible. Answers are not included in student, but are available in the separate Teacher Guide. Student books are $14.49-D each. Teacher Guides are $6.53-D each.

Vocabulary in the Content Areas by Vivian Berstein. Harcourt Achieve (Steck Vaughn), 2008. Books in this series are ideal for increasing reading comprehension and writing skills in the content areas, even as they reinforce what students are learning in social studies and science. The books provide theme-based, explicit instruction. They help develop key vocabulary skills as they help students build a strong vocabulary foundation in both content area vocabulary and academic vocabulary (words and phrases that describe and express complex processes and abstract concepts). These books will also help improve test scores. 128 pages, with answer key. Available titles follow:

    Vocabulary in the Content Areas: Science, Grades 3-5. This book is divided into three units: Life Science, Earth Science, and Physical Science. It is aligned with best-selling science textbooks and standards-based assessments. BTH-3597.$15.29-D

    Vocabulary in the Content Areas: Social Studies, Grades 3-5. This book is divided into four units: People and Places, People and Communities, People and Goods, and American History. It is aligned with best-selling social studies textbooks and standards-based assessments. BTH-3598.$15.29-D

    Vocabulary in the Content Areas: American History, Middle Grades . This book is divided into four units: American Beginnings, The American Revolution and the New Nation, Civil War and Change in the United States, and The United States in the Twentieth Century. It is aligned with best-selling social studies textbooks and standards-based assessments. BTH-3599.$15.29-D

    Vocabulary in the Content Areas: World History, Middle Grades . This book is divided into four units: Growth of Civilizations, Growth of Nations, Expansion and Change, and The Twentieth Century. It is aligned with best-selling social studies textbooks and standards-based assessments. BTH-3600.$15.29-D

Vocabulary Ventures Grades 1-2: Strategies for Modeling Vocabulary Instruction by M. C. Hall. Rigby Press, 2005. Understanding words is just as important as being able to decode them. To read fluently, children need to have rich vocabularies. It's better not to leave this to chance, but rather to offer some direct instruction. (It also helps to read aloud and discuss a lot of books.) This research-based book has two over-all assessments, three unit assessments, 15 vocabulary lessons, fluency activities, activities for children to do at home, and a recommended reading list (one for students, one for teachers). This book teaches 90 new words that children in these grades might not run into on their own. (Examples: bellowed, bounded, clutched, conceal, devours, faint, gaggle, investigate, moist, plodded, pounce, scrumptious, shrug, skimpy, slithered, swarm, swift, terrifying, timid, urged, and wispy.) 112 pages. Reproducible for classroom use. BTH-2568. #13.46-D

Vocabulary Ventures Grades 3-4: Strategies for Modeling Vocabulary Instruction by M. C. Hall. Rigby Press, 2005. Understanding words is just as important as being able to decode them. To read fluently, children need to have rich vocabularies. It's better not to leave this to chance, so one should offer some direct instruction. (It also helps to read aloud and discuss a lot of books.) This research-based book has two over-all assessments, three unit assessments, 15 vocabulary lessons, fluency activities, activities for children to do at home, and a recommended reading list (one for students, one for teachers). This book teaches 90 new words that children in these grades might not run into on their own. (Examples: absurd, accumulates, admonished, apprehensive, bleak, bobbed, compressed, conceded, dawdled, depressions, dismay, erect, excavated, frigid, horde, omitted, plummet, propels, puny, retorted, shrewd, squander, stowed, and many more. ) BTH-2569. #13.46-D

Vocabulary Words in Context: 101 Lessons, Grades 3-5 by Greg Camden and Eric Migliaccio. Teacher Created Resources, 2007. Lessons 1-74 introduce at least five vocabulary words, while lessons 75-100 introduce six. Each lesson has three parts. The context passage uses the words in a written piece that can take one of several forms: e-mail. newspaper article, nonfiction, and fiction. Students respond by using the definitions box at the top to match a definition with the corresponding word in the written passage. Or, instead, they may be given a mini dictionary box on top and be asked to fill the most appropriate words on the list into  the blacks in the passage.  The second part of each lesson is repetition. Students are asked to write each vocabulary word three times in order to make them more familiar with each word and commit it to memory. This is followed by the reinforcement activity, which can take one of several formats: analogies, context clues, fill-in-the-blanks, matching, synonyms and antonyms, etc. Students will be introduced to a total of over 500 words. 112 pages. Includes answer key and indexed list of the words with their lesson numbers. Includes standards and benchmarks. BTH-3842. $12.59-D

Vocabulary Words in Context: 101 Lessons, Grades 6-8 by Margaret Brinton. Teacher Created Resources, 2007. Lessons introduce six to eight new vocabulary words. Each lesson has three parts. The context passage uses the words in a written piece that can take one of several forms: e-mail. newspaper article, nonfiction, and fiction. Students respond by using the definitions box at the top to match a definition with the corresponding word in the written passage. Or, instead, they may be given a mini dictionary box on top and be asked to fill the most appropriate words on the list into  the blacks in the passage.  The second part of each lesson is repetition. Students are asked to write each vocabulary word three times in order to make them more familiar with each word and commit it to memory. This is followed by the reinforcement activity, which can take one of several formats: analogies, context clues, fill-in-the-blanks, matching, synonyms and antonyms, etc. Students will be introduced to a total of over 600 words. 112 pages. Includes answer key and indexed list of the words with their lesson numbers. Includes standards and benchmarks. BTH-3843. $12.59-D

General and Multiple Approaches to Building Vocabulary
Building Vocabulary through Prefixes and Root Words
Building Vocabulary Through Word Play, Puzzles, Games, and Visual Mnemonics

************************************************************************************************

We're in the Pacific Time Zone
Our normal office hours when we answer the phone are 10: 30 AM - 4 PM Monday - Friday.
We answer email and ship at other times, but normally take Sundays off.
 

We prefer you ask your questions about products and availability by e-mail, since that gives us more time to prepare a thoughtful answer and keeps us from playing phone tag. Please remember to put our email address in your address book if you have a spam filter or you won't ever get your answer unless you also leave a phone number. We cannot usually tell you immediately over the phone if a book is here. We have to walk two blocks to check the warehouse, so I usually have to call you back or email you anyway.  We do check our e-mail frequently throughout the day when we are at home. If we should be out, and you leave a message on our answering machine, we sometimes cannot hear the phone number clearly to return your call. Those are some reasons why we recommend you email us first. If you want us to call you, please leave your phone number and time zone.
When you do email us, please do not leave the subject blank or just say "Hi" or "Hello" as the subject. We delete those before opening because a lot of spam messages look like that. 
We have supplied a subject line in the link provided above that will guarantee your mail will be opened fast.
Or call (800)925-8587 (not before 10 AM or after 10 PM Pacific Time)

About Us / Upcoming Events
Back to Home Page / Privacy Statement (updated in April, 2007)
Articles / Catalog / Awards
Contact Information
Links to our Favorite Sites / Frequently Asked Questions