Tier 2 Vocabulary Flashcards
Academic vocabulary for school success.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Ask for a sentence, not the definition. A definition can be recited without meaning, and a sentence cannot — a student who says the box was fragile so we carried it carefully has it. Pair each word with the plain synonym the card supplies and then ask when you would use the harder one, since enormous and very big are not interchangeable in tone. Ten minutes covers four or five words properly.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- HintGive a clue about the word's category, what it does, or where you find it.Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two answers, the right one not always second.Log as cued
- ModelGive the answer in a sentence; the student says it back and uses it once more.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer items and start with the ones the student already knows.
Ask for the word in a sentence of the student's own, or a second example from the same group.
Matching IEP goal
Given vocabulary cards, Student will name, sort or define target words in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Fourteen tier-2 academic words with plain definitions: enormous, very big; curious, wanting to know more; fortunate, lucky; exhausted, very tired; peculiar, strange or odd; reluctant, not wanting to; fragile, breaks easily; observe, to watch closely; persuade, to convince someone; sufficient, enough. These are the words that cross every subject and rarely get taught in any of them.
What to listen for
Listen for the word being used with the right connotation. Peculiar means strange with a hint of amusement, and a student who uses it for something frightening has the definition and not the flavour. Watch reluctant and sufficient, which are the two most abstract here and the two most likely to be recited rather than understood.
Carrying it home
These words appear in books above a child's talking level. Substituting one into ordinary conversation — you look exhausted — gives the word a real context and takes no time at all.
What's in this activity
- enormous = very big
- fortunate = lucky
- exhausted = very tired
- ancient = very old
- peculiar = strange or odd
- generous = willing to share
- reluctant = not wanting to
- fragile = breaks easily
- frequent = happening often
- observe = to watch closely
- sufficient = enough
- +3 more
Questions
- What are tier-2 words?
- High-frequency words that cross subjects — enormous, observe, reluctant — as opposed to everyday words or subject-specific technical terms. They carry most of the meaning in academic text and are rarely taught explicitly.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all fourteen cards play with no account and no card.
- What grades is this for?
- Third through sixth, where academic vocabulary begins to outpace conversational vocabulary.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.