Al-Sufi's Book of the Fixed Stars - Vocabulary
To commemorate the birth of Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi on December 7th 903 AD, we've uploaded a vocabulary introduction to his Book of the Fixed Stars. This text, written in 964, was an attempt at synthesising traditional astronomical study from the 'Arabic' world and that of Ptolemy, an Egyptian Roman. This list could be a wonderful route into igniting an interest in the night sky, or into a period of history misunderstood by many. Introduce your students to this fascinating topic with these 40 words now! View the list here.
This list follows hot on the heels of last week's Macbeth by William Shakespeare vocabulary!
How the Vocab module works
The Vocab module is simple. It's online. Each learner has their own username and password. You (the teacher) allocate the word list you'd like your class to work on. And away they go!
Mastering words
The programme learns how well your learners understand a word. Once they've mastered it, it goes into their mastered list! Each word has a 'definiton card' that supports their learning. This includes a definiton, an example sentence, synonyms, antonyms and an image. As they become more confident with a word, the definition card becomes more challenging. The image disappears - then the synomyms and antonyms, and finally the example sentence. If the learner makes a mistake, then the scaffolding returns - until they've mastered the word!
Each word has audio support so they are hearing and seeing the word as they learn it. And you are bringing the words to life with your class as you read the book or cover the topic!
Interrupting the forgetting curve
One amazing thing about the Vocab module is that the programme actually revisits words at key intervals. This is based on the science of memory and the famous work of Ebbinghaus. The programme interrupts the tendency to forget new things by overlearning at strategic intervals! This helps the words become firmly lodged in your learners long-term memories!
Short and regular sessions are best!
As a supplementary resource, Vocab is best used alongside your usual classroom activities. You might ask your class to spend 5 or 10 minutes a few times a week, either at home or at school. Some teachers like to use the programme from the front of the classroom too!
Which word list next?
If you are reading an amazing book with your class and you'd like us to create a word list for it, then let us know!
