The best thing about blogging and reaching out to the world is the fact that the world often reaches back. Shortly after posting my recent Vocabulary Building article, I was contacted by Faiza Khan regarding her recently launched Vocabulary building site: WordAhead.com. I am pleased that Faiza took time to share this excellent resource with me and feel honored that she asked me to review it.

In my last vocabulary-related post I had some reservations about recommending BrainyFlix…I loved the concept, but worried about the content students might include when given the freedom to create and post their own vocabulary-related videos (OK, so now I do feel like an old fogy, but hey…kids will be kids). WordAhead.com utilizes the same visual and auditory video concept, but appears to be more conservative in regard to content. I hope the professional, more serious tone of this site continues as the site grows in popularity and builds a larger database of words. Users are encouraged to submit their own videos and site developers claim to review all content that is submitted. As the site becomes more popular and accepts more videos, developers of this site may want to consider the addition of a flagging option as a precautionary feature.

Currently, WordAhead.com offers an alphabetical list of all words as well as a Study Room page where users can view videos or study words using a simple flashcard feature. In the future I would love to see a study room option where teachers could flag words and develop individualized lists for their classes…teacher driven study rooms? To go one step further, it would be great if students could test out of the lists developed by their teachers…maybe an online graded quizzing option? Techno-savvy students would probably also like the option of downloading WordAhead.com videos to their phones or MP3 players so they could study on the go.

The words posted on the WordAhead.com site are pretty high level (SAT/ACT level). Down the road it would be nice to target vocabulary appropriate for younger students. Studies show that younger students benefit with the visual, auditory approach that is so well utilized on this site. A range in the difficulty of words would also offer students more differentiated opportunities to build vocabulary. Don’t mistake my lengthy review as criticism. WordAhead.com is an outstanding site that I heartily recommend as a great vocabulary building resource for secondary students getting ready to take their SAT and ACT tests. Check it out as you play with the WordAhead.com widget below: