A strong vocabulary is essential for student success. Therefore, teachers must make every effort to help students’ master vocabulary inside and outside of the classroom. According to Dr. Kimberly Tyson’s infographic 10 Do’s and Don’ts for Effective Vocabulary Instruction, “Effective vocabulary instruction across grade levels and content areas is key in increasing student learning and achievement.”

Luckily for teachers and students, educational technology is making it even easier to build vocabulary. Here are eight must-have vocabulary apps and tools to help your students learn and have fun at the same time:

1. Power Vocab Word Game

Those looking for a fun way to improve vocabulary will love this app! It is simply fun to play and even offers a multi-player mode where you can test your vocabulary skills against someone else. Teachers and parents will love it because of its test preparation tools.

2. SAT Vocab – Mindsnacks

This vocabulary app includes nine games to help students dominate the SAT with lessons, quests, and additional SAT preparation features (i.e., antonyms). The games are fun, but the app is also a great vocabulary building tool because it includes definitions, pronunciations, and contextual examples.

3. SAT Word Slam

Teenagers will love the SAT Word Slam app because it uses teenage humor and pop culture references to teach vocabulary. Utilizing “teach me” and “test me,” this app allows students to learn definitions, test their knowledge, and track their progress.

4. Shahi – A Visual Dictionary

This unique vocabulary tool is an online visual dictionary. This online tool provides students with both the definition of the word and a corresponding image from Flickr.

5. uVocab Vocabulary Trainer

For those preparing for the SAT or other standardized tests, this vocabulary app is a smart choice because it includes over 4500 test words and realistic test questions. Students can also keep track of their progress.

6. Vocab Ahead

This tool is a hit with teachers and students because it is a multi-sensory approach to teaching vocabulary. With videos, definitions, games, quizzes, and more, this interactive website is an enjoyable teaching tool. Plus, teachers can create word lists for their students.

7. Vocabulary.com

If you are looking for a game-like approach to building your students’ vocabulary, then you should consider this app. It is a game where the student must earn points by answering vocabulary questions to move up levels. It also makes creating relevant vocabulary lessons easy for teachers with its learning activity feature.

8. Word Hippo

This online educational tool is helpful in the classroom because it does a little bit of everything – definitions, pronunciations, synonyms, antonyms, rhyming words, and more. It also gives examples of the word in different contexts.

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