Dick Shinary
    Overview
  • Hi, I am Dick Shinary, Chancellor of Literacy at Vocabulary University®. Explore diverse educational activities by category. Please refer to the SCHOOL CALENDAR for THEME CONTENT at myvocabulary.com. Subject links can be used during any month and all year. Note: Consult a word list of more than 480 words.
  • WE WELCOME NEW CONTENT SUGGESTIONS. Please email them to JanCook(at)myvocabulary.com.

School Calendar
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Month Existing Content Future
Teacher-Feature
AUGUST Lesson Plan
Word Roots 1: Dict-Vent-Duct
Word Roots 2: Fin-Sed-Fer
Word Roots 3: Cern-Jur-Leg

Theme
Food-Ice Cream
Oceans
Olympic Sports
Photography
Vacations

Test Prep
SAT test #1
SAT test #2

Word List/Topic
Oceans, Maritime
Olympics
Sports -Types


Music Appreciation
SEPTEMBER Lesson Plan
Latin Root-A-Week
Word Roots 4: Grad-Mot-Cad
Word Roots 5: Nat-Tract-Sequ
Word Roots 6: Plic-Fac-Cogn
Word Roots 7: Spect-Sta-Vert

Theme
Back to School
Constitution Day
Elections, Word List & Cliches
Football
Labor Day

Test Prep
SAT test #3
SAT test #4

Word List/Topic
Benjamin Franklin (history)
Election
Fitness
George Washington
Government-Constitution
Native Americans

Health & Nutrition
Word City #2 - CEPT
OCTOBER Lesson Plan
Greek Mythology Words
Word Roots 1: Dict-Vent-Duct
Word Roots 2: Fin-Sed-Fer

Theme
Ancient Egypt
Baseball
Columbus Day
ELECTION Comic Strip
Elections, Word List & Cliches
Fire Safety
Halloween
Math Study - Pi Day

Test Prep
SAT test #5
SAT test #6
SAT test #7

Word List/Topic
Baseball
Columbus Day: holiday
Election
Fire Prevention & Safety
Firefighters and Safety
Football
Monsters and Creatures
Mythology
World Series
Explorers & Scientists


Fall Stock Market Game
Word City #3 - MISS
NOVEMBER Lesson Plan
Latin Root-A-Week
Prefix Study
Word Roots 3: Cern-Jur-Leg
Word Roots 4: Grad-Mot-Cad

Theme
Chemistry
Elections, Word List & Cliches
Geography
Tropical Rain Forests
Veterans Day
Wizard Words

Test Prep
SAT test #10
SAT test #8
SAT test #9

Word List/Topic
Thanksgiving
Veterans' Day
History-Famous Scientists
History-Entertainment

Word City #4 - VERT
DECEMBER Lesson Plan
Latin Root-A-Week
Word Roots 5: Nat-Tract-Sequ
Word Roots 6: Plic-Fac-Cogn
Word Roots 7: Spect-Sta-Vert

Theme
Christmas & Holiday Traditions
Christmas Trivia
Music and Fine Arts
Nutrition
Physics
Winter Weather
Wright Brothers

Test Prep
SAT test #11
SAT test #12

Word List/Topic
Christmas
Christmas Scavenger Hunt
December holidays
Go Green!
Jewish Holidays
Literature by Title
Music
Nutrition
College Bowl Games


Word City #5 - STA
JANUARY Lesson Plan
Prefix Study
Word Roots 1: Dict-Vent-Duct
Word Roots 2: Fin-Sed-Fer

Theme
Biology and Insects
Geology
Holocaust
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Monsters
New Year's Resolutions
Winter Weather

Test Prep
SAT test #1
SAT test #2
SAT test #3
SAT test #4

Word List/Topic
Martin Luther King
New Years Day, Jan. 1
Skiing
Vocational and Technical Education
Weather
Black History Month
Sports: Hockey

Water & Oceans
Winter Olympics
Word City #6 - REG
FEBRUARY Lesson Plan
Greek Mythology Words
Word Roots 3: Cern-Jur-Leg
Word Roots 4: Grad-Mot-Cad

Theme
Basketball
Groundhogs Day
Lincoln
Presidents' Day
Valentine's Day

Test Prep
SAT test #5
SAT test #6
SAT test #7
SAT test #8

Word List/Topic
Abraham Lincoln (history)
Auto Racing
Black History
Business, Finance, Economics
Curling
Explorers
George Washington
Groundhogs Day
Lincoln
Valentine's Day
Explorers & Pioneers
Mardi Gras

Word City #7 - SENS
MARCH Lesson Plan
Greek Mythology Words
Word Roots 5: Nat-Tract-Sequ
Word Roots 6: Plic-Fac-Cogn
Word Roots 7: Spect-Sta-Vert

Theme
Basketball
Fine Arts: Oscar Awards
Lewis & Clark-La. Purchase
Oceans
St. Patrick's Day
Women's History Month

Test Prep
SAT test #10
SAT test #11
SAT test #12
SAT test #9

Word List/Topic
Celebration, Carnivals, Festivals
Easter (Holidays)
Irish
Lewis and Clark, explorers
Life Skills and Career
Louisiana Purchase
March Madness/Basketball
Mardi Gras
Women's History Month
Astronomy
The Ides of March (15th)
More Health & Fitness

More Explorers
Word CIty #8 - PEND
APRIL Lesson Plan
Latin Root-A-Week
Word Roots 1: Dict-Vent-Duct
Word Roots 2: Fin-Sed-Fer
Word Roots 3: Cern-Jur-Leg

Theme
Ancient Egypt
April Fools\' Day
Baseball
Chemistry
Earth Day
Gardening & Flowers
Physics
Shakespeare

Test Prep
SAT test #1

Word List/Topic
Civics, Government
Earth Day
Easter (Religion)
Golf
Horticulture, Flowers, Plants
IRS-Tax Day

More Ecology
Word City #9 - PORT
MAY Lesson Plan
Greek Mythology Words
Latin Root-A-Week
Word Roots 4: Grad-Mot-Cad
Word Roots 5: Nat-Tract-Sequ
Word Roots 6: Plic-Fac-Cogn
Word Roots 7: Spect-Sta-Vert

Theme
Cinco de Mayo
Health and Fitness
Kentucky Derby
Memorial Day-May 30th
Mother's Day

Test Prep
SAT test #1

Word List/Topic
Auto Racing
Cinco de Mayo
Horses and Ranches
Memorial Day
Mother's Day
Raptors, Hawks, Birds
International Words
Inventors & Inventions

Teacher Appreciation Week
Science Fair
Word City #10 - SCRIB
SUMMER Lesson Plan
Word Roots 1: Dict-Vent-Duct
Word Roots 2: Fin-Sed-Fer
Word Roots 3: Cern-Jur-Leg
Word Roots 4: Grad-Mot-Cad
Word Roots 5: Nat-Tract-Sequ
Word Roots 6: Plic-Fac-Cogn
Word Roots 7: Spect-Sta-Vert

Theme
Biology and Insects
Fire Safety
July 4th
Math Study - Pi Day
Pirates
Tropical Rain Forests
Vacations
Weddings

Test Prep
SAT test #1

Word List/Topic
Character
Gardening
Golf
Independence Day
Insects
Photography
Weddings and Love
Science History
Character Education

War & Confrontation
Word City #11 - TEN
Word City #12 - TRACT
EVERY MONTH Lesson Plan
Latin Root-A-Week
Prefix Study

Theme
Character Education and Leadership
Health and Fitness
Math Study - Pi Day
New Year's Resolutions

Test Prep


Word List/Topic
Literature by Title