High School Literature Vocabulary

VocabularySpellingCity promotes high school vocabulary learning and comprehension while your students explore great literature. Vocabulary lists created for ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade curriculums allow students to familiarize themselves with language in the books from the Common Core State Standards. Using free vocabulary worksheets and interactive online vocabulary games, students can practice the new words and come to understand the texts more fully.

For more information about each high school grade level, click a link below:

9th Grade Literature VocabularyClose

Expansion of 9th Grade Vocabulary Levels

With each new book in the ninth grade reading curriculum, students are exposed to more advanced vocabulary. While this is vital to their linguistic development as they approach adulthood, the new language may be a little overwhelming. Through online vocabulary activities and printable worksheets, ninth grade students will be introduced to new vocabulary in appropriate contexts, and in enjoyable ways. This helps them to absorb the words and meanings more readily.

VocabularySpellingCity allows you, as a teacher, to guide and tailor the learning process to your own curriculum needs. You can import existing ninth grade word lists into your account, where you can modify them, or you can create your own supplemental lists. Using the vocabulary worksheets and other interactive ninth grade activities provided, you can give quizzes and track your students’ progress in learning the new vocabulary.

Vocabulary for Increased Reading Comprehension

The goal of the grade nine curriculum for literature is not merely to add more words and definitions to a memorized pile. Ninth grade reading goals involve teaching students to comprehend the concepts expressed in a book. In fiction, this means following elements of plot and characterization, while in non-fiction, comprehension of ninth grade vocabulary should allow the students to follow arguments and to integrate new ideas with existing knowledge. This is one reason why it’s so important that the grade nine worksheets and interactive vocabulary activities display the words being used in context.

Common Core State Standards for Literature

VocabularySpellingCity works with you to help students achieve goals set by the Common Core State Standards for ninth grade literature. For example, the standards aim for an ability to “Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.”

A Doll’s House, by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, provides an extra-cultural view and exposes students to the script format. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan adds exposure to a more contemporary world view to the ninth grade curriculum. VocabularySpellingCity’s free vocabulary worksheets and interactive activities and games, ninth grade students can have fun while learning the vocabulary that will help them achieve the required standards for their grade level. This can benefit their performance on standardized tests, and will certainly benefit their future writing ability and reading comprehension.

10th Grade Literature VocabularyClose

Expansion of 10th Grade Spelling Words

The literature-based vocabulary lists at VocabularySpellingCity let you help your tenth grade students expand their comprehension of literature. Many of the books recommended for grade 10 literature introduce vocabulary that will be new to students, and some of this new language may be difficult to absorb. Studies have shown that it’s easier to retain new knowledge if students learn it in an enjoyable way. As they study plays, novels, and other works listed in Common Core State Standards, they can use interactive vocabulary games, printable worksheets, and other vocabulary activities, from classroom text or existing 10th grade spelling words, to become familiar with new vocabulary. This not only raises their reading level within the tenth grade curriculum, but also enhances their comprehension of the books.

Vocabulary for Increased Reading Comprehension

It’s important that students not only learn new words, but that they learn this vocabulary list in a proper context. Vocabulary games allow them to both read these words with definitions and hear the words pronounced in context-rich sentences. Printable vocabulary worksheets and other activities will help increase students’ reading comprehension.

Common Core State Standards for Literature

The Common Core State Standards have established goals for tenth grade, including the ability to “read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the text complexity band, independently and proficiently.” VocabularySpellingCity’s grade 10 worksheets and interactive vocabulary games allow students to learn both the meaning and context for new words, so they will have complete comprehension as they encounter their tenth grade reading texts. This understanding will be useful for writing standardized tests in literature and reading comprehension. Students will be able to grasp concepts in the vocabulary in novels like Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, for example, and they will enter much more richly into the meaning of poems such as John Donne’s “Song,” or William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 73.”

11th Grade Literature VocabularyClose

Expansion of 11th Grade Vocabulary Levels

When students encounter a lot of new vocabulary in a short time in novels, plays, and other books they read for 11th grade literature curriculum, there are various methods to help them absorb and retain it. One of the best ways is through interactive online vocabulary games that don’t simply teach the spellings and meanings of words, but that also demonstrate their use in a real context. VocabularySpellingCity provides vocabulary lists for many recommended 11th grade books. With worksheets, games, and other activities, students can use these lists to gain a thorough understanding of the new words.

Teachers, too, will find the 11th grade vocabulary lists here a valuable resource in teaching the new language. With a Premium Membership, you can import existing word lists into your own account and then modify them as you need to. You can also create your own lists. Students can download the free vocabulary worksheets to work on when they’re offline, and you can administer online quizzes and keep track of their progress.

Vocabulary for Increased Reading Comprehension

One of the many benefits of VocabularySpellingCity’s online vocabulary activities, interactive games, worksheets, and other tools is that they allow students to go beyond merely learning word spellings and definitions. The ultimate goal for the 11th grade curriculum for literature is increased comprehension as well as enhanced vocabulary. The eleventh grade worksheets and vocabulary games allow students to read and hear the new words in context-rich sentences that demonstrate both the basic meaning and the use of the words. This means that students will understand the context much more readily when they see these same words in their assigned literature.

Common Core State Standards for Literature

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) specify students should, “By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently.” Students at the 11th grade reading level are preparing for college and career readiness (CCR), and their vocabulary and comprehension should therefore increase in complexity.

VocabularySpellingCity provides vocabulary lists for CCSS-recommended plays such as “The Importance of Being Earnest”, by Oscar Wilde or poems like “The Mending Wall” by Robert Frost. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, exposes students to complex vocabulary, as does Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston. Using word lists for these works and doing vocabulary activities, games, and worksheets, students will augment their vocabulary as they achieve the grade-level standards. They’ll benefit in writing standardized tests throughout their academic careers, and as they go on to read great works of literature on their own.

12th Grade Literature VocabularyClose

Expansion of 12th Grade Spelling Words

VocabularySpellingCity provides many tools for you to assist 12th grade students in their literature studies and vocabulary acquisition. As students study such books as Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky or plays like “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, they encounter new vocabulary in a relatively short time. Through vocabulary lists specially created for books in the grade 12 literature curriculum, students can familiarize themselves with new words using free vocabulary worksheets, interactive word games, printable flashcards, and other activities. By learning to use this new high school vocabulary in context-rich sentences, the students attain a fuller understanding of the concepts and language in the books they study.

You can further enhance your 12th graders’ reading experience by importing a vocabulary list specially prepared for one of the works your students are studying. You’ll have a head start on teaching new words without having to find vocabulary from scratch. But you can also add your own words and sentences or make alterations, once you’ve imported the list to your account. You can give 12th grade spelling word tests and quizzes and track your students’ progress.

Vocabulary for Increased Reading Comprehension

VocabularySpellingCity interactive games, vocabulary worksheets, and other activities give students a great advantage as they learn 12th grade spelling words. Rather than simply memorizing lists of words and definitions, students experience the words in context as they read and listen to the provided sentences spoken aloud. As they encounter the same vocabulary in other books from the grade 12 curriculum, they’ll have greater comprehension of what they’re reading.

Common Core State Standards for Literature

Common Core State Standards require that students should, “By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band, independently and proficiently.” To prepare for college and career readiness (CCR), it’s essential for 12th grade students to know and comprehend the required high school vocabulary. With vocabulary lists that VocabularySpellingCity has created for works in the grade 12 literature curriculum, students can use free vocabulary worksheets, word games, and other activities to reach their goals and graduate with proficiency in reading and comprehension. This knowledge and ability will serve them well in future academics and writing standardized tests. But it will also make their future reading more rich and enjoyable.

High School Literature Vocabulary

The following games are recommended for 8th Grade Literature Vocabulary Lists.

Paragraph Writing Practice allows students to create a paragraph using their spelling or vocabulary words.

Play Paragraph Writing Practice Play Paragraph Writing Practice with a High School Literature list.

10th Grade Spelling Words

Vocabulary TestMe provides students with the opportunity to take a vocabulary test independently.

Play Vocabulary TestMe with a High School Literature list.

11th Grade Spelling Words

WhichWord? Definitions provides practice recognizing definitions for each spelling and vocabulary word.

Play WhichWord? Definitions with a High School Literature list.

12th Grade Spelling Words