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Bedrock Vocabulary Update
Bedrock vocabulary is an online platform designed to improve the vocabulary of students from Year 7 all the way up to Year 11. Words are so important in unlocking the curriculum for students and we have really begun to see the impact the platform is having on reading, writing and overall literacy skills.
We would like to congratulate the Bedrock Top 50 students this week (view HERE), each week the Top 50 will be for a different achievement. We will publish the Top 50 in each issue of The Regis News to keep you updated. Students will be set Bedrock homework each Thursday and will be asked to complete two Bedrock lessons each week. Students should aim to complete their lessons a day apart, so the brain has time to digest and process new information. Students should also be aware that they must complete two lessons per week and that they cannot ‘carry over’ lessons from the previous week.
As a parent, you can create an account linked to your child’s account using your unique code. This has been emailed to you already, but if you would like this code emailed to you again, please contact your child’s English teacher and this can be sent very easily via email. It is very simple to check on your child’s progress; you can look out for the green smiley face at the top of their Bedrock page. This will tell you if they are up to date with their homework and how many points they have achieved as well as time spent on the platform.
Becoming ‘Word Detectives’
In this article, our Bedrock focus is an additional feature of the programme based on the roots of words. Learning roots of words such as prefixes and suffixes is a highly useful skill - it allows us to work out the meanings of words we may have had no prior knowledge of. A prefix is a group of letters placed before the root of a word such as ‘un’ (which means not) in ‘unnecessary’. A suffix is a group of letters which are placed after a root word such as ‘ing’ or ‘ly’. A root word is a core word that prefixes and suffixes can be added to.
Having knowledge of roots can help students work out the meanings of new words in many subjects, not just English. For example, did you know that the root word ‘geo’ means earth, and therefore ‘geology’ is the study of the earth? Or that ‘poly’ means many, therefore a ‘polygon’ is a shape with many sides? Even without knowing the meaning of a new word, students can infer its meaning based on the meaning of prefixes or suffixes. For example, knowing the prefix ‘anti’ means to go against something or be the opposite of, allows us to work out the meaning of words like ‘antidote’ ‘antiviral’ and ‘antisocial’.
How can I access this?
Each student is assigned a ‘block’ which they work their way through as part of the weekly homework. However, as well as this ‘block’ students can access an extra module called ‘37 Common Roots’. Whilst this feature of Bedrock is not set for homework, it is an excellent way for students to challenge themselves and build their Bedrock point scores. See the images below of how this can be accessed from the ‘My Content’ tab.
