Lexicon takes any English word and opens it up on the whiteboard. It gives the class how the word sounds, how it breaks into syllables, where it came from, the parts it is built from, the words that mean the same and the opposite, what it rhymes with, and how often it has been written down since 1800. Pick the age you teach first and every explanation is pitched to match, so the same word works for a Year 2 class and a Year 10 one.
It suits vocabulary lessons, word of the day, etymology work, prefix and suffix teaching, and poetry — where perfect rhymes, half rhymes and assonance are listed separately rather than lumped together.
What does Lexicon show for a word?
Pronunciation with IPA, a syllable breakdown, part of speech, definitions, where the word came from, its prefix, root and suffix, its word family, synonyms and antonyms, perfect and half rhymes, assonance, words it commonly appears with, a literary quotation, and a graph of how its usage has changed since 1800.
Can I use Lexicon for word of the day?
Yes. Type the word before the lesson and it fills the whiteboard — the hero panel gives the class the word, its sound and its meaning, and the cards below give you as much or as little detail as you want to teach.
Does it work for younger children?
Yes — pick an age range first and the definitions, the etymology story and the word-part meanings are all written for that reading age. Bands run from 5–7 up to 16–18, or leave it on Any age.
How do I teach prefixes, roots and suffixes with it?
The Morphology card splits the word into its parts and gives the meaning of each one, so the class can see how the pieces build the meaning of the whole word.
Can I use it to find rhymes for poetry?
Yes — Lexicon gives perfect rhymes, half or slant rhymes and assonance separately, which is useful when a class is writing poetry and needs more than exact rhymes.
More vocabulary work: Vocab Mat builds a printable word mat with pictures, Word Ladder turns one word into another a letter at a time, and Spelling Lists makes the week's list into practice.