Ways to Use WordBank

The Lexile WordBank can be used in various ways in curriculum, assessment, and instructional applications.

Some common uses include:

  • Identify grade-appropriate words to target vocabulary instruction and assessment.
  • Identify words to include in instructional materials for domain-specific content.
  • Select important academic words by grade and domain to highlight reading passages, books, or other instructional materials.
  • Ensure coverage of key vocabulary, including multi-word units, to further address the identification and prevalence of these frequently used words in our spoken and written language.
  • Determine how challenging a single word is using new Lexile word measures.

Example Use 1: Select Academic Words for Vocabulary Instruction

You are developing resources to support vocabulary instruction for content-area classrooms in grades 1-5. You want to provide five general academic words for each vocabulary lesson. Using the data from WordBank you can first select only the words identified as general academic words and then sort by frequency in 5th grade to prioritize instruction on the words students will encounter the most.

Example Use 2: Inform Curriculum and Assessment Development

You are assess 5th-grade science content knowledge and want your content authors to avoid using words that students would be unlikely to have encountered prior to 5th grade. Using WordBank, you select only words that have had at least ten occurrences prior to 5th grade and make that list available to content authors to inform the development of assessment passages.