Parents' Guide to

SAT Word Slam

By Liz Panarelli, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

A slam dunk for helping teens' vocabulary to ... burgeon.

App iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad Paid Education
SAT Word Slam Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

  • SAT Word Slam App: Screenshot #1
  • SAT Word Slam App: Screenshot #2
  • SAT Word Slam App: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 2 parent reviews

ReaderMum
ReaderMum Adult
February 25, 2012
age 13+

My Kids Love This Vocab App Because it Makes Them Laugh

I have three kids using this app: 13, 15, and 17. They all like it--especially my 13-year-old who likes to keep up with the other two. They like that the words are taught with rhyme, and that there is a lot of sarcastic humor in there. I love that the pronunciations are given, that the words are used in context, and that there is an audio option that lets the kids hear all the poems read for them. This is especially great for my younger two who are very strong audio learners. Also, there is a memory clue after every poem, and that's been a huge help. I ask the kids what the words mean and they often refer to the memory clues like, "We revere Paul Revere," and "Monday feels Mundane." Other apps I've found just give the definitions, but this one is much more of a learning tool. There are occasional mentions of edgy things like smoking, but I find that the references are critical, as in the poem for the word, "jocular," where it says, "Jocular people mock and make jokes. I feel jocular whenever I see people smoke. That is if I don't feel like whacking their heads; nothing funny about taking the fast track to dead." I really suggest that you try this app. I hope that there are more words coming soon for this app because my kids are tearing through the first 350. Great website, Common sense media. Thanks!

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
WordLover
WordLover Adult
February 23, 2012
age 14+

My kids love this app. I give it 5 Stars.

My kids are crazy about this app. This is the first time I've been able to get my teenagers interested in learning vocabulary. They love that the vocab rhymes are funny and they love the character voices. I like the mnemonics because they make sense and make words easy to remember. The app is very easy to use and is a great teaching tool. One thing that's really unique is that when you take a test, if you get a question wrong a button pops up that teaches you the word you should have picked. I recommend this app very highly.
See all 2 parent reviews

What’s It About?

From the navigation bar, teens can choose from Teach Me, Test Me, Playlist, Index, and Test Results. The index includes an alphabetical list of words with parts of speech, pronunciations, definitions, and mnemonic devices. Teens can mark words as easy, medium, or difficult. The playlist lets kids create a custom set of words from the full list. The Teach Me section includes the poems and mnemonics. In both the Teach Me and Test Me sections, teens can review or test all words, words they've marked as difficult, or a custom playlist.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (2):
Kids say: Not yet rated

SAT Word Slam is very down-to-earth, and the author's voice comes through pretty clearly, opinions and all. The testing section is well-designed, and the teaching and index sections give teens various ways to learn the words with clever poems and mnemonics, as well as the ability to categorize and study words by difficulty. While the sassy references to Paris Hilton and O.J. Simpson make for memorable associations, they don't always provide the most precise idea of the meaning and correct use of the words. However, in terms of learning design, it would be hard to find an app that's better than SAT Word Slam for helping kids learn and remember challenging vocabulary.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Encourage your teen to use the SAT words in everyday conversation. Choose one word a week to focus on as a family, and make a point of using it.

  • Suggest to teens that they start a vocabulary journal. Along with the words and definitions, they can include original sentences and hand-drawn images to help them remember the meanings.

App Details

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