InferCabulary, the innovative web-based visual vocabulary tool, today announced it has unveiled a number of upgrades and improvements to the program. Version 2.0 of InferCabulary features new and improved activities for students, plus teacher features that make it easier to implement and integrate into instruction. The new features are immediately available to all users, including existing subscribers as well as schools that sign up now to receive two months of free access, which InferCabulary has provided to support schools as they navigate distance learning forced by COVID-19. To get free access, schools can visit this page.

Designed by a pair of speech-language pathologists, InferCabulary helps learners infer deep meanings of nuanced words by analyzing and interpreting the common thread among carefully chosen images and associated captions. The approach, which mimics the experience of an avid reader, is designed to teach the many contexts of new words in a fraction of the time, which in turn accelerates comprehension across the curriculum. 

“We are delighted to launch these key upgrades to InferCabulary based on thoughtful input from many of our customers, and we know version 2.0 couldn’t come at a more important time, as educators are making great use of the program to help them navigate the challenges of teaching in a time of school closures,” said Beth Lawrence, Co-Founder and CEO of InferCabulary. “The enhanced features make it even easier for students to learn multiple contexts of new words to aid comprehension and increase reading Lexile level. They also facilitate teachers’ use of the program by supporting better implementation and integration with instruction, both in the traditional classroom and in the distance learning setting.” 

InferCabulary version 2.0 includes the following updates:

• Google Classroom Rostering―Educators can now automatically synchronize their student rosters with InferCabulary using Google Classroom. This makes school and classroom setup significantly easier for administrators and teachers. 
• WordExtractor―This powerful tool allows teachers to quickly find InferCabulary words within selected passages of text and build assignments based on those words. Teachers can simply copy and paste a text selection into the program to offer students vocabulary support for reading selections beyond the books currently listed within the program. WordExtractor can also be used to build assignments such as quizzes to help evaluate students’ mastery of selected words.
• More engaging “Basecamp”―The program’s highly-visual introduction activity, Basecamp, still offers six images per word, each with a corresponding caption. However, students are now asked to help “build” the definition of a word by choosing between three possible options that begin with the same sentence stem.

• Trailblazing the Mountain Path―As students progress in their vocabulary knowledge (which, in InferCabulary, is represented as “scaling the mountain”), their ascent is now easier to navigate, through features that give a visual representation of growth. Students are introduced to new words within Basecamp (the introductory activity), and then those same words show up in subsequent Climb levels. Teachers can be confident that selected words will be presented to students in multiple contexts. In addition, students now have the option to repeat a level to try for a better score, rather than “falling backwards” down the mountain.

• Expedition―As climbers move up the mountain, they will now encounter a new activity called Expedition. This more challenging activity is a matching game of related words and helps cement prior learning in Basecamp and Climb modes.

Two months of free access now available

To help students and teachers through the sudden, recent shift to distance learning due to COVID-19, InferCabulary is offering two months of free access to new customers to its online visual vocabulary tool. Schools can sign up for access here.

About InferCabulary 

InferCabulary is a web-based vocabulary tool for 1st – 12th grade students that uses images to help students learn words in a variety of contexts using kid-friendly definitions. The program supplements current curriculum by integrating explicit vocabulary instruction covering Tier Two and academic words. Students use and develop their critical thinking skills, rather than rote memorization, to infer the nuanced meanings of thousands of important words in a way that makes knowledge durable and useful. Teachers, speech-language pathologists, and tutors can hand-select words based on grade level, literature, or their own vocabulary lists, and can search for words according to grade level, standards, or a book in which they appear. Learn more at https://infercabulary.com/