Get the Picture: Commonly Confused Words is a set of thirty 8.5” x 11” cardstock flashcards that display commonly confused words. For example, the words “accept” and “except” or “indifferent” and “in different” can often be confused. Words that sound the same or very similar but have totally different meanings can often be confusing. The colorful and somewhat animated words will help students differentiate and learn the meaning of these common words. Most of the cards have two similar words with a few of the cards containing three words. Along with the cards, you will receive a one-page reference sheet containing all of the words with their definitions. The cost of the card pack is $29.99.

You could use these flashcards in many different ways. First, you could use them simply as flashcards. Second, you could display the cards on a wall or in vinyl classroom-type pockets. This flashcard set is targeted for grades 3-6. I used them with my 3^rd grader. These cards would be perfect for either a homeschool or a school setting.

My daughter was familiar with many of these words but not always the meanings or spelling. I chose to focus on 5 flashcards per week. Each day, I would have her say the words and their meanings. I would have her work on the spellings of the words and then become familiar with writing the correct word when given the definition. I created smaller flashcards with words and definitions and had my daughter match the correct word and spelling to the proper definition. My daughter definitely benefited from these flashcards.

My daughter said, “Why does English have to be so confusing. Sometimes words are not spelled the way you want to say it. It is really hard and confusing when words are spelled different but say the same thing. It is like learning sight words. You have to just learn which word goes with which definition. This year in grammar I learned when to use the word ‘then’ and when to use the word ‘than’ and other words like this.”

In addition to some of the words that are spelled differently but sound the same, you have words like “fewer” and “less” that mean the same thing but are contextually used depending on the context. Students will also learn a bit of grammar when they learn word pairs such as “who’s” and “whose.” Did you know that it is never okay to use the wording “different than”? One should always say “different from.” Many of these common mistakes, if not learned in the formative years, continue to be confused and misused later in life.

The cards are very unique in that the words are animated in order to visually help the student differentiate between the words and their meanings. For example, the words “access” and “excess” are displayed together. For the word “access” the “a” is in the shape of a locker combination. The word “excess” is written multiple times to show that “excess” means surplus or more than necessary. For the words “allowed” and “aloud” the “d” in “allowed” is a traffic signal while the “a” in “aloud” has a mouth in the open part of the “a.” These simple helps aid the student in remembering which word means what.

I absolutely loved these flashcards. I would definitely recommend them to fellow educators. Anytime you can make confusing aspects of academia a bit easier, I am all for it. My daughter willingly worked through learning the words on the flashcards. She even quizzed her older sibling to see if they knew the difference between specific words. While the flashcards are made from cardstock, I would definitely recommend getting the cards laminated for durability. At first, I wished the cards were a bit smaller but then realized that the size was indeed perfect. I had my daughter use her finger to trace the words to help imprint in her memory the spellings. Smaller-sized cards would not have worked for tracing. This size would also be highly beneficial for a classroom setting or for displaying. Lone Star Learning has many other vocabulary card sets available for purchase. Check them all out at http://store.lonestarlearning.com/shop/product-category/category/get-the-picture/.

-Product reviewed by Jennifer Ladewig, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, June 2017

Another Reviewer Perspective:

Get the Picture-Commonly Confused Words (Grades 3-6) (Large Flash Card Set)

Lone Star Learning

http://LoneStarLearning.com

There are many times that I find that I need a visual tool when teaching my daughter with learning disabilities. Reading has been a challenge for my daughter. Some words are just plain confusing to her, and trying to find a way to get her to grasp the nuisances in our English vocabulary is a challenge. 

Recently, I have been working with my daughter using Get the Picture-Commonly Confuses Words flashcards. This is a large flashcard set that measures 8 ½” x 11”. The set comes with 30 cards with a total of 62 words in all. The cards are a nice thickness printed on a glossy cardstock. Even though the cards are pretty durable, I plan on laminating them so they don’t get bent up. Each of the cards has two or three words per card. The words are colorful and all have a different font. The cards are illustrated to represent the words. The words have little hints that may help with remembering these commonly confused words. The cards aren’t overly busy with the illustrations. Not having a lot of illustrations on the cards is a big plus for me. My daughter would get distracted if the cards had too much going on in the illustrations.

The set comes with one page that has all the words and the definitions on one handy page. I put the page in a clear vinyl pocket and plan on laminating it later.

The cards can be used in various ways from hanging them on your wall or using them as typical flashcard and drilling with the words. The possibilities are endless with how you could use the cards. They could easily be adapted to be used with any language arts curriculum. Another way to use the cards is to have your child use the words in sentences either orally or writing them down.

Some of the helpful cards are they’re/there/their. What I appreciated about this particular card are the subtle hints to help the kids remember the difference. For example, the word “they’re” has a tiny letter “a” within the apostrophe. The word “there” has an arrow across the word. My daughter put together that it meant going somewhere. The word “their” has a smiley face in the letter “e” and the “i” looks like a person. Another card that has been beneficial for my daughter was the card for the words two/to/too. In this card, the word “two” has the number 2 that is part of the “w.” I thought that this was very clever. With the word “to,” the word is on a gift tag. For the word “too,”the “oo” in the word are the eyes of a boy. Honestly, these cards are a hoot with a plethora of fun ways to remember words that are confusing.

I went over several cards with my daughter every day. We would talk about each word and go over the definition. Some days I would have my daughter write out a sentence. Other days we would just do a sentence out loud. For fun, I had my daughter pretend she was the teacher and I had to put the words in sentences.

This has been a nice creative resource to use in my homeschool for helping my daughter sort out these commonly confused words.

I would recommend these cards for anyone who is looking for a visual way to teach your kids how to discern those pesky commonly confused words.

-Product review by Renee Knoblauch, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, June 2017