The First 4,000 Words - The Vocabulary Building Program

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The First 4,000 Words is an interactive web-based program used to teach the 4,000 most frequently used English words to English Language Learners and struggling readers in grades 1 through 4. This research-based and field-tested program helps students develop the necessary reading skills to succeed in school.

The First 4,000 Words, which requires little teacher time beyond student setup, contains 355 interactive and individualized web-based lessons organized into 8 levels of proficiency. Students access their lessons through an engaging world of words called the Vocabitat. Animated woodland characters guide the students through the lessons, which use game-like scenarios and speech recognition technology to teach, reinforce, and assess vocabulary listening, reading, and pronunciation.

Use the links below to learn about some features the program.

The First 4,000 Words - The program's word corpus is derived from Zeno et al.'s The Educator's Word Frequency Guide and Hiebert's Word Zones™ corpus.

Vocabitat™ - To make the software engaging for students, Seward created a world of words called the Vocabitat™.

Woodland Animal Guides - Animal guides direct the students through various activities.

Listening and Reading Vocabulary Tests - The teacher administers two tests which have proven to be reliable and valid in field tests.

Listening Assessment - Each lesson begins with a listening vocabulary assessment. The assessment uses audio and graphics.

Interactive Oral Reading - Interactive Oral Reading provides a context for learning word meanings.

Interactive Games - The interactive games challenge students to remember the words they have been studying.

Program Demo - Try The First 4,000 Words program for yourself.

Click the arrow to view a program overview video.

The First 4,000 Words program is supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through contract #ED-07-CO-0043 to Seward Inc. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Education. The project officer for this project is Dr. Edward Metz.