Free academic vocabulary generator
TeacherHero's academic vocabulary generator pulls the terms that block comprehension out of a topic or passage, each with a student-friendly definition and the mix-up it usually causes. Below is real output for a Grade 9 science unit. Inside a unit, that vocabulary then travels into every lesson.
The words that actually block comprehension, defined in language students can use — plus the mix-up each one tends to cause.
Academic vocabulary — cellular respiration
Six words, the ones that block the reading rather than the ones that sound scientific.
respiration
The process a cell uses to release energy from food. Student-friendly: how a cell gets energy out of what you ate.
Usual mix-up: students hear it as breathing. Name the difference out loud — breathing moves air, respiration happens inside the cell.
glucose
A simple sugar that cells break down for energy. Student-friendly: the sugar your cells actually burn.
Usual mix-up: treated as interchangeable with “food.” Glucose is what food becomes.
mitochondria
The parts of a cell where most energy is released. Student-friendly: where in the cell the energy gets released.
Usual mix-up: students can name it as the powerhouse and still not connect it to glucose being broken down.
aerobic
Requiring oxygen. Student-friendly: needs oxygen to work.
Usual mix-up: heard only as a kind of exercise. Anchor the prefix — aer- means air.
byproduct
Something produced alongside the main result. Student-friendly: what else comes out that you were not aiming for.
Usual mix-up: read as waste, which makes carbon dioxide sound useless.
release energy
To make stored energy available for use. Student-friendly: unlocking energy that was already there.
Usual mix-up: students say the cell “makes” energy. It does not — it releases what is stored, and that distinction is worth a minute.
Front-load two or three at most. The rest are better introduced at the moment students hit them in the text, which is when the definition sticks.
Frequently asked questions
What is academic vocabulary?
The words that carry meaning in a subject and rarely appear in everyday speech — analyse, respiration, coefficient. It also covers general academic words that cross subjects, like evaluate or contrast, which often block comprehension precisely because nobody thinks to teach them.
How many vocabulary words should I pre-teach?
Two or three before reading, and the rest at the moment students meet them in the text. A list of twelve words on the board before a passage is usually a list students copy and do not use. Pre-teach the ones that block comprehension.
Can it work from my own passage?
Yes, and it produces sharper terms than describing the topic does. Upload the text as a source and confirm the excerpt you want used. Only that confirmed excerpt reaches the model — extracted text you have not confirmed is never sent.
Why does each word come with a mix-up?
Because the misconception is usually the thing that actually blocks the reading. A student who can define respiration and still hears it as breathing will misread the whole passage, and naming that out loud costs one minute of class time.
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