Overview

Membean has three word lists for students. Students are assigned to a word list based on their grade level and their performance during our calibration process. When they finish calibrating, students in grades 5-8 (or those marked as Extra Help) will be assigned to either the Lower Middle School or Middle-High School Lists. As such, it is possible for a single middle school class to have some students on one list and some students on another list, which is perfectly normal. 

Students in grades 9-12 will be assigned to the High School List.

Word Lists

List NameWordsLevelsNotes
Lower Middle School5003Students in grades 5-8 will either be assigned to this list or the Middle-High School list, depending on their calibration performance. Students marked as Extra Help (or belonging to a class marked Extra Help), as well as middle schoolers who need a little help with their vocabulary are typically placed on Level 1 of this list.
Middle - High School16305Students in grades 5-8 will either be assigned to this list or the Lower Middle School List, depending on their calibration performance. Since some middle school students have a robust vocabulary, the upper levels of this list overlap significantly with the High School List (as shown in the graphic below). Therefore, it's okay for incoming high school freshman who used Membean in middle school to stay on this list until they have reached level 5. They will still be learning "high school" words (just like their peers), and will be automatically moved to the High School List when they are ready.
High School21566Many high school students (including 12th graders) will calibrate at Level 1 on this list. The lower levels of this list overlap with the Middle-High School List. Struggling readers or or ESL/ELL students will generally be placed on the Lower Middle School or Middle-High School List instead of this list.

Word Lists and Grade Levels

The levels within each word list do not correlate with grade levels. Levels are simply groupings of words within each list based on progressive difficulty. You can learn more about how students progress through levels within a word list and also about where our words come from.

If you feel that one of your students has been placed on the wrong word list, you can email support@membean.com, and we will look into the account for you.

How Does A Student Progress Through Word Lists?

Once a student has worked their way through a word list, they will automatically progress to the next word list as illustrated below.

When a student has completed the Lower Middle School List, they will automatically be moved to Level 1 of the Middle-High School List. When a student has completed the Middle-High School List, they will automatically be moved to about halfway through Level 3 of the High School List. This is because there is significant overlap between the Middle-High School and High School Lists, and we want to ensure a smooth transition to the more difficult word list.

Don't worry, Membean is very sensitive to gaps in vocabulary knowledge that may arise from our initial calibration process, and ensures that students do not progress to another word list until we are confident that they are proficient in the words from the previous list. You can read more about how students work their way through the levels in each word list here.

Will Students Still Review Words from Previous Lists?

Absolutely. Once a student is promoted to a new word list, they will still periodically see words from the previous lists. Membean is a long-term learning tool, and it takes a lot of review to ensure that words are retained properly. Regardless of which word list a student is currently on, they will still continue to see words from their past training, ensuring that all the words they have learned on Membean will stay active in their memory.

Will Quizzes Have Questions from Previous Lists?

Yes. All the words that a student has ever studied on Membean are fair game on a quiz. Words on lower word lists are treated just like every other word in a student's memory. If a word is deemed "quizzable" by Membean, it will appear on a student's quiz.