Showing posts with label word choice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label word choice. Show all posts
July 16, 2013
March 13, 2012
TED video Lesson: The Power of Simple Words
Long, fancy words designed to show off your intelligence and vocabulary are all very well, but they aren't always the best words. In this short, playful video Terin Izil explains why simple, punchy language is often the clearest way to convey a message. (Launching a series on Playing with Language
January 2, 2012
Word Choice Classic: Bury Dead Words
Here's a clever classroom rendition of the idea: RIP Overused Words
An Amazing Trickeration?: Banished Words For 2012. This short audio and written piece from NPR highlights an old tradition at Lake Superior University, an annual list of useless words (useless phrases would be more exact). Lake Superior State University 2012 List of Banished Words.
Burying useless phrases feels like a great fit for any writing class room. Which words or phrases would you consign to the grave?
November 3, 2011
Synesthesia, Painting, Poetry, Sentence Fluency, Rhythm with Toby Lurie
Poetry - Painting - Song
Later in my teaching practice I started writing grants to bring writers and illustrators to my school district. This helped me build a relationship with painter, musician and poet, Toby Lurie: http://www.tobypoet.com.
Toby is an amazing, creative, and unpredictable guy. (The link to his site will introduce you to his work. He shares many QuickTime audio clips of his work that trigger creativity.) It is fun to find him on the Internet after all these years.
Synesthesia part 1 from Terrence Vaughn on Vimeo.
Later in my teaching practice I started writing grants to bring writers and illustrators to my school district. This helped me build a relationship with painter, musician and poet, Toby Lurie: http://www.tobypoet.com.Toby is an amazing, creative, and unpredictable guy. (The link to his site will introduce you to his work. He shares many QuickTime audio clips of his work that trigger creativity.) It is fun to find him on the Internet after all these years.
I recall meeting him for the first time. Toby was wild white bearded poet with a dangerous gleam in his eye. One look at him and I realized that he was going to draw some lightening. I was the language arts coordinator for a conservative Nevada school district. I knew Toby was going to make waves and I was glad to aide and abet in a little artistic subversion. We were at the district's biggest high school. I'd planned a full school assembly, but an uptight vice principal sand bagged me and side tracked us to a remote spot in the school where they kept the 'tough' kids.
As I was about to introduce Toby to a huge class of hyper-active alternative ed high school kids. I didn't have a clue what he was going to do. The rowdy group had the bored vibe of caged cats. I was sure this crowd of edgy and angry adolescents would tear us apart.
As I was about to introduce Toby to a huge class of hyper-active alternative ed high school kids. I didn't have a clue what he was going to do. The rowdy group had the bored vibe of caged cats. I was sure this crowd of edgy and angry adolescents would tear us apart.
Just as I introduced Toby, he whispered in my ear, "Tell them I don't speak any English." I followed his lead and got out of the way.
Toby proceed to emote with sounds and facial gestures and within seconds he captured everyone's attention. He spoke gibberish but it didn't matter. This guy knew how to communicate with sound alone, words were an afterthought. The kids were riveted by the odd man capering and grunting in front of them.
By the end of the assembly everyone was up moving and chanting, found poetry echoed off the walls and we were all swimming in Toby's unique tone patterns. Sometimes it's good to be in alternative ed!
By the end of the assembly everyone was up moving and chanting, found poetry echoed off the walls and we were all swimming in Toby's unique tone patterns. Sometimes it's good to be in alternative ed!
To really appreciate Toby's work you need to hear and see him. This new video Synesthesia Part 1 will give you a taste.
Synesthesia part 1 from Terrence Vaughn on Vimeo.
Choral Reading, Toby Style
Several years later on one of his return visits, Toby taught me a great method that ties perfectly into the concepts of rhythm and sentence fluency. After a writing session, Toby had each student pick a single line from their work. Then he called 6-8 volunteers to come to the front of the room. They lined up shoulder to shoulder and started to read their lines in order from left to right. The first boy read. Then the second. Suddenly Toby would point back to the first and have him repeat the line. Toby would would mug and gesture and flail his arms like a demented conductor, all to draw more emotion and voice from the reader.
We soon understood that Toby was conducting a word orchestra and hearing special music.
The kids began reading their lines louder or lower, deadpan or angry, happy or weeping. Once the whole group of young ones had read once, Toby layered together a sound poem based on the melodies of repeated lines and varied voice.
Sometimes Toby had the same student read two or three times in a row or come back to one particularly powerful line repeatedly. No one in the chorus knew when they'd be called on and everyone was amazed at the nuances and lunacies that spilled out of it all.
Toby created a wild reader's theater of word choice, sentence fluency, voice, organization, and ideas all wrapped in a spontaneously generated poem. It was hilarious, energizing, fun. Everyone loved it.
Several years later on one of his return visits, Toby taught me a great method that ties perfectly into the concepts of rhythm and sentence fluency. After a writing session, Toby had each student pick a single line from their work. Then he called 6-8 volunteers to come to the front of the room. They lined up shoulder to shoulder and started to read their lines in order from left to right. The first boy read. Then the second. Suddenly Toby would point back to the first and have him repeat the line. Toby would would mug and gesture and flail his arms like a demented conductor, all to draw more emotion and voice from the reader.
We soon understood that Toby was conducting a word orchestra and hearing special music.
The kids began reading their lines louder or lower, deadpan or angry, happy or weeping. Once the whole group of young ones had read once, Toby layered together a sound poem based on the melodies of repeated lines and varied voice.
Sometimes Toby had the same student read two or three times in a row or come back to one particularly powerful line repeatedly. No one in the chorus knew when they'd be called on and everyone was amazed at the nuances and lunacies that spilled out of it all.
Toby created a wild reader's theater of word choice, sentence fluency, voice, organization, and ideas all wrapped in a spontaneously generated poem. It was hilarious, energizing, fun. Everyone loved it.
All of this points to the powerful mix of music, performance, and poetry that supports sentence fluency (and all the other traits as well).
I used this method myself two or three times a year for the rest of my classroom teaching career. I got so I could conduct a pretty good sound/word poem, but I could never top the Maestro!
Synesthesia part 2 from Terrence Vaughn on Vimeo.
Synesthesia part 2 from Terrence Vaughn on Vimeo.
July 21, 2011
Color Poems Word Choice & Fun!
| Hailstones and Halibut Bones & Color Poems by Karen Grunder | ||
 | ||
That old Hailstones and Halibut Bones book motivated me to develop a lesson for color poems! We brainstormed ideas for one color (red) as a class, sense by sense. The students would do it individually first on their own paper, then we would share and record all ideas on chart paper. The next day we picked the ideas for each sense we thought were the strongest, and worked on putting a poem together and making each image even more powerful. We balanced the amount of sense images (didn't want to overload on the visual). Hearing and feeling (emotion) were frequently the challenging ones for 10 year olds, but sometimes ended up being very effective parts of their poems when they later wrote their own. "Showing, not telling" was a big part of this lesson. Finally, the children got the chance to choose their own color, and brainstormed their own ideas. Lots of excitement! Yellow is.... the smile in my mom's eyes whenever she looks at me the first notes of the ice cream song - "Run! Find the truck!" huge fields of daffodils rippling like waves as each gust hits… These poems were little treasures. The majority of children in the class got their poems published in a poetry book through a contest I entered. (Not a thing I regularly do, but someone handed me the poetry contest sheet just as we were doing the activity). This is an easy and effective way to get children to play with words to paint pictures and evoke emotions. A lot of talk went into the most effective way of sequencing ideas. Mood, balance, dynamics, and the importance of leaving the reader with a strong, final image/thought also came up. Such fun! So much covered in one much enjoyed writing activity! This year I'd like to get them to take digital pictures or use the web, and create a collage of any images or emotions from their poems that could be caught with a camera. I would tell them this after they finished their poems, though. I wouldn't want their inspirations to be restricted by practicality. Karen Grunder (Summer 2008: Teaching and Assessing Writing with the 6-Traits) Lesson Extension from Read Write Think:
| ||
October 15, 2010
Sentence Fluency, Repetition, & Poetry
One powerful element of sentence fluency is the repetition of key phrases. This is especially powerful in poetry. The repetitive form, when used for effect is a sign of strong sentence fluency. The repetitive form used without an awareness of sentence fluency presents a teachable moment.
Reading this week's posts helped me recall a couple of terrific books for teachers written by the Poet Kenneth Koch. Rose, Where Did You Get That Red? & Wishes, Lies, and Dreams are books I can recommend without reservation. I used them when I first started teaching an was pleased to find both books still in print. I'm sure my copies are somewhere in the boxes of books I lug from place to place.
I used Koch's methods many times and they were always a hit with kids in the 5-8 range. I suspect Koch would play well in any age range and work well in the primary grades. Here's an example of lessons and writing inspired by Rose, Where Did You Get that Red? from Poets.org.
From Wishes, Lies, and Dreams: Teaching Children to Write Poetry (p. 4-5) Kenneth Koch, Rod Padgett
"I asked the class to write a poem together, everybody contributing one line. The way I conceived of the poem, it was easy to write, had rules like a game, and included the pleasures without the anxieties of competitiveness. No one had to worry about failing to write a good poem because everyone was only writing one line; and I specifically asked the children not to put their names on their line. Everyone was to write the line on a sheet of paper and turn it in; then I would read them all as a poem. I suggest we make some rules about what should be in every line: this would help give the final poem unity, and it would help the children find something to say. I gave an example, putting a color in every line, then asked them for others. We ended up with the regulations that every line should contain a color, a comic-strip character, and a city or country; also the line should begin with the words "I wish."
I collected the lines, shuffled them, and read them aloud as one poem. Some lines obeyed the rules and some didn't; but enough were funny and imaginative to make the whole experience a good one--
I wish I was Dick Tracy in a black suit in England
I wish that I were a Supergirl with a red cape; the city of Mexico will be where I live.
I wish that I were Veronica in South America, I wish that I could see the blue sky...
The children were enormously excited by writing the lines and even more by hearing them read as a poem. They were talking, waving, blushing, laughing, and bouncing up and down. "Feelings at P.S> 61," the title they chose, was not a great poem, but it make them fell like poets and it make them want to write more."
Poetry out loud and a form of reader's theater
Later in my teaching practice I started writing grants to bring writers and illustrators to my school district. This helped me build a relationship with painter, musician and poet, Toby Lurie: http://www.tobypoet.com. Toby is still an amazing, creative, and unpredictable guy. (The link to his site will introduce you to his work. He shares many QuickTime audio clips of his work that trigger creativity.) It was fun to find him on the Internet after all these years.
I recall meeting him for the first time. I was about to introduce him him to a huge high school class of alternative ed kids. Even back then, he was wild white bearded poet is a gleam in his eye. I thought the tough crowd of edgy and angry high schoolers would tear him apart.
Just as I introduced Toby, he whispered in my ear, "Tell them I don't speak any English."
He proceed to emote with sounds and facial gestures and within seconds he captured everyone's attention. By the end of the assembly everyone was up moving and chanting found poetry immersed in Toby's unique patterns.
Several years later Toby taught me a great method that ties perfectly into Koch's I wish lesson. After a writing session, Toby had each student pick a single line from their work. Then he'd ask for 6-8 volunteers to come to the front of the room. They'd line up shoulder to shoulder and read their lines. Toby would point at them to read while he gestured to draw more emotion. Students began with confusion, but soon understood that Toby was conducting a word orchestra. They began reading their lines louder or lower, deadpan or angry, happy or weeping. Once the whole line had read once, layered together a sound poem based on the melodies of repeated lines and varied voice. Sometimes Toby had the same student read two or three times in a row or come back to one particularly powerful line repeatedly. No one in the chorus knew when they'd be called on and everyone was amazed at the nuances and lunacies that spilled out of it all. Toby created a wild reader's theater display of word choice, sentence fluency, voice, organization, and ideas all wrapped in a spontaneously generated poem. It was hilarious, energizing and fun. Everyone loved it.
All of this points to the powerful mix of music, performance, and poetry that supports sentence fluency (and all the other traits as well).
I'd use this method myself two or three times a year. I got so I could conduct a pretty good sound/word poem, but I could never top the Maestro!
Resources:
Here are links to Amazon pages with the See Inside the Book Feature. You can get a glimpse of some great writing and if you wish buy these books as inexpensive paper-backs.
Rose, Where Did You Get That Red http://tinyurl.com/amazon-see-inside-rose-red
Wishes, Lies, and Dreams: http://tinyurl.com/amazon-see-inside-wishes-dream
Reading this week's posts helped me recall a couple of terrific books for teachers written by the Poet Kenneth Koch. Rose, Where Did You Get That Red? & Wishes, Lies, and Dreams are books I can recommend without reservation. I used them when I first started teaching an was pleased to find both books still in print. I'm sure my copies are somewhere in the boxes of books I lug from place to place.
I used Koch's methods many times and they were always a hit with kids in the 5-8 range. I suspect Koch would play well in any age range and work well in the primary grades. Here's an example of lessons and writing inspired by Rose, Where Did You Get that Red? from Poets.org.
From Wishes, Lies, and Dreams: Teaching Children to Write Poetry (p. 4-5) Kenneth Koch, Rod Padgett"I asked the class to write a poem together, everybody contributing one line. The way I conceived of the poem, it was easy to write, had rules like a game, and included the pleasures without the anxieties of competitiveness. No one had to worry about failing to write a good poem because everyone was only writing one line; and I specifically asked the children not to put their names on their line. Everyone was to write the line on a sheet of paper and turn it in; then I would read them all as a poem. I suggest we make some rules about what should be in every line: this would help give the final poem unity, and it would help the children find something to say. I gave an example, putting a color in every line, then asked them for others. We ended up with the regulations that every line should contain a color, a comic-strip character, and a city or country; also the line should begin with the words "I wish."
I collected the lines, shuffled them, and read them aloud as one poem. Some lines obeyed the rules and some didn't; but enough were funny and imaginative to make the whole experience a good one--
I wish I was Dick Tracy in a black suit in England
I wish that I were a Supergirl with a red cape; the city of Mexico will be where I live.
I wish that I were Veronica in South America, I wish that I could see the blue sky...
The children were enormously excited by writing the lines and even more by hearing them read as a poem. They were talking, waving, blushing, laughing, and bouncing up and down. "Feelings at P.S> 61," the title they chose, was not a great poem, but it make them fell like poets and it make them want to write more."
Poetry out loud and a form of reader's theater
Later in my teaching practice I started writing grants to bring writers and illustrators to my school district. This helped me build a relationship with painter, musician and poet, Toby Lurie: http://www.tobypoet.com. Toby is still an amazing, creative, and unpredictable guy. (The link to his site will introduce you to his work. He shares many QuickTime audio clips of his work that trigger creativity.) It was fun to find him on the Internet after all these years.I recall meeting him for the first time. I was about to introduce him him to a huge high school class of alternative ed kids. Even back then, he was wild white bearded poet is a gleam in his eye. I thought the tough crowd of edgy and angry high schoolers would tear him apart.
Just as I introduced Toby, he whispered in my ear, "Tell them I don't speak any English."
He proceed to emote with sounds and facial gestures and within seconds he captured everyone's attention. By the end of the assembly everyone was up moving and chanting found poetry immersed in Toby's unique patterns.
Several years later Toby taught me a great method that ties perfectly into Koch's I wish lesson. After a writing session, Toby had each student pick a single line from their work. Then he'd ask for 6-8 volunteers to come to the front of the room. They'd line up shoulder to shoulder and read their lines. Toby would point at them to read while he gestured to draw more emotion. Students began with confusion, but soon understood that Toby was conducting a word orchestra. They began reading their lines louder or lower, deadpan or angry, happy or weeping. Once the whole line had read once, layered together a sound poem based on the melodies of repeated lines and varied voice. Sometimes Toby had the same student read two or three times in a row or come back to one particularly powerful line repeatedly. No one in the chorus knew when they'd be called on and everyone was amazed at the nuances and lunacies that spilled out of it all. Toby created a wild reader's theater display of word choice, sentence fluency, voice, organization, and ideas all wrapped in a spontaneously generated poem. It was hilarious, energizing and fun. Everyone loved it.
All of this points to the powerful mix of music, performance, and poetry that supports sentence fluency (and all the other traits as well).
I'd use this method myself two or three times a year. I got so I could conduct a pretty good sound/word poem, but I could never top the Maestro!
Resources:
Here are links to Amazon pages with the See Inside the Book Feature. You can get a glimpse of some great writing and if you wish buy these books as inexpensive paper-backs.
Rose, Where Did You Get That Red http://tinyurl.com/amazon-see-inside-rose-red
Wishes, Lies, and Dreams: http://tinyurl.com/amazon-see-inside-wishes-dream
May 22, 2009
Wordle: Play with words!
This image was generated by a unique website called Wordle.
I 'fed' Wordle the contents of this blog and it generated a collage of the most frequently used words in the blog.
Think about it; what would you see it you fed Wordle a page from Shakespeare, or the names of all the kids in your class? What we have here, is a way to play with words that will intrigue our students; and let's admit it... this will be fun for us too!
Five Reasons to Use Wordle in the Classroom by Terry Freedman
For a quick tour of how Wordle can be used by educators read this informative post from Terry Freeman. Here are Freedman's ideas on how to use this tool:- As a means of summarizing the content of an essay or other piece of work.
- Wordle is handy for self-reflection.
- Wordle can be used by the teacher as a means of assessment.
- Wordle is also good for summonsing survey results where the survey uses free text fields.
- Wordle is just as good a way as any to break up the text a bit!
I couldn't resist creating another Wordle image based on my new article in the Writing Teacher: Tired of Being a Red Ink Slave to Corrections?
Go ahead... make your day... play with words with Wordle!
January 30, 2009
SAT Word Videos (and a contest too)!
Brainy Fix SAT Video Contest
Contest Rules
* Make a video about any SAT/ACT vocabulary word of your choosing from this list. On that list, we’ll show you how many videos have been submitted for each word. Please choose one without any videos submissions. :)
* 1 video for 1 word, but you can make as many videos as you want.
* Anyone can enter the competition! Just remember that part of the prize money has to go to a U.S. high school or middle school of your choosing.
* All voting will happen at BrainyFlix.com, so make sure your video includes the following text: “Vote for this video at www.BrainyFlix.com/words/xxxxx”. And substitute the “xxxxx” with your vocab word.
* Important contest dates:
o Video submission opens: 1/1/2009
o Video submission ends: 3/16/2009
o Voting opens: 3/23/2009
o Voting ends: 4/5/2009
o Winners announced: 4/13/2009
Sample videos for SAT Words on School Tube
August 4, 2008
Books for Teaching 6-Traits
Looking for just the right book to present a traits concept?
Checkout my Writer's Bookshelf!
6-Traits: Vickie Spandel
6-Traits: Ruth Culham
Great Writing Advice
Teaching Ideas & Content
Teaching Voice
Teaching Organization
Teaching Word Choice
Teaching Conventions
February 23, 2008
Six Traits Search Engine
 | Try this Six Traits Search Engine I built using a social search system called Swicky. You can vote for your favorite materials and suggest sites you'd like included in the search results. Go to the site and click on the keywords in the tag cloud. See what you think! ~ Dennis |
November 20, 2007
Tools for Teaching Academic Vocabulary
Inside Words
Tools for Teaching Academic Vocabulary Grades 4-12
Janet AllenYear: 2007
Media: 128 pp/paper + CD ROM
ISBN: 978-157110-399-4
Grade Range: 4-12
Full text online!
Contents
Instructional Strategies and the Tools That Support Them
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Concept Circles
Concept Ladder
Concepts and Vocabulary: Categories and Labels
Contextual Redefinition
Dictoglos
Focused Cloze
Frayer Model
Frequent Contact
"I'm Thinking of a Word..."
I Spy: A Word Scavenger Hunt
Lead
List-Group-Label
Possible Questions
Possible Sentences
Previewing Content Vocabulary
Semantic Feature Analysis
Semantic Mapping
Survival of the Fittest
Think-Pair-Share: Collaborate for Understanding
Vocab-O-Gram
Word Sort
Word Walls
Appendix
November 5, 2007
Word Choice Wrap Up: A Weekly Summary
A special thanks to my Co-Facilator Patricia Hutton for compiling this summary of ideas and questions from this week's online edition of Teaching and Assessing Writing with the 6-Traits.
Subject: discussion summary module 5
This week’s discussion highlighted quite a variety of strategies to try to teach word choice. Thanks to all of you who graciously shared resources including numerous books to read to kids across all levels that illustrate wonderfully creative word choices. The level and quality of your contributions remains high. Keep up your phenomenal work!
Main Ideas:
• A word bank is essential for students to have, especially kids that are learning impaired.
• Word choice and voice are the same.
• As teachers we are quick to write a negative comment if there is one to be made on the writing, but are a lot less verbal with our praise
• Praise the student's strengths, and encourage and praise their efforts where they are not as strong or confident and reinforce both messages with frequent writing practice.
• We need to teach students to pick just the right phrases to boost their main idea, not overwhelm it.
Strategies:
• Depending on the grade level, what do you think about short "observation walks", with the goal to just walk slowly, observe their surroundings and come up with similes/metaphors on their own?
• A skit-The librarian was the queen who loved new words. The teacher did not want her students to use any new words. So they had a "battle" in which the queen won and killed the blah words (they focused on said, big, and small). The dead words were buried; they made a tombstone for each. After the skit, the students used a thesaurus to find synonyms for the words, then wrote them on die cut flowers. Throughout the year, more dead words were added to the graveyard and new flowers were grown with the powerful words written on them.
• Try the PPC format for comments -- pluses, potential, and concerns.
• Listen to audio novels rather than always requiring reading.
• O'Henry short stories are full of descriptive words that leave you wanting more.
• Try a writing activity called "Spring Day" using a sensory web - something that can be created in Inspiration or freehand. Each branch off the web is a sense. The students had to sit outside on a spring day and write what they heard, saw etc. Then, they had to transfer that into a paragraph. the key here was to NOT use "I hear...I see”
• Create a bulletin board of vivid verbs and alive adjectives. As a class, we brainstorm "Instead of walk, use _______"
• 100 Trait-Specific Comments: A Quick Guide for Giving Constructive Feedback on Student Writing by Ruth Culham. On one side of a page is the rubric for each trait and across from that are several examples of comment for a 5, 3, or 1 paper.
• With the bulletin board,create a list of "banished words" such as good, nice, beautiful etc. They can not use these "boring" words but must come up with something more specific or colorful.
• Here is an assignment called "The Cut." The idea is that almost every student has an incident as a child when they received a bad cut or scrape, and that the sensory impressions remain vividly in their minds. Ask students to write a couple of paragraphs using vivid imagery and word choice to describe the situation.
• Bury dead words.
• Since we couldn't always write in our library books or borrowed books, we would use highlighter tape to highlight the word/section we wanted to remember or add to our inspiration journal.
• Each student brings an apple from home. First brainstorm words that could be used to describe apples using our senses and students write these on a chart. Next they wrote a description of the apple (had to be very detailed). Then collect the apples, read the papers, and the each student picks out his/her apple. After that, the class writes a paragraph from the apple's point of view, trying to convince a person to eat it. As they wrote this part, they were eating their apples to savor the taste and be better able to describe it in the paragraph.
Questions:
• Is having the kids copy similes and metaphors out of literature and using them in their writing plagiarism? Any suggestions?
Yes, the right words are used to convey a voice, but how can you separate them?
• Is Spandel just breaking down voice into another piece?
• What do we do when we disagree with how other teachers are teaching (or not teaching) the 6 traits?
When students start using better word choices and more descriptive words, how do you get them to not overdo it?
• Would these books, Harry Potter, be so popular if she had used ordinary words for the characters and their actions?
• Will a child just start adding adjectives or 'vivid' verbs that really don't make sense because he/she thinks that what we want?
• So, how can I teach them when enough is enough?
Subject: discussion summary module 5
This week’s discussion highlighted quite a variety of strategies to try to teach word choice. Thanks to all of you who graciously shared resources including numerous books to read to kids across all levels that illustrate wonderfully creative word choices. The level and quality of your contributions remains high. Keep up your phenomenal work!
Main Ideas:
• A word bank is essential for students to have, especially kids that are learning impaired.
• Word choice and voice are the same.
• As teachers we are quick to write a negative comment if there is one to be made on the writing, but are a lot less verbal with our praise
• Praise the student's strengths, and encourage and praise their efforts where they are not as strong or confident and reinforce both messages with frequent writing practice.
• We need to teach students to pick just the right phrases to boost their main idea, not overwhelm it.
Strategies:
• Depending on the grade level, what do you think about short "observation walks", with the goal to just walk slowly, observe their surroundings and come up with similes/metaphors on their own?
• A skit-The librarian was the queen who loved new words. The teacher did not want her students to use any new words. So they had a "battle" in which the queen won and killed the blah words (they focused on said, big, and small). The dead words were buried; they made a tombstone for each. After the skit, the students used a thesaurus to find synonyms for the words, then wrote them on die cut flowers. Throughout the year, more dead words were added to the graveyard and new flowers were grown with the powerful words written on them.
• Try the PPC format for comments -- pluses, potential, and concerns.
• Listen to audio novels rather than always requiring reading.
• O'Henry short stories are full of descriptive words that leave you wanting more.
• Try a writing activity called "Spring Day" using a sensory web - something that can be created in Inspiration or freehand. Each branch off the web is a sense. The students had to sit outside on a spring day and write what they heard, saw etc. Then, they had to transfer that into a paragraph. the key here was to NOT use "I hear...I see”
• Create a bulletin board of vivid verbs and alive adjectives. As a class, we brainstorm "Instead of walk, use _______"
• 100 Trait-Specific Comments: A Quick Guide for Giving Constructive Feedback on Student Writing by Ruth Culham. On one side of a page is the rubric for each trait and across from that are several examples of comment for a 5, 3, or 1 paper.
• With the bulletin board,create a list of "banished words" such as good, nice, beautiful etc. They can not use these "boring" words but must come up with something more specific or colorful.
• Here is an assignment called "The Cut." The idea is that almost every student has an incident as a child when they received a bad cut or scrape, and that the sensory impressions remain vividly in their minds. Ask students to write a couple of paragraphs using vivid imagery and word choice to describe the situation.
• Bury dead words.
• Since we couldn't always write in our library books or borrowed books, we would use highlighter tape to highlight the word/section we wanted to remember or add to our inspiration journal.
• Each student brings an apple from home. First brainstorm words that could be used to describe apples using our senses and students write these on a chart. Next they wrote a description of the apple (had to be very detailed). Then collect the apples, read the papers, and the each student picks out his/her apple. After that, the class writes a paragraph from the apple's point of view, trying to convince a person to eat it. As they wrote this part, they were eating their apples to savor the taste and be better able to describe it in the paragraph.
Questions:
• Is having the kids copy similes and metaphors out of literature and using them in their writing plagiarism? Any suggestions?
Yes, the right words are used to convey a voice, but how can you separate them?
• Is Spandel just breaking down voice into another piece?
• What do we do when we disagree with how other teachers are teaching (or not teaching) the 6 traits?
When students start using better word choices and more descriptive words, how do you get them to not overdo it?
• Would these books, Harry Potter, be so popular if she had used ordinary words for the characters and their actions?
• Will a child just start adding adjectives or 'vivid' verbs that really don't make sense because he/she thinks that what we want?
• So, how can I teach them when enough is enough?
June 8, 2007
Online Discussion: Vocabulary Lists & Word Choice
1 - Question - Terese
I am curious about how educators feel about vocabulary lists. Are they a necessary evil? I know I have introduced vocabulary lists to my first graders from their reading stories. We have learned to use dictionaries and thesauruses this way. The children are writing the definitions weekly and are tested. Of course, we do other activities with the words, but does defining them help retention? Are the tried and true vocab. lists and word choice activities such as we have read about best when combined to help students retain meaning and build vocabulary?
2 - Re: Question - Eryn
I think that vocabulary lists can be helpful. I also think its great that you are introducing them to dictionary's and the thesaurus. What a great skill to develop when you are young. Many kids get to the upper elementary grades and above and don't have any idea about using a dictionary. I also think its helpful for students to understand the meaning behind the words they are reading in their stories. It helps not only with reading comprehension but with writing too. Great question!~Eryn
3 - Re: Question - Terese
Thanks for your encouragement. My kids actually love doing it. I let them think they are doing third grade work and it makes them feel great.
4 - Re: Question - Shirley
My only question would be can the first graders understand the words in the dictionaries and thesauruses? If so, then you are teaching them to use these books instead of fear them!Shirley
5 - Re: Question - Terese
Yes, they can understand them. They are dictionaries and thesauruses made for young children, not the ones older children would be using. They definitely regard it as work that should be for much older children. I try to make them think that they are so smart that they can do it anyway. It works!
6 - Re: Question - Shirley
I love having the children think they are doing work that should be for older children too. Just yesterday I was teaching art and did a project with 1st graders that was designed for older children. I made sure they knew they were "extra talented!"
7 - Re: Question - Terese
That's one of the glories of teaching young children. It is so easy to make them feel special. I love it!
8 - Re: Question - Kathy
I personally have never in first grade used a vocabulary list. We stop and explore the meaning of words in our shared and guided stories by looking at synonyms and antonyms and definitions. I like the idea in the book about keeping a list of these new words that they learn so that they don't forget to use them. I don't know if we need to have them writing the definitions and being tested on them. Is that part of your curriculum?just a friendly opinion:)
9 - Re: Question - Terese
Yes, it is in our curriculum. My students actually love doing it and it is building their confidence.
10 - Re: Question - Jennifer
I think vocabulary lists and isolated word lists can be beneficial when our purpose is to open our students' eyes to word possibilities. However, we have got to make sure that we make explicit connections back to real-life, meaningful writing experiences.In my classroom, my first graders circle words that they think they will need to change the spelling of or use a different word or words during the act of writing. Then after they have done the really hard work of recording their message, they go back and fix those words. Jennifer
11 - Re: Question - Terese
I agree. I know my students remember their vocabulary words because they are connected to a reading story. I hear them saying things such as, "Oh, that was a vocabulary word" and they go searching through their vocabulary notebook. They use this as one more resource for both word choice and for spelling.
12 - Re: Question - Elizabeth
Here is my two cents from an ESL stand point : research has shown that a child needs to hear a word in context 50+ times before it is added to their internal vocabulary. Lists are not bad things - remember we all have different learning styles!
13 - Re: Question - Terese
Thanks for that reminder. You are so right.
14 - Re: Question - Mary Catherine Bolton ( Mar 1, 2007 5:28 PM )
Well, speaking for the OLDER kids (2nd grade:), we intro vocabulary before we begin reading their weekly story in their anthology. We orally define this vocab, read a "getting ready to start" page that introduces this same vocab, listen to the story, then the students have to use each vocab word in a sentence for homework that night. We review these words again when we read the story the next day, and the day after that they take home their anthologies to read the story to their parents. Kind of a traditional approach, but it seems to work in helping them get a feel for the words for reading comprehension. In addition to this, we have a word wall and individual word lists which we use when we come across interesting words.
15 - Re: Question - Mark
I have done extensive research into the area of spelling and vocabulary use. For my entire life I have struggled with spelling and word usage. And I was raised on word lists. I did this research to help me improve my own spelling, after all I teach English and spelling is somewhat important. Well, Based on this research I completely redesigned the focus of spelling and word use in my classroom.
Essentially, what I found was that in normal circumstances we all use a set amount of words, but we do not All use the same words in our writing. Variety in our message is achieved by rearranging these words. Because of this we all have words in our individual schema that overlap…it is these overlapped words that appear on lists of most commonly misspelled words along with other word groups such as modifiers and conjunctions.
This is so oversimplified but the long and the short of it was is that people will only use words they are comfortable with, unless they have to go out of that comfort zone. The further they go out of that zone, the more errors they will make. So, in my mind, the road to improved word use and spelling was to create a place where my kids would feel safe so that they could experiment with unfamiliar words.
Ahhh… You may say, didn't you say that if they leave this zone their misspellings increase?…Yes in fact I did. And that's what I want. I want them to increase their personal vocabulary and their accuracy in that set of words.
So instead of using lists, I find their vocabulary and spelling in their writing. For a number of reasons I find it easier, and more authentic for them. As part of their editing they need to identify misspellings in their papers, and most of the time it is the same words. Once identified, they choose ten words to work on. And working on them is simple. They write the word ten times in a system called old way – new way. Essentially, they spell the word incorrectly, then correctly next to it – close their eyes and spell it out loud and then write it into a sentence. They do that five times per word, and then their done. Until the next time they misspell another word.
I have been amazed at how much their spelling has improved within the context of their writing. I know this works because of the improvement I have seen in my own nemesis.
Uh… is this what you were talking about?
16 - Re: Question - Terese
I think your idea is great. I think I will try it or something similar. Thanks.
17 - Re: Question - Kathy
I agree with you. Our spelling instruction is built in to our writing curriculum. It is hard for teachers to pull away from lists. However, research shows that students tend to memorize the list for a test and not retain the information. I look for words in my students writing and then common misspelled words are added to our word wall. Individual words that are misspelled are added to personal dictionaries. I think this is so meaningful for students.
18 - Re: Question - Mark
Yes, we do personal dictionaries as well. I forgot to mention that in my first post. For me, the coolest thing is to see them go for the personal dictionary before going for the Webster which, my class has nick named the Onion. Long story...
19 - The Onion - Shirley
In this class we are talking about writing, so when you feel that need to practice your writing . . . we would love to read the long story about the "Onion"!Shirley
I am curious about how educators feel about vocabulary lists. Are they a necessary evil? I know I have introduced vocabulary lists to my first graders from their reading stories. We have learned to use dictionaries and thesauruses this way. The children are writing the definitions weekly and are tested. Of course, we do other activities with the words, but does defining them help retention? Are the tried and true vocab. lists and word choice activities such as we have read about best when combined to help students retain meaning and build vocabulary?
2 - Re: Question - Eryn
I think that vocabulary lists can be helpful. I also think its great that you are introducing them to dictionary's and the thesaurus. What a great skill to develop when you are young. Many kids get to the upper elementary grades and above and don't have any idea about using a dictionary. I also think its helpful for students to understand the meaning behind the words they are reading in their stories. It helps not only with reading comprehension but with writing too. Great question!~Eryn
3 - Re: Question - Terese
Thanks for your encouragement. My kids actually love doing it. I let them think they are doing third grade work and it makes them feel great.
4 - Re: Question - Shirley
My only question would be can the first graders understand the words in the dictionaries and thesauruses? If so, then you are teaching them to use these books instead of fear them!Shirley
5 - Re: Question - Terese
Yes, they can understand them. They are dictionaries and thesauruses made for young children, not the ones older children would be using. They definitely regard it as work that should be for much older children. I try to make them think that they are so smart that they can do it anyway. It works!
6 - Re: Question - Shirley
I love having the children think they are doing work that should be for older children too. Just yesterday I was teaching art and did a project with 1st graders that was designed for older children. I made sure they knew they were "extra talented!"
7 - Re: Question - Terese
That's one of the glories of teaching young children. It is so easy to make them feel special. I love it!
8 - Re: Question - Kathy
I personally have never in first grade used a vocabulary list. We stop and explore the meaning of words in our shared and guided stories by looking at synonyms and antonyms and definitions. I like the idea in the book about keeping a list of these new words that they learn so that they don't forget to use them. I don't know if we need to have them writing the definitions and being tested on them. Is that part of your curriculum?just a friendly opinion:)
9 - Re: Question - Terese
Yes, it is in our curriculum. My students actually love doing it and it is building their confidence.
10 - Re: Question - Jennifer
I think vocabulary lists and isolated word lists can be beneficial when our purpose is to open our students' eyes to word possibilities. However, we have got to make sure that we make explicit connections back to real-life, meaningful writing experiences.In my classroom, my first graders circle words that they think they will need to change the spelling of or use a different word or words during the act of writing. Then after they have done the really hard work of recording their message, they go back and fix those words. Jennifer
11 - Re: Question - Terese
I agree. I know my students remember their vocabulary words because they are connected to a reading story. I hear them saying things such as, "Oh, that was a vocabulary word" and they go searching through their vocabulary notebook. They use this as one more resource for both word choice and for spelling.
12 - Re: Question - Elizabeth
Here is my two cents from an ESL stand point : research has shown that a child needs to hear a word in context 50+ times before it is added to their internal vocabulary. Lists are not bad things - remember we all have different learning styles!
13 - Re: Question - Terese
Thanks for that reminder. You are so right.
14 - Re: Question - Mary Catherine Bolton ( Mar 1, 2007 5:28 PM )
Well, speaking for the OLDER kids (2nd grade:), we intro vocabulary before we begin reading their weekly story in their anthology. We orally define this vocab, read a "getting ready to start" page that introduces this same vocab, listen to the story, then the students have to use each vocab word in a sentence for homework that night. We review these words again when we read the story the next day, and the day after that they take home their anthologies to read the story to their parents. Kind of a traditional approach, but it seems to work in helping them get a feel for the words for reading comprehension. In addition to this, we have a word wall and individual word lists which we use when we come across interesting words.
15 - Re: Question - Mark
I have done extensive research into the area of spelling and vocabulary use. For my entire life I have struggled with spelling and word usage. And I was raised on word lists. I did this research to help me improve my own spelling, after all I teach English and spelling is somewhat important. Well, Based on this research I completely redesigned the focus of spelling and word use in my classroom.
Essentially, what I found was that in normal circumstances we all use a set amount of words, but we do not All use the same words in our writing. Variety in our message is achieved by rearranging these words. Because of this we all have words in our individual schema that overlap…it is these overlapped words that appear on lists of most commonly misspelled words along with other word groups such as modifiers and conjunctions.
This is so oversimplified but the long and the short of it was is that people will only use words they are comfortable with, unless they have to go out of that comfort zone. The further they go out of that zone, the more errors they will make. So, in my mind, the road to improved word use and spelling was to create a place where my kids would feel safe so that they could experiment with unfamiliar words.
Ahhh… You may say, didn't you say that if they leave this zone their misspellings increase?…Yes in fact I did. And that's what I want. I want them to increase their personal vocabulary and their accuracy in that set of words.
So instead of using lists, I find their vocabulary and spelling in their writing. For a number of reasons I find it easier, and more authentic for them. As part of their editing they need to identify misspellings in their papers, and most of the time it is the same words. Once identified, they choose ten words to work on. And working on them is simple. They write the word ten times in a system called old way – new way. Essentially, they spell the word incorrectly, then correctly next to it – close their eyes and spell it out loud and then write it into a sentence. They do that five times per word, and then their done. Until the next time they misspell another word.
I have been amazed at how much their spelling has improved within the context of their writing. I know this works because of the improvement I have seen in my own nemesis.
Uh… is this what you were talking about?
16 - Re: Question - Terese
I think your idea is great. I think I will try it or something similar. Thanks.
17 - Re: Question - Kathy
I agree with you. Our spelling instruction is built in to our writing curriculum. It is hard for teachers to pull away from lists. However, research shows that students tend to memorize the list for a test and not retain the information. I look for words in my students writing and then common misspelled words are added to our word wall. Individual words that are misspelled are added to personal dictionaries. I think this is so meaningful for students.
18 - Re: Question - Mark
Yes, we do personal dictionaries as well. I forgot to mention that in my first post. For me, the coolest thing is to see them go for the personal dictionary before going for the Webster which, my class has nick named the Onion. Long story...
19 - The Onion - Shirley
In this class we are talking about writing, so when you feel that need to practice your writing . . . we would love to read the long story about the "Onion"!Shirley
March 1, 2007
First Grade Word Choice Methods
Terese shared these word choice methods...
As the year progresses, I do a lot of modeling.
We then try to add exciting adjectives. Again, this has to be modeled again and again.
Towards the end of the year, we do a beach unit. (As I live in Delaware, that is where the children's minds are by the end of the year anyway.) In pairs, the students pick an ocean-related animal or object and research it. One of our activities is to write a simile for our topic. Of course, we read many books first for examples. Then, the children make a page for a class book of similes. They draw their topic on the left and the object they are comparing it to on the right. They write the simile below.
In first grade, this project is better towards the end of the year when the children are more comfortable experimenting with writing.
In first grade, word choice is continuous since their vocabulary is so limited. In the beginning of the year, we use our five senses to brainstorm adjectives for each sense. I make a chart and add to it throughout the year. That way, the words are always available to them when they write.
As the year progresses, I do a lot of modeling.
I write sentences on the overhead with "overused" words. We begin with the verbs, and try to replace the existing verbs with action verbs. We always try to change forms of the verb "to be" to action verbs.
We then try to add exciting adjectives. Again, this has to be modeled again and again.
We are now at the point of the year where we are progressing to short paragraphs on the overhead and revising them. For first grade, we emphasize strong verbs and adjectives.
We draw pictures of the sentences before we revise and after to emphasize the difference. We are always trying to form a picture in our readers' minds. If my first graders don't learn anything else, all of them will be able to tell you that!
We draw pictures of the sentences before we revise and after to emphasize the difference. We are always trying to form a picture in our readers' minds. If my first graders don't learn anything else, all of them will be able to tell you that!
Towards the end of the year, we do a beach unit. (As I live in Delaware, that is where the children's minds are by the end of the year anyway.) In pairs, the students pick an ocean-related animal or object and research it. One of our activities is to write a simile for our topic. Of course, we read many books first for examples. Then, the children make a page for a class book of similes. They draw their topic on the left and the object they are comparing it to on the right. They write the simile below.
In first grade, this project is better towards the end of the year when the children are more comfortable experimenting with writing.
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