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48 Improving Vocabulary

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Improving Vocabulary Chapter Opener

Start-Up Activity

Challenge students to think of something that there isn't a word for. You will probably get a bunch of blank stares. How can a person think of something that has no words? Then present students with these words and definitions, and ask students how many have experienced what is described.

  • Opia: The intensity of eye-to-eye contact, which feels both invasive and vulnerable (During the job interview, the opia was unbearable.)

  • Monachopsis: Feeling chronically out of place (As I sat at the downtown bus stop, I was overcome by monachopsis.)

  • Anecdoche: When everyone is talking but nobody is listening (The student council meeting overflowed with anecdoche.)

  • Thinking on the stairs: Thinking of the perfect comeback when it is too late to use it (I smiled at the thought but realized I was just thinking on the stairs.)

Ask students which of these terms they are likely to remember and use in conversation. Then ask them if the term makes them suddenly more aware of the situation or feeling that it describes.

Of course it does. We can't think about things we don't have words for. That's why vocabulary is so important. It gives us the raw material for thought. The more words we know, the more accurately and completely we can think.

Think About It

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”

—Dr. Seuss

Page 408 from Write Ahead

Building Your Vocabulary

This page provides an overview of the vocabulary strategies in this chapter. Have a volunteer read each line, including the material for "method," "description," and "why it works." Point out that the first method—"Use context"—appears on the facing page, the next—"Look up words in the dictionary"—appears on the pages that follow, and so on.

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Page 409 from Write Ahead

Using Context

Most often, readers can infer the meaning of unfamiliar words by looking at their context. Each of the six strategies on this page gives students a different way to infer meaning from context:

  • Synonyms are words that mean the same.
  • Antonyms are words that mean the opposite.
  • Comparisons and contrasts show similarities and differences.
  • Definitions or descriptions tell just what the word is.
  • Series place the term in a group of similar terms.
  • Cause-effect relationships connect the term to a larger context.
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Page 410 from Write Ahead

Checking a Dictionary

Use this page to explain each key part of a dictionary page. Help students see that traditional dictionaries provide a depth of information that is lacking in the first level of response from most online dictionaries. For example, a student who searches for "Muse definition" online would get the first two definitions, but probably no etymology or homophones. However, a student could search for "Muse definition etymology" or "Muse definition homophones" to discover this information.

Teach students to use the traditional dictionary page, but also to apply what they know to their online dictionary searches.

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Page 411 from Write Ahead

Sample Dictionary Page

Lead students through the page, pointing out the elements with blue highlights and providing the explanations on the facing page.

Have students use a print or online dictionary to find the definitions and etymology for the following three words:

  • Protagonist (first actor/contestant)
  • Antagonist (one who struggles/contests against)
  • Agony (contest/struggle)

Afterward, ask students to explain how the words relate to each other.

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Page 412 from Write Ahead

Using a Thesaurus

A thesaurus, of course, contains numerous synonyms and antonyms for words, helping students

  • find precise words for each situation,
  • avoid repeating the same word over and over, and
  • add word options to their repertoire.

After presenting the information on this page, remind students that they should use a dictionary to understand the exact definition of a word before they use it. For example, to say a teacher is "superior" is very different from saying the teacher is "condescending."

Have students use a thesaurus to look up the word "walk." Then have them list three synonyms they like best, look them up in a dictionary, and write the definitions. Finally, have them write why they like the three words. (You can also do this exercise with the word "laugh.")

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Page 413 from Write Ahead

Keeping a Personal Dictionary

Inspire your students to keep a dictionary of new terms they learn in different classes. Doing so helps them gain new words and fully understand their meaning and use. It also provides an excellent study aid for tests.

Ideally, personal dictionary entries should include the word, a definition, a sentence example, and synonyms.

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Page 414 from Write Ahead

Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots

This page and those that follow provide the basic parts of many words in English. Help students understand that these word parts are interchangeable, like Lego bricks, able to snap together to form all kinds of different words and meanings. Learning the meaning of the prefix co- helps students understand collaborate (work together) as well as co-author (create together).

Have students read the prefixes on this page and pick out two that interest them. For each prefix, have them find and define two new words that the prefix is part of.

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Page 415 from Write Ahead

Prefixes (Cont.)

Have students read the prefixes on this page (including the numerical prefixes at the bottom), select two that interest them, find two words that use each prefix, and define the two words.

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Page 416 from Write Ahead

Suffixes

Have students read through the suffixes on this page, find two they like, write two new words that contain each suffix, and define the words.

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Page 417 from Write Ahead

Roots

This page and the next five contain the most common and diverse word parts in English. In a way, prefixes and suffixes function as modifiers, and roots function as the idea being modified. For example, cycl means "wheel" and bi means "two," so bicycle means "two wheels."

Ask students to read through the roots on this page and find two roots that are most surprising to them. Then have students find two words that use each root and write the definitions of those words.

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Page 418 from Write Ahead

Roots (Cont.)

Have students read the roots on this page and choose one root that really interests them. Have them write the root in the center of a piece of paper and circle it. Then have them create a cluster around the root, connecting words that use it. For example, the root hum (meaning earth) connects to exhume (unearth) and humus (dirt), but also to humid (moist) and humor (bodily fluid/temperament) and even human (made of earth/clay/mud). Then humid connects to humidity and human connects to humanity and humane. This kind of web can reveal fascinating connections between ideas.

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Page 419 from Write Ahead

Roots (Cont.)

Have students read through the roots on this page. Then have them pick two interesting roots and combine them with prefixes, suffixes, or both to create new words that exist or are completely made up. Ask them to define the new words that they create.

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Page 420 from Write Ahead

Roots (Cont.)

Have students read through the roots on this page and select two roots that interest them. Ask them to write two new words that use each root, along with a definition of each of the words.

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Page 421 from Write Ahead

Roots (Cont.)

Have students read through the roots on this page and do one of these activities:

  • Find two roots you like, write two new words that contain each root, and define the words.
  • Create two original words using the root and one or more prefixes and/or suffixes. Define each new word.
  • Pick a root you like, write it in the center of a piece of paper, and circle it. Then, around the root, create a cluster of words that use the root, connecting them to the center.
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