Word Consciousness by Leigh DeHart Chapter 13

Word Consciousness Students who are word conscious are aware of the words around them – those they read and hear and those they write and speak. (Graves & Watts-Taffe, 2002.) (Graves & Watts-Taffe, 2002.) What? simply defined as interest in and awareness of words (Anderson and Nagy 1992; Graves and Watts-Taffe 2002.)

A word-rich classroom environment is a place filled with all types of word resources dictionariesthesaurusesword walls crossword puzzles Scrabbleliterature poetry books word-playjoke books What?

Adept diction: the skillful use of words in speech and writing. Teachers can model adept diction : in their own choice of words in their own choice of words point out skillful use of words in student texts point out skillful use of words in student texts and encourage students to expand their own speech and writing. and encourage students to expand their own speech and writing. (Graves 2000; Beck et al 2002; Graves and Watts-Taffe 2002; Scott and Nagy 2004). What ?

Word Consciousness cont Use of a successful vocabulary program in which words do not appear as part of a classroom exercise and then drop from sight. (McKeown and Beck 2004). What?

TVBillboards Newspapers Connect vocabulary to the world so students will come to own the words. What?

Knowledge of Language Categories helps students to make finer distinctions in word choices Synonyms happy/glad big/large Antonyms up/down hot/cold Homograph s bark (tree) bark (dog) What?

Figurative Language uses figures of speech that enable speakers and writers to express ideas in fresh, new ways simile (compare using like/as) metaphor (compare without using like/as) idiom (expression cannot be understood by individual word meaning) What?

Idioms Learning about idioms is useful in the vocabulary development of all students, but especially for the ELL students who often focus on the literal meaning of words. What?

Word Play a playful attitude toward words in particular and language in general (Graves 2000). **can stimulate students natural interest in and curiosity about language, **reveal structures of language, **foster independent learning, **help improve reading and vocabulary development, (Blachowiz and Fisher 2004; Johnson, Johnson, and Schlichting 2004; Graves 2000). What?

Names eponyms, toponyms Expressions proverbs, slang Word Formations acronyms, portmanteaus Word Games hink pinks, puns, riddles Word Manipulations anagrams, palindromes What?

Word History and Origins (change over time) Greek mostly science and technology astronaut, geology Latin formal words used in literature audible, transport Anglo Saxon short everyday words house, play What?

Why Word Consciousness ? Children learn best when they have a strong personal interest and are actively and interactively involved with learning….It is important that we incorporate word and language play activities in the classroom to stimulate, sustain, and recapture that natural interest. - Johnson, Johnson & Schlichting, 2004.

How? fun to work with students enjoy imagining the figurative meaning as well as the literal meaning draw pictures to represent the literal meaning especially helpful for ELL students Idioms ants in your pants pay through the nose eat like a horse turn over a new leaf

How? Latin Number Words athletic events – triathlon, decathlon groups of musicians – duet, trio, quartet multiples – triple, quadruple Latin and Greek Numbers …often called prefixes because they appear at the beginning of words (Henry 2003). Greek Number Words o sides of plane figures – triangle, pentagon, hexagon o years between events – biennial, triennial, centennial

How? Complementary Antonyms boy/girltrue/false Gradable Antonyms dark/light dark/light big/small big/small This helps to enhance the students adept diction, or skillful use of words. Antonym Scales among the first word relationships children learn help students to see and express the degrees of meaning between complementary and gradable antonym pairs

Word Webs **help understand that word meanings change over time **use modern homographs How?

5 Senses Simile Web **new and enjoyable way to engage with words **use all the senses to describe the new word How?

Poetry as Word Play **use adept diction in writing **use synonyms and antonyms **Cinquain Poems **Diamante Poems How?

Vocabulary Hotshot Notebook Designed to motivate student interest in words. Provides a place and an opportunity for students to record target words Also keeps track of new words as they encounter them in the outside world Motivating to students by earning points for seeing, hearing, or using target words in places outside the classroom. How?

Word consciousness is crucial to learners success in expanding the breadth and depth of students word knowledge over the course of their lifetimes. - Graves & Watts-Taffe, 2002