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Word Choice Teacher Resources
Find teacher approved Word Choice educational resource ideas and activities
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Knock, knock, knock...Creep out your class with a critical thinking lesson focused on word relationships in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." They investigate the relationship between word choice, mood, and interpretation of a piece of writing. They analyze the story, and then create a visual display of a favorite writer.
A week of word choice lessons is laid out here for your convenience! Learners focus on strong and weak verbs in several activities over five days. There are literature suggestions, and each day pupils complete a mini-lesson, workshop, and response. They identify strong and weak verbs, acting them out and even playing charades! The lessons end with individuals practicing their writing skills by responding to a picture prompt and sharing their narratives. Extension and assessment activities are suggested.
Explore the writing traits of word choice and conventions. Middle school writers use this Six-Traits Writing lesson to discuss the writing style of the Tom Swift Adventure Series by Victor Appleton. They examine "Tom Swiftie" puns, paying special attention to dialogue punctuation. First in groups and then as individuals, they create their own "Tom Swiftie" puns for their writer's notebooks or for a classroom collection.
Improve word choice! Writers use dictionaries and thesauruses to aid them in choosing exciting words to incorporate in their writing. They rewrite sentences and practice identifying words that can be replaced using a better word. Flip through some old student work to give them more practice opportunities!
Explore the traits of word choice and organization by reading Listen to the Rain by Bill Martin, Jr. Analyze the text to create a content word wall, introducing your learners to new vocabulary that helps develop a text's mood. They can use this word wall to enhance the vocabulary in their written pieces.
Analyze the story Chicken Little by Stephen Kellogg to identify more detailed word choices to replace the word said. Writers list new words in a notebook, dramatically act out lines from they story to demonstrate the finer shading of each word, and write new sentences for some of the characters using their new vocabulary
Explore figurative language with your secondary class. Extending a language arts unit, the lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine how an author's word choice establishes a story's tone, possibly using metaphors, similes, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and personification. They can then develop their own plots using figurative language.
Combine your pupils' love of music with their growing knowledge of poetry! First, have them bring in their favorite songs for a discussion on word choice and literary devices. Then, use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the qualities of poems and songs. A worksheet with various song lyrics and poems prompts them to brainstorm the differences between the two. A Six-Trait Writing activity guides them through writing their own original poems.
Whether you are planning a unit on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, or simply want to improve your pupils' descriptive writing, this lesson could be a good addition to your class. Using the Six-Trait Writing process, pupils use chapter two of The Great Gatsby to guide their writing as they focus on precise word choice to develop characters and set the mood. This resource guides learners through the entire writing process and includes all of the necessary materials.
Review the terms denotation, connotation, diction, and mood in paragraph writing. After defining the terms, middle schoolers practice writing examples of both connotation and denotation. They complete a connotation and denotation graphic organizer and chart, and then they practice incorporating the elements using the paragraphs on the final worksheet.