The Importance of Word Choice

Add some variety to your middle schoolers' writing! Kids watch a slide show about strong verbs and precise word choice. Why use ate when you can use devoured? The first two pages are a great reference tool for your class when they get...

You don't need to be a food critic to describe your meal accurately! A series of activities introduce learners to vivid adjectives when writing about the taste, smell, and feel of food. After working with word choice, parts of a...

Words matter, particularly in academic writing. Issues such as vague language, wordiness, and cliches make it difficult to get a point across. Part of a larger series to improve writing skills, the handout on word choice shows writers...

Study the importance of word choice in informational text. Middle and high schoolers locate unfamiliar words and phrases in newspaper articles of their choosing, and use online word sites to explore the definitions and histories of each....

Whether it's dark, delightful, or somber, set the mood with William Golding's Lord of the Flies. High-schoolers practice descriptive writing by creating the appropriate mood for an original scene, starring one of the book's main characters.

No color, no images, no sound. Just words on paper. How then, do writers convey the tone of a piece? By carefully selecting the words they use to create an impression in the minds of readers. After all, "Don't come back, Jack" expresses...

Over the course of three days, middle schoolers explore the concept of connotation. They differentiate between the connotative and denotative meanings of sports team names, develop their own team names, logos, and text, and revise a news...

Knock, knock, knock...Creep out your class with a critical thinking lesson plan focused on word relationships in Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." They investigate  the relationship between word choice, mood, and interpretation of...

This video lesson focuses on effective word choice in writing; it discusses word order, usage, and the need to consider the audience. It explains the need to avoid redundancy and wordiness. It demonstrates how to do this using a student...

Can word choice affect a candidate's likeability? Use a New York Times lesson plan to explore how a presidential candidate's likeability factor can fluctuate in public opinion polls. Young readers choose a presidential election from...