In order to produce an abundance of expressions - and this may seem overly obvious - students must be engaged in a systematic vocabulary study, which should include, above all things, immersion in Greek and Latin roots, because they provide access to thousands of English derivatives.
This vocab study must also include practice in what I call "word discrimination." Which is the best word to communicate your exact meaning: "cool" "composed" "collected" "unruffled" "imperturbable" or "nonchalant"?
In this sentence: "The ____________ went across the road." Fill in the blank with snake, bear, chicken, dog, cat, robin, pony, dolphin or cheetah and then replace the word "went" with a stronger, more descriptive verb (slither, lumber, waddle, flutter, prance, sped, etc.) To choose wisely, in either case, requires familiarity with the idea of denotation and connotation, as well as the nuances of particular words. While this ability can increase over time through exposure to good literature and intelligent conversation, it will never be as finely tuned without systematic word study.
Should students be allowed to use a Thesaurus for this type of exercise? Sometimes. Often, one of two things happen: the child foregoes the attempt to actually THINK and draw from his own resources; after all, why exert mental effort if someone else can do it for me? OR, from inexperience, he chooses a word listed in the thesaurus without understanding its meaning or connotation and it doesn't fit the context! So, here's my advice: practice using the thesaurus with your students, explaining the implications of each word under a particular heading, and allow them LIMITED independent use (for example, if they have to re-word 5 sentences, let them use it for 1 of them). Students who are natural "wordsmiths" will be most adept at using this tool, because they instinctively understand differences and they often acquire new vocabulary through its use.
In summary, help your children and students achieve "copia" through:
This vocab study must also include practice in what I call "word discrimination." Which is the best word to communicate your exact meaning: "cool" "composed" "collected" "unruffled" "imperturbable" or "nonchalant"?
In this sentence: "The ____________ went across the road." Fill in the blank with snake, bear, chicken, dog, cat, robin, pony, dolphin or cheetah and then replace the word "went" with a stronger, more descriptive verb (slither, lumber, waddle, flutter, prance, sped, etc.) To choose wisely, in either case, requires familiarity with the idea of denotation and connotation, as well as the nuances of particular words. While this ability can increase over time through exposure to good literature and intelligent conversation, it will never be as finely tuned without systematic word study.
Should students be allowed to use a Thesaurus for this type of exercise? Sometimes. Often, one of two things happen: the child foregoes the attempt to actually THINK and draw from his own resources; after all, why exert mental effort if someone else can do it for me? OR, from inexperience, he chooses a word listed in the thesaurus without understanding its meaning or connotation and it doesn't fit the context! So, here's my advice: practice using the thesaurus with your students, explaining the implications of each word under a particular heading, and allow them LIMITED independent use (for example, if they have to re-word 5 sentences, let them use it for 1 of them). Students who are natural "wordsmiths" will be most adept at using this tool, because they instinctively understand differences and they often acquire new vocabulary through its use.
In summary, help your children and students achieve "copia" through:
Reading Good Literature
Listening to Good Literature (Jim Weiss produces high-caliber recordings of Myths, Fairy Tales, Classic stories, G.A. Henty, Shakespeare, etc...these are excellent, intelligent sources of vocab acquisition!)
Systematic Vocabulary Study
1 comment:
Preach on . . . sister, preach on!
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