10/22/03
SEASONAL WORDS
Have you ever thought of vocabulary words in terms of seasons? I have and students seem to love them! Ones for fall are especially easy.
Take ghost writer: A person who writes for another without getting the credit. Here’s the example I give: Many celebrities who want to write a biography or tell the story about an incident in their lives hire ghost writers whose writing skills are probably better than theirs. A Think Link® asks students why do presidents of the United States often have ghost writers.
Then there’s incognito: With true identity unrevealed or disguised; under an assumed name. The king traveled incognito, hoping that no one would rob him. I hope I will be incognito at the Hallowe’en Party. The Lone Ranger, Zorro, the Scarlet Pimpernel, the Shadow and Superman remained incognito to their friends. Teachers might want to correlate any literature their students have read to someone who acted while incognito.
Skeleton staff: Just a few of the usual workers in an office or factory over a weekend or holiday) always seems to appeal to students of any age. It was vital (a vocabulary word from a previous lesson) to keep a skeleton staff on duty over the weekend. My Think Link: Who would be the skeleton staff over a long holiday at your school?
Rime: The coating of ice, as on grass and trees, also known as white frost, is probably an unknown word to most students. Teachers should encourage students to look for rime on house and car windows. Southerners can just laugh and explain that this is a phenomenon they’re not likely to encounter. Teachers can also ask students to provide the homonym for this word. There’s a nice Literary Link® to accompany this word: “...The rime was on the spray, And starlight lit my lonesomeness.” When I Set Out for Lyonnesse. Thomas Hardy
These four words appear in sequence in Volume I. Then, of course, fall is when most of us have some sort of political election taking place, so I consider words related to these events as seasonal words as well. Volume II’s series begins with canvass, and continues with dark horse, lame duck and grass roots. Volume III contains dead letter office, skeleton key, skeleton in the closet and talk turkey.
I hope you agree that these types of words make learning vocabulary both fun and easy — and all without memorization!
Elinor
WORD WEB VOCABULARY: Written by a teacher for teachers
