Last Updated on December 8, 2023 by The Smetz Files
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As a former classroom teacher I loved teaching word study. Teaching vocabulary through children’s books was great fun.
When I worked on my PhD, student identity work was at the forefront of what I studied. Our identities, how we position ourselves and get positioned, are often complex and multifaceted.
I am a self professed word nerd!
I love learning the etymology of words.
I love using unexpected vocabulary in my vernacular.
And I love exploring unique words and their derivations.
Sometimes I get teased about using big words. But it doesn’t bother me.
Word Play
Also, I can’t resist a quippy rhyme and play with alliteration. In my writing I grapple with word selection, often writing and rewriting multiple times before arriving at the ‘just so’ syntax. I heard G talking about alliteration last week and I grinned, yay, perhaps a fellow word nerd!
As an educator, I wondered how to develop such word consciousness with my elementary and later my undergraduate students.
Looking to add some children’s literature to your classroom instruction? Check out my friend’s book Teaching With Children’s Literature: Theory to Practice.
Mentor Texts
One way I do this is to examine mentor texts. I read pieces that reflect the style I am trying to accomplish.
I have favored authors who I try to emulate and channel depending on the piece I’m writing. When I am trying to write I often find myself reading for inspiration.
Perhaps my love of all things words and my identity as a word nerd emerged when my parents read to me as a young child. I read to my kiddos at home and I read aloud to my students of all ages.
Are you a fellow word nerd? What are you reading to or with your kids that speaks to the word nerd in you?
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