AUTHOR: TIMOTHY RASINSKI Teaching Words Authentically and Effectively in the Middle and Secondary Grades

The Goal "Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.“ In the author’s life, as well as my own, I was taught vocabulary as list that was tested every Friday.

Harvest Words The author makes a point that teachers should have students “harvest words.” Harvesting words includes: having the students read enriching texts with great vocabulary, having the students identify those interesting words, and talking about those words as a class. This method gives the students ownerships of the words that they chose.

Latin and Greek Roots Most words that students encounter in the middle grades are derived from the Latin and Greek. This study gives students the ability to decipher meaning, not just the pronunciation. This can be taught in the class by giving one or two roots each week and brainstorm English words that contain the roots. The students then brainstorm these words together.

Be the Bard Once students have learned root words, you can ask them to “be the Bard” and invent new words with their knowledge of the roots. This gets the student excited to use his or her creative side.

Thematic Idiom Study This author suggests that teachers group idioms together by themes. Then, the students use the idioms in their oral and written language. Since idioms are a little harder to understand, the writer believes that grouping them thematically helps their understanding.

Word Games Play games to help study and review words. This get the students excited about the review while they are actually learning. The games need to be fun and engaging!