I have always had a thing for Delicious Words. The way they can make you feel, the way they can manipulate a picture in your mind. The choice of words that we read, or the words that are spoken to us can have a profound effect on us. They can also swing the other way and make us bored and unstimulated. In my classroom I make it my mission to inspire my students to search and use the better word in their writing and speaking. So, the question is how can we inspire a love of words?
Firstly, Be Passionate. If you are passionate, this may simply 'rub off' on your students'. As educators we all know that modelling can be impactful on our students. Monkey See, Monkey Do.
Use a Delicious Word Wall. I use this in my at-home-classroom. If a student hears a new word that they like the sound of, encourage them to grab a crayon/pen write the word down and add it to the word wall.
Another activity that I love to use is the Word Stairs. This word Stairs Activity allows students to objectively explore weak and strong words. You can find this freebie here (Click the Image)
When students are producing written work, encourage them to ask the question...can I use a better word, a word that is going to spark emotion? Quite often the answer is yes! Let's continue to amble through novels, open up a thesaurus, dissect our words and head to WORD UTOPIA.