In the middle school class I'm observing we're working on writing, and with that, of course...vocab. Does anyone like learning vocab? Does anyone think it's fun? When I think of learning vocab I get post traumatic flashbacks to SAT cramming and fill-in-the-blank sentences. Bleh.
How does memorizing help you LEARN words? It doesn't. Today in my Middle Grades Literacy class we talked about different ways to retain new vocabulary. There were so many great ideas involving drawing pictures, grouping new words with ones you know, and using words in a context that you are familiar with, etc.
Let me talk about Linear Arrays for a sec. Linear Arrays list related words on a spectrum. For example, in class we listed the following words from softest to loudest: gossip, state, declare, utter, holler, screech, cry, murmur, and bellow. The activity filtered down into a class debate on which was loudest--screech, holler, or bellow? Imagine! An impromptu debate on the meaning of words. I'm not a logophile by any means, but I was pretty surprised to find myself arguing passionately that bellow was the loudest sound word of all.
I might be a logophile, as I actually do enjoy learning vocab and grammar. It might also explain the dearth of social activities in my life. Linear Arrays sound like a logical idea...and I'm not sure why people didn't stress the idea more in the past. It is quite nonsensical to group words that have little or no relation to each other and to expect people to memorize the words.
ReplyDeleteAs unabashed logophile, let me just state that this was a fun post to read! I had never heard of "linear arrays" per se, but I was inspired by the simulation you described in your literacy class. I want to try this someday! The array reminds me a bit of creating a word all and also word sorting, when you give children a stack of related words and ask them to sort them by sounds, letter features, or (at the secondary level) connotations or denotations. They must evaluate the word features and arrive at their own logical explanation for how and why they sort them in the manner they do, thus giving rise to conversations -- and possibly, debates -- about words. Never a bad thing!
ReplyDeleteNow, not to stir up more bad memories for you about SAT prep, but have you heard of FreeRice.org? It's a partnership between the UN and Harvard to provide free educational tools and end world hunger. (I know, that sounds a bit overreaching and pie-in-the-sky, doesn't it?) Anyway, for every vocabulary question you answer correctly, they donate rice to needy nations. Since the last time I visited the site, they have added other subject areas, including art, math, and geography.
On the downside, the tutorials are quite traditional and reminiscent of standardized test prep. I blame the Harvard guys for that.