Shades of Meaning

Words Have Power

It's nothing new to English teachers. Kids just don't understand how powerful their words can be. As a result, their writing includes a vocabulary equal to that of a four year old, basic, repetitive, and libel to make any literate person run for the hills. 

But, it doesn't have to always be this way. There are things we can do in the classroom to help kids recognize how words can change mood, can persuade, can hurt, and can encourage. The lesson is simple, but the impact is great. 

Connotation vs. Denotation

In the past, I've taught this idea with worksheets, lectures, example texts. You name one boring lesson about word meaning, you bet I did it. But, to keep the promise I made to myself (and my students) this year, I want to think about how kids might actually WANT to learn something. Novel, right? 

After a quick trip to Wal-mart to steal pick up 156 some paint chips, I got started on teaching the shades of meaning. The result was great. My kids loved it. 

What my kids had to say

"This was really fun!" -- Colton

"I've been using words all wrong." -- Tanner 

"Can we do this again tomorrow?" -- Jaylee

I will never teach connotation and denotation another way again. The best part is we glued this into our interactive notebook, so they will have this forever. We refer to it often to remember how our word choice can change everything. You can get everything I used to teach this lesson here. 

Happy teaching!