Moving and Enlightening A Reader…
Suggested Activities
- Read and discuss the text, Just Fine the Way They Are. Before you begin; prompt students to listen for language that the author uses that is rich, colorful, and precise. As a class, generate a list of words or phrases that moved or enlightened the reader.
- As a class, brainstorm different reasons why certain words or phrases were memorable. Some examples could be:
- To move the reader emotionally
- To move the reader to a new vision of ideas
- To enlighten the reader
- To describe
- To create a visual image
- To create a sensory image
- To enhance and enrich the content
- To clarify or expand ideas
- Divide the class into small groups. Give each group a copy of the Word Choice Chart to complete. In addition, each group could add additional words or phrases they found in the text.
- Come back together as a class and discuss the group’s chart. As a whole class, you could create a class table recording each group’s thinking.
Have A Go
- Have students select a piece of their own writing and highlight examples of good word choice.
- Have students rework a piece of their own writing, deciding where they need to make better word choices.
- Have students record on a sticky note examples of rich, colorful, precise language from their own writing and place them on the class table.