Chapter 13:
Word Consciousness
Teaching Reading Sourcebook
2nd edition
Word Consciousness
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Word conscious students are curious about
language, like to play with words, and enjoy
learning about the origins of words.
A word-rich classroom fosters word
consciousness through: dictionaries,
thesauruses , word walls, word games and
puzzles, literature and poetry books, and
word play and joke books.
Adept Diction
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Adept diction involves the skillful or artful use of
words in speaking and writing.
Teachers can model adept diction by
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their own choice of words;
drawing attention to the skillful use of words in texts that
students are reading;
encouraging students to expand their own range of word
choice in their speech and writing;
motivating students to recognize how words are used and
where they appear outside of class.
(e.g. Word Wizard)
Word Consciousness
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Knowing categories of words helps students
make finer distinctions in their word choice.
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Synonyms: words very close in meaning
Antonyms: words that are opposite or nearly
opposite in meaning
Homographs: words spelled the same with
different meanings and different origins
Figurative language: similes, metaphors, idioms
These distinctions involve knowing words have
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Denotations: literal meaning; and
Connotations: feelings associated with a word.
(e.g. positive, negative, neutral)
Word Play
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Word and language play engages students in active,
social, learning and provides motivation to improve
their language skills.
Word play is accomplished through
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Names: eponyms, toponyms
Expressions: proverbs, slang
Word formations: acronyms, portmanteaus
Word games: puns, riddles, tongue twisters
Word manipulations: anagrams, palindromes
See Categories of Word Play on page 575.
Word Histories and Origins
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Structure and origins of English
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Anglo Saxon: Short everyday words used
frequently in ordinary conversation. (book, table)
Latin: Longer, more formal words used in content
area textbooks and literature. (instructor, predict)
Latin is the basis for the Romance languages.
Greek: Specialized words used mostly in science
and technology. (astronomy, grapheme)