The Wordsmith Project: Life and Times of an English Word
Introduction
Life and death is a fact of life--butterflies live and die; the most
ferocious lion in the Serengeti is born as a bundle of tawny fur,
grows protects his pride but eventually dies; human beings also have
a set time on earth. In fact, all life--plant and animal comes into
being, grows, develops and ultimately dies. Well, the same is true of
a word. Yes, a word. What you are reading now.
Words come into a language at a particular time. People use them
and the words thrive, but sometimes people stop using them, and
the word dies. It becomes archaic or out-of-fashion. New words
come into being as the need arises when conditions change. For
example, before 1985 such words as dotcom, 24/7 and HAZMAT
did not exist. Many words have fascinating stories. The story of a
word’s origin and history is its etymology. You will discover some of
those stories in this Wordsmith Project.
A. Process
1. Do a brief exploration of the three words: meanings;
usage; word parts (structural analysis), origins; usage
(Bartleby.com, dictionaries, etc.)
2. Select one word. Write it here:____________________
3. Write a 3-5-sentence rationale for selecting that word in
lieu of the others. Post your rationale on Edmodo (10
points)
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4. Sign in to Glogster to see the kind of product you will
create. You will find the link to edu.glogster.com in your
“The Wordsmith Project” folder on Edmodo.
Write your user name here_____________________
Write your password here______________________
5. Click “Create New Glog.”
6. You may start with a blank canvas or use a published glog
as a template that you will use to build yours.
7. Explore Glogs from Glogpedia to get inspiration:
http://edu.glogster.com/glogpedia/
8. You may begin to tinker with Glogster just to see what it
can do.
B. The Interactive, Multi-media Poster, i.e. Glogster must
include the following: (100 points)
1. the word--its various meanings; parts of speech; usage
(in meaningful sentences)
2. 1-2 vocabulary graphic organizers (see your Edmodo
folder)
3. examples of the words in context--from published texts
of different genres (poems, stories, speeches, songs,
essays, etc.)--www.Bartleby.Com;
www.merriamwebster.com; www.learnthat.org
4. analysis of the word parts -structural analysis (prefix,
roots, suffixes)
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5. examples of the word’s relationship to other words that
may be related.
6. etymology of the word (the word’s origin and history)
a. video [Find videos at www.learnthat.org- (Type your
word in the search area and videos, poems, images, etc.
will come up.]
7. audio - depicting the word explicitly as well as implicitly
8. images - depicting the word explicitly as well as implicitly
9. synthesis essay (Bring all of your information together in
an interesting and meaningful way.)
C. Final: After you have gathered your information, you will
write two short essays:
1. synthesis of the information about the word 1-2 typed
double spaced pages (50 points)
2. reflection on your work - 1 typed double-spaced page
(25 points)
[Both essays will be submitted to www.turnitin.com. The synthesis
will also be on your Glog.]
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Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
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CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of
unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grades 9–
10 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
◦
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.4a Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a
sentence, paragraph, or text; a word’s position or function in a
sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
◦
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.4b Identify and correctly use patterns of word
changes that indicate different meanings or parts of speech (e.g.,
analyze, analysis, analytical; advocate, advocacy).
◦
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.4c Consult general and specialized reference
materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print
and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or
clarify its precise meaning, its part of speech, or its etymology.
◦
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.4d Verify the preliminary determination of the
meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred
meaning in context or in a dictionary).
•
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative
language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
◦
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.5a Interpret figures of speech (e.g.,
euphemism, oxymoron) in context and analyze their role in the
text.
◦
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.5b Analyze nuances in the meaning of words
with similar denotations.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.6 Acquire and use accurately general academic and
domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and
listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in
gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to
comprehension or expression.
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