Wow Up Your Words!Wow Up Your Words!

Presented byLancashire Leading Literacy Teachers

Strategies for improving and Strategies for improving and developing vocabularydeveloping vocabulary

Words are fun!Words are fun!

Lots of jokes are based upon word play…

The man who recently fell into an upholstery machine is now fully

recovered.

Aim:Aim:

To provide practical strategies for improving and developing vocabulary throughout Foundation Stage, Key Stage One and Key Stage Two.

Framework ObjectivesFramework Objectives

See Handout page 1

Vocabulary KnowledgeVocabulary Knowledge

• Listening comprehension depends on knowledge of words.

• The meanings of individual words contribute to the meanings of sentences and therefore to understanding.

• Females tend to master language more quickly than males.

• Women use around 7,000 words a day, whereas men use about 2,000.

The Development of LanguageThe Development of Language• During the early years, vocabulary extends at

a rapid rate of 50-70 words per week, through oral conversation

• By the time the child is five he/she will have an oral vocabulary of about 14,000 words

• Research shows that some of our five year old pupils have an oral vocabulary of less than 9,000 words – often pupils from poorer homes

• How would this impact on learning?

• What could we do about this?

Developing VocabularyDeveloping Vocabulary

• After the age of five, oral conversation is a much less effective way of developing vocabulary knowledge.

• Reading and teaching of words, phrases, metaphor and idiom takes over at this point.

• These are key elements in developing written language.

• We need to ensure that we provide opportunities for this.

Importance of readingImportance of reading

slim bandy

munching buckle

prance elegant

boldSee handout page 2

Word of the weekWord of the week

awfully

The Foundation Stage ClassroomThe Foundation Stage Classroom

Display vocabulary within each area of provision or resource, e.g.

Water Tray: pour, splash, drip, wet, full, empty,

overflowing…

Playdough: stretch, break, squash, mould, join, cut,

press…See handout pages 4 and 5

Words are fun!Words are fun!

I couldn't quite remember how to throw a boomerang, but I knew eventually it

would come back to me.

It’s a cracker!It’s a cracker!

Children love to collect or make up jokes.

Encourage their understanding of words by asking them to explain why it’s funny.

See handout page 6

‘‘Articulate’Articulate’

• Take a noun from the pile on the table.

• Describe it to your partner without naming it. Use descriptive language to help your partner visualise what you are describing.

• Can your partner guess what it is?

Synonym RaceSynonym Race

• You have thirty seconds.

• Think of as many alternative words as you can for…

look

Talking verbsTalking verbs1. Working in pairs, make a list of alternative

words for ‘said’.

2. Write your words onto the grid on page 8.

3. Think of a simple sentence that someone might say, e.g. ‘Where have I put my glasses?’

4. Take it in turns to choose a word from the list and say the sentence accordingly. Can the other person guess which word was chosen?

From: Jumpstart! Literacy by Pie Corbett

The POWER of words!The POWER of words!

Quite often, synonyms can be ordered by how powerful they are, e.g.

big huge colossal

Order the cards according to how powerful you think the words are.

SShhaaddeess of meaning of meaning

1. Start with a feelings word from the list.

2. Choose a colour card.

3. Brainstorm synonyms for your feelings word.

4. Write the synonyms onto the colour card in order of strength.

Words are fun!Words are fun!

He didn't tell his mother that he had eaten the glue.

His lips were sealed.

Compound WordsCompound WordsCompound words are words made up of two or more

other words, e.g. bedroom, downstairs, football

Use the list of compound words on handout page 10. Make a new words by taking the beginning of one

word and end of another.

Can you think up a definition for your new word?

jellyfish + playground = jellyground

jellyground: a boggy area where the ground wobbles when you walk on it.

Crazy DefinitionsCrazy DefinitionsAbundance

Armies

Earwig

Elastic band

Fish Fingers

Gladiator

Hippies

Labrador

Microwave

The things you have up your sleevies

A piece of false hair worn over the ears

A group who play rubber instruments

What fish have 5 of on each hand

How the monster felt after lunch

The things you hang your leggies on

Large cat-flap for dogs

Very small greeting

Lots of dancing cakes

Words are fun!Words are fun!

Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, 'You stay

here, I'll go on a head.'

Sensory scenesSensory scenes

see

hear

feel/touch

smell

Super settingsSuper settings

coolrocky

lapping

fresh

lush

clear

As fresh as a mountain stream

smooth

The sea was a shimmering plate of glass.

Descriptive words similes

metaphors

Genre related wordsGenre related words

See handout for a

Fantasy Story Word Chart taken from The Usbourne Illustrated Thesaurus.

A fantastic resource, full of words and phrases to help children make their

writing more exciting.

Words are fun!Words are fun!What did the triangle say

to the circle?

You're so pointless!

Fast poemFast poem

1. One noun:

2. Two adjectives:

3. Three adverbs:

4. Four verbs:

SpaghettiSpaghetti

Thin and soft,Thin and soft,

Silently, slowly, easily,Silently, slowly, easily,

Slipping, sliding, Slipping, sliding, slithering, disappearing.slithering, disappearing.

Words are fun!Words are fun!

Are Santa's helpers

subordinate clauses?

Talking HomeworkTalking HomeworkDear Parents and Carers, This week’s Talk Homework is to talk

about the following:Who was naughtier, Goldilocks or

Jack of the Beanstalk? What do you think? Discuss. Remember, no television on during Talk

Homework! We shall all share our ideas and thoughts

at assembly next Monday.

Ros Wilson

ResourcesResources

• Primary Framework for literacy www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primaryframeworks/

• Jokes found at www.kidsjokes.co.uk• Jumpstart! Literacy by Pie Corbett

ISBN 1-84312-102-6• The Usbourne Illustrated Thesaurus

ISBN 0-7460-23529

Questions Questions and Closeand Close