Title – Using Word Referents

By – Barbara Mariconda and Dea Auray

Primary Subject – Language Arts

Grade Level – 2-8

Brief Description: in this lesson students will use word referents to enhance word choice and enrich vocabulary.

Objectives: students will:

• use alternative words and phrases for key characters, settings, objects, or topics in narrative stories and expository pieces of writing
• students will review the use of nouns and adjectives

Keywords: narrative writing, expository writing, word choice, vocabulary development, parts of speech.

Materials Needed: a flip chart and markers, overhead projector with transparency and transparency pens, or a simple chalkboard and chalk.

The Lesson: write one of the following paragraphs on the chart, overhead, or board. (Use the first paragraph for narrative writing; use the second for expository writing.)

1. 
   I stared at the
   
   leprechaun
   
   in the clearing.
   
   He
   
   was no more than two feet tall and wore a
   
   
   green suit and small gold shoes with big black buckles. On his head
   
   he
   
   wore a green velvet top hat. A lilting laugh escaped from the
   
   leprechaun’s
   
   mouth which brought a smile to my face.
   
2. 
   Have you ever seen
   
   a horseshoe crab
   
   ? The
   
   horseshoe crab
   
   lives in the seashore and saltmarsh. You might see the
   
   horseshoe crab’s
   
   helmet shaped brown shell on a sandy beach.
   
   It
   
   has a long spiky tail and many sets of legs! You might be surprised to learn that the
   
   horseshoe crab
   
   is a relative of the spider!
   

Read the paragraph to the class, emphasizing the repeated key words — in the first paragraph "leprechaun" and "he", in the second, "horseshoe crab" and "it".

Explain that within the context of an entire piece of writing, those key words might be repeated numerous times in redundant fashion. An author might want to vary that redundant word choice to add interest and richness to the writing. Using "word referents" can accomplish this.

Create a chart of "alternative words and phrases" as follows, adjectives in the left column, nouns in the right:

Ask the class for more suggestions. Now, substitute the word referents for the key words and see how the writing improves!

Finally, have students try creating "word referents" for key words in an existing piece or a new piece of writing. For further practice, try the same exercise with the following "key words": knight, elephant, cell phone, America — or choose some of your own which relate to your curriculum.

Submitted by:

www.empoweringwriters.com

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Barbara Mariconda and Dea Auray

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