Literacy Matters
All things Literacy, because Literacy matters in all things
Continuing with our love for words: Word Consciousness
Word Consciousness refers to ‘awareness and interest in words and their meaning’ Graves & Watts-Taffe, 2008. Teachers and family members who share their love for words (logophilia) and who provide engaging opportunities for children to interact with words both in conversation, reading, writing and research and creative opportunities, help to ignite this passion for words. It is a very effective way to motivate students to read and continue to build vocabulary and embrace the gift of words.
Word consciousness is empowering for children and adults. Vocabulary is not a closed file - we continue to add to it through our entire lives. Words are more than just words - they are envelopes packaged with concepts. When effective readers come in contact with different words it can trigger connections of familiarity, enabling them to make word associations and become more sophisticated comprehenders.
‘Vocabulary is more than words. It is knowledge. To know a word’s meaning is to know what that word represents and to begin to understand the network of concepts that go with it.’ Neuman and Darger 2009.
Studies have shown that students struggling with reading almost universally have not played word games. Playing word games in the home invites children to become animated and motivated learners and this can help struggling readers. Shared curiosity about words, word origins and word history, poetry, puns, proverbs and idioms and exposure to a variety of reading materials and word games in the home can engage children in a thirst for new, rich vocabulary and a journey toward word consciousness. Vocabulary knowledge is one of the best predictors of reading achievement.
WORD OF THE WEEK
Anomalous adjective
DEFINITION: deviating from what's standard or expected; strange, abnormal or irregular.
In a sentence: I found her use of mayonnaise on french fries anomalous.
Ineptitude noun
DEFINITION: lack of skill or ability
In a sentence: Carelessness and ineptitude were the reasons for his dismissal.
