1st Edition

Words The Foundation of Literacy

By Dale D. Johnson, Bonnie Johnson Copyright 2011
    255 Pages
    by Routledge

    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    Written by respected authorities in the fields of education and literacy studies, Words: The Foundation of Literacy is a groundbreaking book for teachers, administrators, and education students. Dale and Bonnie Johnson present a fresh, inspiring reminder of why studying language (from word origins to word structure) is such a vital first step in the development of students' vocabulary, literacy, writing skills, and overall ability to learn.

    At a time when high-stakes testing has squeezed substance from many curricula, Johnson and Johnson provide ways to enhance students' understanding, interest, and appreciation of language and all its subtleties. Words explores how meaning in language is created by the use and interrelationships of words, phrases, and sentences, their denotations, connotations, implications, and ambiguities. From birth, most children exhibit a natural interest in language: its sounds, nuances, and unpredictable qualities. It is important to sustain, stimulate, and recapture that natural interest in the classroom, and Words provides a multitude of creative and practical techniques for doing so.

    Foreword Preface Introduction 1 Our Language: Something Old, Something New American English How Our Language Has Changed Obsolete Words Old Words Still in Use Word Meanings That Have Returned Word Meanings That Have Changed Completely Words That Have Become "Respectable" "In-Between" Words New Words New Words for Newcomers A Brief Word-Walk Through History from the 1700s to the Twenty-First Century * Instructional Activity 1.1 2 Origins: Every Word and Expression Has a Story Etymology and Word Origins A Sampling of Word Origins * Instructional Activity 2.1 "Borrowed" Words * Instructional Activity 2.2 Origins of Common Sayings * Instructional Activity 2.3 3 Word Formations Word Combining Compound Words * Instructional Activity 3.1 Blended Words Contractions Reduplicatives *Instructional Activity 3.2 Word Conversions and Derivations * Instructional Activity 3.3 * Instructional Activity 3.4 Word Shortening Abbreviations * Instructional Activity 3.5 Clipped Words 4 Semantic Connections: How Words Are Organized in Our Minds Semantic Categories Meaning Relations The Mental Lexicon Semantic Mapping Semantic Feature Analysis * Instructional Activity 4.1 * Instructional Activity 4.2 * Instructional Activity 4.3 * Instructional Activity 4.4 * Instructional Activity 4.5 Word Categories 5 Ambiguity in Language * Instructional Activity 5.1 * Instructional Activity 5.2 * Instructional Activity 5.3 * Instructional Activity 5.4 * Instructional Activity 5.5 * Instructional Activity 5.6 6 Figurative Language "You're a Sage, Rosemary" Idioms * Instructional Activity 6.1 Similes and Metaphors Analyzing Similes * Instructional Activity 6.2 Is the Well-Known Simile True? * Instructional Activity 6.3 Interpreting Metaphors Creating Metaphors Personification * Instructional Activity 6.4 * Instructional Activity 6.5 Euphemisms * Instructional Activity 6.6 Hyperbole * Instructional Activity 6.7 Chiasmus Other Figures of Speech 7 Proverbs: Short Sentences Drawn from Long Experiences The Importance of Proverbs Characteristics of Proverbs Ages of Some Proverbs Proverbs That Rhyme Proverbs That Repeat Sounds or Words Proverbs That Have More Than One Meaning * Instructional Activity 7.1 Contradictory Proverbs Proverbs from Around the World * Instructional Activity 7.2 Native American Proverbs More American Proverbs Collections from the Fifty States Proverbs in Pretentious English * Instructional Activity 7.3 Are These Proverbs Always True? * Instructional Activity 7.4 8 Onomastics: The World of Names Eponyms * Instructional Activity 8.1 * Instructional Activity 8.2 Toponyms * Instructional Activity 8.3 Demonyms * Instructional Activity 8.4 City and Town Names * Instructional Activity 8.5 * Instructional Activity 8.6 * Instructional Activity 8.7 * Instructional Activity 8.8 9 Word Play: Riddles and Rhymes Nine Categories of Riddles in Three Families The Hink Pink Family The Hink Hink Family (Homographs) The Pink Pink Family (Homophones) * Instructional Activity 9.1 Hink Pinks Hink Hinks Pink Pinks Hinky Pinkies Hinky Hinkies Pinky Pinkies Hinkety Pinketies Hinkety Hinketies Pinkety Pinketies 10 A Melange of Words in Language and Life Catchphrases Slogans * Instructional Activity 10.1 Words Spoken Too Soon Words That Have Lasted Retronyms * Instructional Activity 10.2 Acknowledgments Bibliography Index About the Authors

    Biography

    Dale D Johnson