Encouraging Engaging Vocabulary in Writing

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

DS (2nd) enjoys storytelling and fiction writing. He has plenty of creativity, a decent grasp of story arc, and a willingness to physically write but doesn’t often read for pleasure, so may need a bit of support developing a broad vocabulary and variable sentence structure. 

He’s fairly descriptive, making frequent use of adjectives and occasional use of adverbs - but I’d like to see more variety in his word choice. We are using IEW ATFF / FMFT, which hits on this a little bit with “banned words,” but I’d like to expand on this idea.

Evan Moore’s Writing Super Sentences looks too simplistic for what I’m wanting. Fabulous Sentences and Paragraphs is closer... it starts off pretty simplistic, but the later parts may be useful. 

I’ve seen little posters along the lines of “Instead of <over-used word> use...” followed by a selection of choices. I’ve also seen activities discussing “shades of meaning” to describe emotions - giving alternatives to sad and mad and happy. Should I simply provide these to him when he writes? Would it be better to brainstorm the lists together?

I own Killgallon’s Sentence Composing... when we last tried it (over a year ago) DS was a bit resistant to the idea, but now he’s grown accustomed to having an “editor”. He is solid on parts of speech and familiar with the idea of phrases and clauses, so I don’t anticipate any hiccups there. Is it time to pull that out again? 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Shoes+Ships+SealingWax

[wendyroo]

I've gone with subtle manipulation.

When I read aloud, which I do frequently, I occasionally exclaim over really amazing uses of language. Not too often, I don't want it to lose it's power, and never artificially, but whenever I am truly struck by a fantastic word (simile, descriptive passage, allusion, etc).

Then I do the same with the kids' writing. I notice when they go above and beyond. I admire and proclaim over them; I read them to the family at dinner because they are just so good. 😉

It certainly isn't a quick fix, but over time my kids have incorporated more interesting words in their writing. One curious thing that happens is that the words I highlight in our read alouds often pop up in my kids' writing. Recently our read aloud used the word quixotic perfectly, and I squealed with glee over how wonderfully descriptive it was. Suddenly all sorts of quixotic things popped up in my kids' writing...not always correctly mind you, the kiddos are still building up their sense of the subtle connotations of the word, but I'm just thrilled they are trying to use it. Now, as I read aloud, I keep a notepad near me to jot down any words I specifically mention so that I'm not at a loss a month later when a kiddo wants to use "that word that means someone grumpy" (aka misanthrope 🙂).

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

5 minutes ago, wendyroo said:

When I read aloud, which I do frequently, I occasionally exclaim over really amazing uses of language. Not too often, I don't want it to lose it's power, and never artificially, but whenever I am truly struck by a fantastic word (simile, descriptive passage, allusion, etc).

Then I do the same with the kids' writing. I notice when they go above and beyond. I admire and proclaim over them; I read them to the family at dinner because they are just so good. 😉

I could see this working with read alouds, but I don’t dare try it with DS’ writing - he’d never do it again! 😆

It’s the strangest thing; as much as he yearns for attention and approval, any fawning beyond a simple nod or “Good work,” seems to make him anxious and self-critical. He is an enigma. 

[Not_a_Number]

6 hours ago, Shoes+Ships+SealingWax said:

I’ve seen little posters along the lines of “Instead of <over-used word> use...” followed by a selection of choices. I’ve also seen activities discussing “shades of meaning” to describe emotions - giving alternatives to sad and mad and happy. Should I simply provide these to him when he writes? Would it be better to brainstorm the lists together?

I'll be honest... I really hate that approach. I think it turns out kids who use a thesaurus indiscriminately, instead of using their brains 😉 . (I just had to deal with this with my college-aged sister. She had lots of fancy words in her writing. Most of them didn't mean what she thought they meant.) 

I would probably encourage more reading or something else that exposes him to more sophisticated vocabulary. (Audiobooks, maybe? More silly books around the house?) And I would also help scaffold using different words whenever appropriate. For example, if he overuses the word "happy," I'd ask if there was a more PRECISE word for what he's trying to say than "happy." Maybe ecstatic? Thrilled? Content? Enthusiastic? The key point would be NOT that there's something wrong with the word "happy" (in some contexts, it's absolutely the right word!) but that in THIS specific instance, there's a better, clearer, more appropriate word for what he's trying to express. 

I also wouldn't worry too much about this. He's little. He'll use fancier words in writing more as he gets older and he reads more and gets exposed to more interesting words. His meanings will also become more sophisticated, and simpler words will serve him less well. 

[lmrich]

My approach is to read articles on the topic and keep a sticky note of outstanding words. This has been most helpful for my students who are attempting literary analysis work or even science essays where there is unique vocabulary. I still use the thesaurus when I am in rut. 

[Carol in Cal.]

I think that the main things are reading to him at levels far beyond what he would read to himself, consistently, and not requiring spelling correction.

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

2 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

I think that the main things are reading to him at levels far beyond what he would read to himself, consistently, and not requiring spelling correction.

Yes, we do both of these things already. 😊 This year we’re reading through Stephan & Lucy Hawking’s George’s Secret Key series as well as the National Geographic anthologies of the 1,001 Arabian Nights & Norse Mythology. He just finished the Ramona series & is now “taking a break” with the Littles series. 

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

4 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

I'll be honest... I really hate that approach. I think it turns out kids who use a thesaurus indiscriminately, instead of using their brains 😉 

This is definitely a concern I have with this approach, which is why I’m searching for an alternative. 

4 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

I would also help scaffold using different words whenever appropriate. For example, if he overuses the word "happy," I'd ask if there was a more PRECISE word for what he's trying to say than "happy." Maybe ecstatic? Thrilled? Content? Enthusiastic? The key point would be NOT that there's something wrong with the word "happy" (in some contexts, it's absolutely the right word!) but that in THIS specific instance, there's a better, clearer, more appropriate word for what he's trying to express

This is, I think, what the Shades of Meaning exercises were trying to accomplish; giving kids a bank of more precise terms within an overarching theme that could be used as a reference. So as you said, “happy” might be a perfectly adequate word for one instance, while “jovial” or “elated” or “serene” might be more appropriate in others, because they all have different nuances. 

4 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

His meanings will also become more sophisticated, and simpler words will serve him less well.

This is a good point; he’s at an age where he rarely describes his own emotions with much specificity, so it might be quite a leap to apply those more complex feelings to his characters. He was tickled by “positively flummoxed” from The Hobbit, though. 😅

Perhaps we’ll start keeping a book or wall chart of phrases / terminology / quotes from literature that stand out to us, as a jumping-off point for word choice...

[lulalu]

We keep a log in a notebook of words and phrases my ds finds fun. Through his reading, read aloud, conversations with adults there are a lot of words that get added. 

Often he will use these in conversations long before they show up in writing. So I try to encourage him in his oral narrations to use more variety in language. We also play games (Rory story cubes, Mad libs) these involve oral story telling and are great ways for ds to try out more language. 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

There are some excellent exercises in the book The Most Wonderful Writing Lessons Ever by Mericonda for improving description, word choice, etc.  The book is aimed at PS teachers, but is a great read and great teacher training for the homeschool parent.  It is aimed at grades 2-4, but I have used many of the exercises at many ages and have had excellent results, including improving my own writing.