Word Box

When I observed a 7th grade class this past month, I was introduced to a pretty cool way to learn vocabulary. Each day during "free read," if a kid comes across a word that she doesn't know, she can come up to the board and write it in the "word box." Then, after free read, the class examines the word, reading it in context, and working together to figure out the meaning, sometimes with the help of a dictionary. It's pretty cool. Anyway, it got me thinking - we should all try to expand our vocabulary daily. Sure, I have the "word of the day" on my e-mail, but I don't pay any real attention to them because unlike this, it's just not fun.

I invite you all to add to our word box (comment section) if you come across an intersting word. Maybe you like how it sounds, or it keeps popping up in your law readings, or you heard it on NPR or SpongeBobSquarePants. If you know the meaning of a word in the box, feel free to tell us. On Friday we will pick, or more accuratly - I will pick, the best word and that will be our word of the week.

I leave you with my favorite word of all time: "sprawling." Why do I love it so? Because it sounds exactly as it means. It's just cool like that. In case you were wondering, my second favorite word is "cumbersome."