Vocabulary Collectors

1. Welcome!This slide presentation will teach you how to create a successful list of antonyms & synonymsbased on one of the vocabulary words you have collected for the week. It will also provide the criteria for you to be able to receive full credit for your list of antonyms & synonyms. I’ve never actually taught Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, but I always use its opening paragraph as a mentor text for teaching antonyms and how to fix comma splices. I have also used it to inspire an original type of poetry for my students’ writer’s notebooks: opposite poems. Vocabulary Collectors Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms Click here for my lesson on antonyms and comma splices. Click here for my writer’s notebook page on opposite poems.

2. You should know these two fancy words already, right? antonym(noun) — a word or phrase that nearly or exactly means the opposite as another word or phrase. synonym(noun) — a word or phrase that means nearly the exact same thing as another word or phrase. Vocabulary Collectors adjective form: antonymous adjective form: synonymous Greek Roots: syn (“with”) + onym (“name”) Greek Roots: anti (“against”) + onym (“name”) • Related words: • synchronous = “with” + “time,” as in synchronous swimming. • syndrome = “with” + “running,” as in irritable bowel syndrome (a symptom) • synopsis = “with” + “view,” as in a brief synopsis of a movie or novel. • Related words: • pseudonym = “false” + “name,” as in writing using a pseudonym. • homonym = “same” + “name,” as in two, to, and too are homonyms. • cryptonym = “hidden” + “name,” as in the CIA uses cryptonyms or code names. Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms

3. When you choose the synonym/antonym activity, I expect to see brain work! synonym(noun) — a word or phrase that means nearly the exact same thing as another word or phrase. Please note it reads word or phrase. What does that mean? How big can a phrase be? Vocabulary Collectors adjective form: synonymous A phrase should be two or three words that work together, and… Greek Roots: syn (“with”) + onym (“name”) …you won’t oftenfind phrases in the thesaurus. • Related words: • synchronous = “with” + “time,” as in synchronous swimming. • syndrome = “with” + “running,” as in irritable bowel syndrome (a symptom) • synopsis = “with” + “view,” as in a brief synopsis of a movie or novel. Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms So, let’s say you find a word like Nathan did with cumbersome. Would chugging alongbe a synonymous or antonymous phrase for this word? Discuss!

4. When you choose the synonym/antonym activity, I expect to see brain work! synonym(noun) — a word or phrase that means nearly the exact same thing as another word or phrase. Please note it reads word or phrase. What does that mean? How big can a phrase be? Learn this as your lesson with this example: Don’t become too dependent on the thesaurus! I expect to see both words and phrases in your antonym and synonym list, and most thesauruses only have words. Phrases must come from your brain. THINK! THINK! THINK! Prove you understand the word by creating phrases! Vocabulary Collectors adjective form: synonymous A phrase can be two or three words that work together, and… Greek Roots: syn (“with”) + onym (“name”) …you won’t oftenfind phrases in the thesaurus. • Related words: • synchronous = “with” + “time,” as in synchronous swimming. • syndrome = “with” + “running,” as in irritable bowel syndrome (a symptom) • synopsis = “with” + “view,” as in a brief synopsis of a movie or novel. Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms So, let’s say you find a word like Nathan did with cumbersome. Would chugging alongbe a synonymous or antonymous phrase for this word? Discuss!

5. Let’s talk about learning your parts of speech now… If the vocabulary word you find is a noun, all antonyms and synonyms must be nouns too! You will need to check carefully. antonym(noun) — a word or phrase that nearly or exactly means the opposite as another word or phrase. Vocabulary Collectors adjective form: antonymous That said, Alex has two words in her list for the verb speculate that break this rule. Work with a partner to find the two “bad” words. What might she have used instead? Greek Roots: anti (“against”) + onym (“name”) • Related words: • pseudonym = “false” + “name,” as in writing under a pseudonym. • homonym = “same” + “name,” as in two, to, and too are homonyms. • cryptonym = “hidden” + “name,” as in the CIA uses cryptonyms or code names. Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms

6. A final rule for collecting antonyms & synonyms: Vocabulary Collectors Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms Do you remember the difference between the following words when we categorize them this way? Remember, you’re supposed to be collecting 25-cent words from your readings. I expect all antonyms and synonyms you collect to be 10-cent or 25-cent words, understand?

7. A final rule for collecting antonyms & synonyms: Vocabulary Collectors Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms How did Mark do then? Which words (if any)need to be pushed up to the next level? What might you substitute in place of any 5-cent words Mark has included here? Give Mark good advice.

8. A final rule for collecting antonyms & synonyms: Vocabulary Collectors Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms How did Joseph do? Which words (if any)need to be pushed up to the next level? Does Joseph have more 10-cent or 25-cent synonymsand antonyms in his synonym/antonym list?

9. Vocabulary Collectors Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms Click here for a printable version of this rubric for your students.

10. Vocabulary Collectors Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms What—if anything– kept Jacie from earning a perfect 4 here?

11. Vocabulary Collectors Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms What—if anything– kept Patrick from earning a perfect 4 here?

12. Vocabulary Collectors Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms What—if anything– kept Alejandra from earning a perfect 4 here?

13. Don’t choose antonyms and synonyms because it sounds easy. I expect to see work! antonym(noun) — a word or phrase that nearly or exactly means the opposite as another word or phrase. synonym(noun) — a word or phrase that means nearly the exact same thing as another word or phrase. Vocabulary Collectors adjective form: antonymous adjective form: synonymous Greek Roots: syn (“with”) + onym (“name”) Greek Roots: anti (“against”) + onym (“name”) • Related words: • synchronous = “with” + “time,” as in synchronous swimming. • syndrome = “with” + “running,” as in irritable bowel syndrome (a symptom) • synopsis = “with” + “view,” as in a brief synopsis of a movie or novel. • Related words: • pseudonym = “false” + “name,” as in writing using a pseudonym. • homonym = “same” + “name,” as in two, to, and too are homonyms. • cryptonym = “hidden” + “name,” as in the CIA uses cryptonyms or code names. Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms

14. excerpt from My Antonia by Willa Cather (1873-1947) Book I: The Shimerdas I first heard Antonia on what seemed to me an interminable journey across the great midland plain of North America. I was ten years old then; I had lost both my father and mother within a year, and my Virginia relatives were sending me out to my grandparents, who lived in Nebraska. I travelled in the care of a mountain boy, Jake Marpole, one of the 'hands' on my father's old farm under the Blue Ridge, who was now going West to work for my grandfather. Jake's experience of the world was not much wider than mine. He had never been in a railway train until the morning when we set out together to try our fortunes in a new world. (excerpt continues on printable version) This is an optional extra mentor text analysis task for teachers using this PowerPoint lesson. Click herefor a printable version of the entire excerpt from My Antonia. Vocabulary Collectors Analyze Cather’s use of verbs in this excerpt. Does she show more, using action verbs, or does she tell more, using linking verbs? What’s her best use of an action verb in this excerpt? Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms Choose two 25-cent vocabulary words from this excerpt—one for you and one for your partner. Help each other create an antonym & synonym list that would earn four points on the rubric. Show depth!

15. Vocabulary Collectors Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms You can never check your rubric too many times before starting work.

16. And don’t forget there’s a lesson online that has students learn a few punctuation rules while examining Charles Dickens’ use of antonyms to establish a sentence rhythm. Thanks for watching. Collect vocabulary to better your future. People like you if you have a good vocabulary. I’ve never actually taught Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, but I always use its opening paragraph as a mentor text for teaching antonyms and how to fix comma splices. I have also used it to inspire an original type of poetry for my students’ writer’s notebooks: opposite poems. Vocabulary Collectors Meaningful writing activity = antonyms & synonyms Click here for my lesson on antonyms and comma splices. Click here for my writer’s notebook page on opposite poems.