Wordplay for Primary School
It exists by flickering candlelight, and it curls up under blankets. It lazes under the shade of an elm. It exists in schoolyards, pubs, gyms, hospital wards, courts of law…
It is ubiquitous.
But, what is it?
It is the word.
We take words for granted. For most of us, they just happen. We speak, and the words are there. But for some of our young people, words can be intimidating. Some young people are not exposed to a vast array of words outside of school, and thus they arrive in the classroom with a smaller vocabulary than others, and they may lack confidence in reading, speaking or how they express themselves. There are also those who speak one language at school and then return home to the comfortable familiarity of another language. There are many other reasons that can affect a young person’s relationship with words, but the purpose here is not to dig deeply into academic research and explanations. Instead, here’s a few ideas to encourage our young people to explore words and language.
Word Inventions: Invite students to invent words and write definitions for them.
Word Scramble: Invite students to write their favourite words in random positions on a page
Both those exercises can be fun. And what you may discover is that the exercises will tell you something about your students. And that comes in handy when you need to set more specific tasks. In the case of the student whose work is in the above two pictures, a writing or storytelling task based around sport could be a winner. Here are a few other ideas.
TAL (Try another language): If you have EAL (English as an Additional Language) students in your class, invite them to try the above exercises in their first language. Or ask if they would like to write a text of their own choosing in their first language, or any other language for that matter. Apart from exploring words, this exercise has the added advantage of creating the potential for greater cultural awareness among all students (and educators) in the class.
Expression Sessions: Cut loose! No rules at all. Just let your students write whatever they want in what evert way they want. Poems, graffiti, songs, words that go up the page, words that spiral out of sight or control! Just let your students go for it. This includes the use of SMS language and emojis. Language, grammar, and words are always evolving. In these sessions, barriers between the so called ‘right’ and ‘wrong ways’ to do things are torn down. Allow your students ‘word freedom.’ Let words and minds roam.
WAW (Word-a-Week): Each week invite each of your students to stroll through the dictionary and find a word that is unfamiliar to them. What does the word mean? Where did it come from? (Etymology). Spend time in class sharing the words and talking about them.
Words need to be played with. They are like balls. The more you kick, catch, and throw them, the more comfortable you can become with them.
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