Learning about words is important to learning inside and outside school. The more words a child knows, the more the child will learn.
What you'll need:
* A newspaper, magazine, or book. A notebook.
What to do:
* Have your child find a word in a newspaper, magazine, or book that he or she does not know and has not seen before. For example, your child may not know the word foretell (meaning "to predict or tell beforehand," as in, "The woman in red could foretell the future").
* Your child might also find a word that is familiar but used in a new way. For example, the word boat means a small vessel used for getting around by water. However, when boat is used in the sentence, "The people were all in the same boat," it means "faced with the same problems."
* Ask your child to listen for a new word in everyday talk or look for a new word in the newspaper. Have your child find a new word or an old word used in a new way each day. Ask your child to keep track of the words in a special notebook.
READ*WRITE*NOW Activities for Reading and Writing Fun - May 1997