DICTIONFUN WITH WORDS

LESSON 1

1. Diction – word choice

2. Denotation – the dictionary definition of a word

3. Connotation – the associated meanings of a word, includes the feelings or images that the word evokes for a reader

LESSON 2

1. Mnemonic Techniques – techniques for improving memory

• Examples – illustrate it, rhyme it, bring it to life

2. Determining Word Meaning

• Use context clues – What words are mentioned in the sentence or sentences surrounding the new word?

• Similar words – Do you know any words with the same root, prefix or suffix as the new word? If so, what do these words mean?

• Word parts – Consider the meaning of the word’s root, prefix and/or suffix.

Mnemonic Techniques

Illustrate It! Draw and scan or use clipart to depict the meaning of

the term.

Rhyme It! Create a jingle or short poem that illustrates the

meaning of the word.

Bring It to Life! Personify the term and use indirect characterization

to show its meaning.

LESSON 31. Clause – a group of words containing a

subject and a verb

2. Independent clause – a clause that can stand alone as a sentence; also known as a main clause

3. Dependent clause – a clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence but must be linked to an independent clause

4. Phrase – a group of words that acts as a single part of a sentence (noun phrase, verb phrase, etc.) but that lacks either a subject or a verb and cannot stand alone as a sentence

5. Sentence – a group of words that generally contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought

6. Run-on sentence – two or more independent clauses that are not separated by a period, semicolon or appropriate conjunction

7. Sentence fragment – a phrase, clause or other group of words that is written as a sentence but that lacks either a subject or verb and does not express a

complete thought

8. Simple sentence – a sentence made up of one independent clause and no dependent clauses

9. Compound sentence – a sentence made up of two or more independent clauses and no dependent clauses

10. Complex sentence – a sentence made up of one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses

11. Compound-complex sentence – a sentence made up of two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses

12. Active voice – a sentence in which the subject is the doer of the action

13. Passive voice – a sentence in which the action is being placed upon the subject

14. Parallelism – two or more words, phrases, clauses or sentences that are similar in length and grammatical form; also called parallel structure

LESSON 41. Paragraphs – units of

meaning in writing

2. Topic sentence – a sentence whose main idea or claim controls the rest of the paragraph

3. Coherence—the order in which the various elements are presented and the devices used to make clear the relationships between those elements

• Logical, coherent order – chronological, spatial, general-to-specific or specific-to-general

4. Unity—a matter of keeping all of the elements of a piece of writing, whether a paragraph or a novel, centered on the primary topic

Showing Coherence Chronological order – Use terms

such as first, second, third, next, then, last to show when something occurred in time.

Spatial order – Describe your topic according to the position of things. For example, describe it left to right or top to bottom.

General-to-specific – Begin with a general statement about the topic and become more specific as the essay continues.

Specific-to-general – Begin with the most specific information about the topic and work toward a general statement.

LESSON 51. Anagram - a word or phrase

formed by rearranging the letters in another word

Anagram Example:

Kelly Jean Adkins

1. keen

2. lean

3. kind

4. ninja

5. skinned

6. jelly

7. kindle

8. deli

9. sane

10. insane