middleschoolelateacher

[middleschoolelateacher]

Vocabulary words kids get a kick out of Learning

Here are some vocabulary words I give my 8th grade students.

Petrichor: The smell after it rains. (They know the smell, they like knowing there's a word for it.) This word is also more common than you might think.

Tyrant/Tyranny/Tyrannical: This word comes up a lot in history (USA founding documents, reasons for rebellions, etc.) and in books kids read.

Fratricide: I use this word as part of introducing kids to Latin word parts. Anything with death seems to intrigue them.

Hypocrite/Hypocritical: Learned this word in conjunction with reading 'Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass'. They use it consistently in class discussions about other texts or things they are learning.

[middleschoolelateacher]

Figurative Language Pairs

Teach Metaphor and Simile at the same time,

alliteration and assonance

personification and anthropomorphism (and/or Objectification)

hyperbole and understatement

perfect rhyme and slant rhyme

antithesis and oxymoron

onomatopoeia - short lesson (on its own)

situational irony - on its own

pun - on its own

idiom - longer 'on its own' lesson.