The Power Of Words

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

?Until the words have been found, the idea does not fully exist.? Jimmy Breslin As a New York City public school teacher, this year I am teaching the Fourth Grade Performing Arts Class. These highly motivated students face the challenge of living in communities with gangs, violence, and drugs, yet they display a tremendous determination to succeed. They are extraordinary learners with a demonstrated love for school and a special interest in literature, reading, and writing. Unlike so many children in their communities, they read above grade level. Almost on a daily basis, my students witness young people on the street swearing and wildly gesturing to their friends in frustration because they lack the word power to express complex ideas. If my students are not assisted in developing an expanded vocabulary, I'm concerned it will not only hinder their learning, but they may lack the ability to articulate their goals and dreams, even to themselves. As words are the vehicle through which most learning takes place, I've been eager to find effective tools to enable my students to understand any word they read, and to increase their spoken and written word usage. Through research, I have found many dictionaries to be inadequate. When students repeatedly look up words that are not in their dictionaries, they lose patience with the process. Eventually, I found two excellent resources that would equip my students to expand their vocabulary at their present grade level and would also support their education all the way through college. They are Miriam-Webster's 11th Edition, a comprehensive hard-cover dictionary, and Miriam-Webster's Everyday Language Reference Set, a paperback set of abbreviated Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Vocabulary Builder with exercises to prepare for the SATs. Once we have these materials, I plan to instruct my students in their use because I know this will improve their reading comprehension and writing as well as their ability to verbally express themselves. As many of my students come from families where English is a second language, these high-quality reference resources will also help their parents and siblings, a tremendous impact reaching far beyond my classroom. I am requesting these two reference materials for each of my students as well as one set to keep in my classroom. Thank you.