For years, I’ve known the best way to increase a student’s vocabulary is to help him/her see the ways the word parts work together to create meaning. Our current vocabulary program is based in solid research, and it seems both teacher- and student-friendly on the surface, but after working with it for a year and a quarter, most of us are still struggling to make it work in our classrooms. I’m always on the lookout for ways to make the instruction more meaningful and useful.
Last week, I found this poem in my filing cabinet:
In Retrospect
Last year changed its seasons
subtly, stripped its sultry winds
for the reds of dying leaves, let
gelid drops of winter ice melt onto a
warming earth and urged the dormant
bulbs to brave the pain of spring.
We, loving, above the whim of
Time, did not notice.
Alone, I remember now.
–Maya Angelou