The Word Jar

 

I am a self-proclaimed "Word Nerd".  I love books that are dripping with precise vocabulary and transport you into the story...as though you are a participant in the plot.  I love listening to articulate individuals speak... as their words pour out of their mouths and paint a pretty little picture.  I am continually amused by witty remarks, beautiful quotes, and interesting phrases that I haven't heard before.  Word play is my love language.  (I'm only kinda-sorta kidding!)  So, because I love words, and because being a well-spoken citizen is such an important skill in today's information-saturated society, I make it a point to infuse vocabulary instruction into every nook and cranny of my lessons. One way that I do this is through the implementation of a Word Jar. 

I wish I could take full credit for this simple yet brilliant idea, but I can't.  Way back in 2010, when this blog was just a fledgling endeavor with approximately ten readers, I originally shared how the Word Jar came into fruition.  Let's take a walk down Memory Lane, shall we?!  I had just finished reading Donavan's Word Jar with my students.  I was attempting to create a climate that cultivated voracious readers and word collectors, and I knew my students would be able to relate to the simplicity of Donovan's need to collect and share his words with the world.  We wrapped up the text, and immediately a student asked if we could start our own Word Jar.  I wholeheartedly admit that it hadn't crossed my mind!  What a simple idea, right?  Of course, I said, "Absolutely", and made a Walmart run that weekend to pick up a large jar. Perhaps one of the greatest things about this project is that it is SO easy to prepare.  You literally just buy the jar, slap on a label, and it's ready to roll! 

Over the years, my implementation of the Word Jar has evolved a little bit,  but one thing remains the same.  Every single word is kid-generated.  Every.  Single.  Word.  After all... I direct enough of our word study.  I want my kids to constantly be on the look-out for WOW words as we interact with various texts together and as they navigate stories during independent reading.  I want them to pay attention to descriptive language and nuances.  I, ultimately, want them to become word collectors. So, as they encounter new, exciting, puzzling, or fun-to-say words, I have them record the words on sticky notes (or templates), then they place them inside of the jar.  As we begin class, we take out one word to define, discuss, and record on the Expanding Vocabulary wall.  I don't have any really recent photos of this, but here's how it looked in 2010.  As you can see, this is a pretty simple set-up.  I just borrowed this idea from the 2 Sisters, and I created an "Expanding Vocabulary" Wall.  I laminated the template and wrote with a Vis-a-Vis marker each time we added a word.  The kids added each word to their personal dictionaries, and we moved on with our day!  Simple and effective! I haven't used the wall display in a few years, but I plan on having the kids keep their own personal word jars instead.  I am always looking to tweak how things work in my classroom...usually to simplify!

Since Post-It notes can be an additional expense, I created a template to use as I launch the Word Jar this fall.  I also added a personal word jar to use instead of the word wall, a graphic organizer, and a vocabulary template to project each word on the SMARTboard or Promethean.  Do you think you want to do this too?!  Click on the image below to snag this editable PowerPoint resource for F-R-E-E!

Are you interested in creating a culture of word connoisseurs?  Here are a few of my FAVORITE read alouds!  Happy Word Collecting, friends!