oost your child’s growing vocabulary with 60 hilariously illustrated poems from Colette Hiller, author of the critically acclaimed kids’ poetry book The B on Your Thumb.
Each poem in this funny, funky book teaches a specific important word, as well as its meaning and spelling, in an innovative and accessible format that kids will love. Using rhythm and wordplay, the poems help build a colossal vocabulary, thinking skills and literacy – without kids even noticing! But most of all, this book delights young readers with the joy and silliness of the English language.
Building a colossal vocabulary has never felt so natural, or so much fun! Each word in this collection is defined in a simple rhyme. Using rhythm, humor and logic, each word’s meaning is made clear and accessible. Kids will want to try them out straight away: it’s a ready-to-use collection! You and your kids will love:
Rolling rhymes that will be chanted again and again Fun and quirky drawings that bring these educational poems to life Holistic learning premise from Colette Hiller, skilled in writing educational poetry for children From Ambiguous to Zealous, the words in this book are for 7-to-12-year-olds. It may seem inconceivable for one book to encompass such a wide age span! But in fact, inconceivable – and all the other words in this book – were selected from vocabulary lists intended for older children, so that younger children can challenge themselves and discover a wealth of great new words!---from the publisher
80 pages 978-0-7112-7875-2 Ages 7-12
Keywords: vocabulary, rhymes, poetry, Language Arts Curriculum, 7 year old, 8 year old, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old
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“What are words for
When no one listens
What are words for
When no one listens
There's no use talking at all”
– Missing Persons (1982)
“Your word is your wand
There’s a wonderful feeling in knowing precisely the right word for something. Like fitting in a piece of a jigsaw–it’s hugely satisfying. And it helps you get straight to the point. Who’d ever want to say second to last when instead you could say…
penultimate!”
“Fettle
To be in fine fettle
is a fine place to be.
You’re thriving and doing
spectacularly.
There’s no dreadful fettle.
There’s just the one kind.
And that type of fettle
will always be fine.”
COLOSSAL WORDS FOR KIDS is a valuable resource book that’s an absolute gas! It’s a super-fun way to learn new vocabulary words, and it will serve as a model for young readers and writers to craft their own rhyming word definitions.
“Hit the volume!
These poems are meant to be read aloud–even if no one else is around! Doing this helps you remember the word. Plus, it’s fun. Keep a steady beat. Try not to rush. And give any punchline a bit of a punch!”
“Acrimonious
When a conversation
is not the least harmonious
but full of angry bitterness
we say it’s acrimonious.”
COLOSSAL WORDS FOR KIDS contains 75 of these very fun poetic word definitions. As the author explains, the definitions are not just told to you. Through these clever poems, they unfold for you. Plenty of avid readers and budding young poets who discover this book will gobble up the poems without a moment’s hesitation. In classrooms, the book will lend itself to great participatory and follow-up activities.
It’s so easy to imagine elementary- and middle school-aged kids each choosing one of the book’s poems to practice at home and then perform for the class. You’ve gotta believe that doing so will lead to plenty of these wonderful words being retained by both the performers and the audience members.
Having them emulate the book’s definition poems could be a popular creative exercise leading to even more vocabulary building. It might help to develop some basic guidelines to assist students in choosing an out-of-the-ordinary descriptive word for which they can design their own fun, poetic definitions. Being that I just happened to be working on a practical math problem today–designing plans for a backyard gazebo, I thought that “hypotenuse” might be a fun one to try. But it was awfully challenging because that is not a descriptive word. It’s a thing. I would suggest that teachers either put together a good-sized cache of sophisticated, descriptive words from which students can choose, or at least explain the potential pitfalls when they are choosing a word they will be working with.
Having students also illustrate their word definition poems will undoubtedly yield eye-catching, perfect-for-parents-night postings to hang up–and learn from–around the classroom.
My experience is that creating one of these poems does take some effort. I find it quite impressive how the author assembled dozens of these thoroughly-entertaining definition poems.
Okay. Here’s my try:
Loquacious
I hate to be ungracious
But he’s just so darned loquacious
Talking on and on and on and on and on
Can someone make him shush
Before my poor brain turns to mush
And my will to live is truly all but gone
Recommended by: Richie Partington, MLIS, California USA
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