http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/word-matrix-30071.html
Contribute to ReadWriteThink / RSS / FAQs / Site Demonstrations / Contact Us
- About IRA
- About NCTE
- About Verizon Thinkfinity
- Standards
- Our Advisors
- Our Authors
- Community Stories
- Promotional Materials
- News
Download the plug-in tools you need to use our games and tools, or check to see if you've got the latest version.
Looking for ways to engage your students in online literacy learning? Find more interactive tools that help them accomplish a variety of goals-from organizing their thoughts to learning about language.
Check out our collection of strategy guides to find effective literacy teaching and learning strategies to use in your classroom.
Home › Classroom Resources › Student Interactives
Student Interactive
Word Matrix
E-mail
/
Share
/
Print This Page
/
Print All Materials (Note: Handouts must be printed separately)
| Grades | 6 – 12 |
| Interactive Type | Learning About Language |
| Tech Requirement | |
| URL | http://www.readwritethink.org /files/resources/interactives /word_matrix |
 |
ABOUT THIS INTERACTIVE |
The Word Matrix is a tool designed to assist teachers in vocabulary instruction, but it has flexible applications in literary analysis and writing instruction as well. The interactive tool can be used to teach students the concepts of connotation and register; to help clarify differences between seemingly similar words; to explore the concept of diction in literary analysis; or to encourage more precision in word choice in student writing.
Using preconfigured word lists (or a list of synonyms they populate themselves), students organize words by their connotative charge on one axis, placing words with more negative connotations to the left and more positive connotations to the right. On another axis, students organize that same list based on their levels of relative register, from informal to formal. Students also have the option of providing a brief statement that justifies their placement of a word at a specific point on the matrix.
Grades 9 – 12 | Lesson Plan
Choose, Select, Opt, or Settle: Exploring Word Choice in Poetry
Students investigate the effects of word choice in Robert Frost’s “Choose Something Like a Star” to construct a more sophisticated understanding of speaker, subject, and tone.
Grades 9 – 12 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Exploring the Power of Language with Six-Word Memoirs
What do the words we write really have to say about us? In this lesson, students examine the power of word choice as they write six-word memoirs of their lives.
Grades 9 – 12 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Breaking the Rules with Sentence Fragments
Though teachers usually caution students against using sentence fragments, Edgar Schuster’s work demonstrates that professional writers often use fragments effectively. This lesson helps students understand that there are reasons that they can and should use sentence fragments to become effective writers.
Grades K – 8 | Strategy Guide
Introducing Ideas and Vocabulary with the Concept Sort
A Concept Sort is a vocabulary and comprehension strategy used with students to introduce new topics and/or familiarize students with new vocabulary.
