Freak and Vocabulary

In the book “Freak the Mighty” by Rodman Philbrick, one of the main characters (Freak) has an impressive vocabulary while the other main character (Max) describes himself as never having a brain. At one point in the story, Freak writes a dictionary and gives it to Max. The end of the book is a copy of this dictionary. It contains real words with humorous definitions and invented words with definitions. I assign my students to create their own dictionary with humorous definitions and invented words, but they only get to create one themselves. They must find friends, family, teachers (anyone else) to write their name down and write a word and definition. It is a great activity to get my 6th grade students talking to their families about what they are doing in school. Most parents take this very seriously and think a long time on their responses. Sharing favorite entries is always good for a laugh.

After the imaginative word dictionary exercise, we go back through the book and inventory the real words that are used. Students make a short list of favorites, quote the passage where the word is used, and define the word. We then choose a class list of ten vocabulary words and the students create a vocabulary test for themselves. We make a game of using the words in conversation and in writing assignments when it is appropriate. I find that the students take much more ownership in their vocabulary and some try to use “good words” they know and acknowledge others for vocabulary.