Download M Vocabulary Builders

VOCABULARY BUILDERS
1. ACRONYMS: Words made from the
first letters of a list of words you want to
remember.
Example: HOMES for the Great Lakes:
Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior.
2. COINED WORDS: Words created to fill
a need that no existing word serves. Many
trademarks are coined words.
8. PALINDROMES: Words and phrases
spelled the same forward and backward.
Examples: Otto, Madam, “Madam, I’m
Adam.”
9. PORTMANTEAUS: Words made by
blending parts of other words.
Example: “Brunch” from “breakfast” and
“lunch.”
Examples: Kleenex, Xerox.
3. DAFFYNITIONS: Crazy definitions that
make some sense.
Examples: Grapes grow on divine. A police
uniform is a lawsuit.
4. ETYMOLOGIES: The histories of
words, including their origins and changes
through time and other languages.
5. EUPHEMISMS: More gentle ways of
saying things that sound too harsh.
10. PUN STORIES: Stories that include as
many puns as possible. Puns are plays on
words.
Example: The pancakes were selling like
hotcakes because they didn’t cost a lot of
dough.
11. SLIDE WORDS: Words slid together
from abbreviations.
Example: “Jeep” from “GP” (a general
purpose vehicle during World War II).
Example: “He passed away” instead of “He
died.”
12. SUPER SENTENCES: Sentences made
from very difficult vocabulary words.
6. FIGURES OF SPEECH: Expressions
that mean something different as a whole
than if you take each word literally.
13. TOM SWIFTIES: Statements that
combine a word with its related adverb.
Example: There are many skeletons in our
family closet.
7. MALAPROPISMS: Words misused on
purpose or by accident. They sound like the
words you mean to say but have different,
often contradictory meanings.
Example: “Complete and under a bridge”
instead of “Complete and unabridged.”
Example: “I just cut my finger!” cried Tom
sharply.
14. TRANSMOGRIFICATIONS: Simple
thoughts expressed in sophisticated or
challenging words.
Example: “Scintillate, scintillate, asteroid
minific” for “Twinkle, twinkle, little star.”
15. ROOTS: Study the Latin roots of 10
words. Find words in other sources that have
those roots.
From Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom by Susan Winebrenner, copyright © 2001. Free Spirit Publishing Inc.,
Minneapolis, MN; www.freespirit.com. This page may be photocopied for individual or classroom work only. For other uses, call 800-735-7323.
Since Free Spirit Publishing allows educators to adapt this form to their needs, it may have been modified from its original format and content.