The Wonderful World of Words: The Power Is in Your Hands

Words have power! They can make people laugh, cry, think, and even move people to silence. They can create fear, joy, hope. They entertain, inform, and persuade. This class encourages young writers to be thoughtful in their word choice. The Wonderful World of Words is a one-time class for 11–14-year-olds that will meet for 50 minutes. In this class we will use slides and discussion to look at different types of writing and the power of the words that we use. We will begin the class by learning the meaning of "connotation" and "denotation" and how they affect our word choice. Next, we will talk about how words can be very similar in meaning but have very important differences. We will look at words that show emotion but have different intensities. We will also talk about how our word choice changes depending on the audience and purpose of our writing.
Even though Wonderful World of Words is an introductory class leading into a series of classes, each focusing on a different type of writing, it can be taken as a single class exploring the basis of writing - words.