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Visiting
the zoo
Program
Area
This activity
has been designed to be used in conjunction with the exercises
on connotation in Rhyme and Reason. It best follows a study of
Connotation and Mood which includes the study of the poem Jaberwocky
by Lewis Carrol. It was written to contribute to the Grade 9 Language
program.
Learning
Outcomes
Teaching, learning and evaluation will focus on the students
ability to:
- Form
an association between the sounds of words and their connotations;
- Increase
his/her vocabulary of connotative words;
- Write
a poem using connotative words.
Background
Writers of nonfiction usually make direct statements; poets
usually show us pictures. One of the effective ways of showing
the reader a picture is by the use of connotative wordswords
which have a suggestive or associative significance. A word may
suggest meaning by the sound of the word itself. Words such as
crash or crack imitate the sound of something
breaking or snapping. Other words, such as peaceful
and ease connote a softness because they are read
slowly and the letters sound soft.
Classroom
Activities
- Students
are taken on a trip to a Zoo. They take with them the Activity
Sheet entitled Visiting the Zoo. This activity requires
students to:
a) Match invented words to the appearance of animals;
b) Invent their own words for the description of animals;
c) Invent words for animal sounds;
d) Match animals to sound connotations.
- Back
in the classroom, put the names of the animals as headings on
the chalkboard and list the words suggested by each student
to describe the animals. Discuss which words are most effective
in their description.
- Students
use the words which they have learned or invented to create
a poem based on the animals they saw in the zoo. Best results
are obtained if a relatively short period of time is allowed
for this first draft. Students should be encouraged to write
freely and to perfect their work after all of their ideas are
down on paper. Students should be encouraged to focus on sound,
rather than rhyme and rhythm.
- Students
are asked to volunteer to read their poems to the class.
Timing
Students should be allowed as much time as needed to complete
the activity sheet. Allow 30 min in class to list and discuss
the words which students have selected for animals. Allow 20 min
for students to produce a rough draft of a poem and then 15 min
for reading the rough drafts. Poems may be polished and completed
for homework.
Resources
Metcalfe, John and Gordon Callahan. Rhyme and Reason. Toronto:
McGraw Hill, 1968.
Cross-disciplinary
Links
ArtStudents may illustrate their poems.
Student
Activity Sheet
YKCOWREBBAJ
sevot
yhtils eht dna ,gillirb sawT`
ebaw eht ni elbmig DNA eryg diD
,sevogorob eht erew ysmim llA
.ebargtuo shtar emom eht DNA
She
puzzled over this for some time, but at last a bright
thought struck her. `Why, it's a Looking-glass book, of course!
And if I hold it up to a glass, the words will all go the right
way again."
This
was the poem that Alice read.
JABBERWOCKY
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
`Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jujub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!'
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum gree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wook,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
`And has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Calloh! Callay!
He chortled in his joy.
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
NB. This
text comes from the Project Guterberg public domain version of
Lewis Carrolls work.
This exercise
is designed to improve your understanding of word sounds and their
connotations and to increase your vocabulary of connotative words.
Words such as crack or crash imitate the
sound of something breaking. The sound of these words provides
meaning in addition to the literal meanings of the words. Other
words, such as ease and sloth connote
slowness because they cannot be read quickly.
A. Imagine
that you are a judge of words to be entered into the English dictionary.
Which word of those listed best describes the appearance of the
animal:
- hippopotamus:
furly, minch, bricht, sloamey, lumphrus.
- giraffe:
wilp, lork, koosie, lillip, scine.
- snake:
noom, chipple, slumbion, tipple, slissy, poamey.
- polar
bear: sloomp, chit, ormp, blitty, serce.
B. Select
four animals and invent a word for each which sounds
like the appearance of the animal.
eg. peacockfillowy
C. Select
four animals and invent a word to describe the sound that each
of the animals makes.
eg. elephantschroom
D. When
you have access to a dictionary, look up the meanings of the following
words and name the animal you feel is most closely associated
with the word:
hiss
chortle
sloven
lithe
agile
slick
furtive
mellifluous
massive
Place a
checkmark next to the words which have sound connotation
(the sound of the word itself adds meaning beyond the dictionary
meaning).
Assignment
Use any of the words which you have invented and real words
in part D to create a poem about animals. Do not worry about making
your poem rhyme or the rhythm used in each line. Concentrate on
using connotative words as effectively as possible.
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