million dollar words

I heart big words. Favorites include:

• mellifluous
• onomatopoeia
• binomial nomenclature
• endoplasmic reticulum
• monosyllabic
• wisteria
• ethereal
• nonchalant
• ostentatious

Last week, I read my class a story called The Kissing Hand (great for first day of school jitters for the younger kids). Since the main characters in the story are raccoons, I taught my kids the word "nocturnal." We said it, we sang it, we clapped the syllables. They loved it.

Today I was teaching the Story of Creation. We brainstormed different things that God made, and then I said, "I'm going to teach you a BIG word that means 'everything God made.' The word is creation." I wrote it on the board. We said it, we sang it, we clapped the syllables. Then one of my girls raised her hand and said, "I know another big word: logical." Hee hee! Gotta love the randomness of a first grader.

So I decided to make a "million dollar words" chart for our room. Every time we come across a big word, we'll write it on the chart. Should be a fun list.