How to build vocabulary by collecting new words like friends

Hello my dear Omschool-igans! Your host, teacher Omi has a special new job as you'll soon see in this post. I'm feeling spunky this evening after completing an onerous project I've been side-eyeing and avoiding. So tonight I'm going to treat myself to a "dessert" post for the Omschool because you all are such delights to write for. Tonight we're exploring words! Particularly the composing of them in prose and poetry. And we're going to do this in a fanciful stroll down the rabbit hole! 

National Poetry Month in April

We've been discussing a lot of Earth Month (April) themes on this blog. April is also National Poetry Month in the US. Which I think dovetails very neatly with Earth Month. It's springtime here and I can't think a more perfect subject for youth poetry than nature as she awakens, like a sleepy princess, from her winter slumber. And the best way to do that is to get outside and start scribbling down some ideas. Let's go word collecting like we would collect rocks at the beach. I was going to say butterflies but we don't cage wild creatures because that would be unkind. And we are kind. We just observe them where they land, bid them farewell when they leave and be glad to have known them for a few moments.

A eulogy on logology (or a lecture on lexicon)

Before we begin, we must speak of a sad thing about logology. And that is that a good vocabulary is dying off by lack of oxygen. Some research says that of the 10,000 or so words we use a day and the 42,000 words we know, most use only about 1,000 unique ones. Why don't more words get used? I think it has to do with size. "Big words" seem to intimidate people. Which is unfair because they're just gentle giants there to help us articulate our thoughts clearly. And using the same trite words rather leads the listener, like this poor little fairy above, to bored ennui. So let's be the change those other 32,000 words need! 

Word Wonder Wandering  

Libra-fairy 
(n.) One who protects all the lovely words, not to hoard them, but to give them away.

I don't collect many objects but I do amass words like a squirrel gathering black walnuts. So today I have dubbed myself Jenny-Us Loci the Libra-fairy Lady. Tada, that's my new job! I am the benevolent spirit of this place whose self-assigned task is to protect all those forgotten and lonely words and share them with you. Think of me as a granny fairy with glasses. Unlike Mrs. Corry, the gingerbread proprietress in Mary Poppins, I give words away instead of selling them. And unlike Faintly Macabre the Not-So-Wicked-Which from The Phantom Tollbooth (Norman Juster), I share and don't hoard words.  Because that's the beauty of them. Words are the gift that keeps on giving. And like lakes, no one can own them.  And certainly no one can own your thoughts. So follow me on a word-seeking jaunt into the woods, or park, or down your street. Or in your apartment building. You can discover so many new word species and you don't even need a net or jar. 

How to catch a word or phrase

It's quite easy if you try. And that's my assignment for you, my Om-schooligans: keep your acute pixie ears open and your tiggy-winkle noses quivering with curiosity. When a new word flies by, like in something someone says, or something you see or read, hold it for a moment in that big brain of yours. Write it down in a word journal or in a notebook. You can even keep a list on your phone if you have such a magical device. And then let it go again so someone else can discover it. 

Look it up

Chances are you won't know what your mystery word means because it is new to you. So pay attention to how the word is used. What words surround your new friend? This is called observing the context. And knowing the context is a method used when learning a new language. Then look it up in a dictionary or online. Ask whatever AI tool you use. I like Gemini and Copilot. They will not only define it but tell you how to spell and pronounce it. If you don't know how to spell it, give it your best shot to pronounce it as you heard it (that's what your pixie ears are for!) And AI is pretty intuitive and can usually figure out what you mean. 

Synergize it! 

But don't just pocket it and forget. As soon as possible, parse it in a new way, in a piece of writing or in speaking. Here's a f'rinstance. I just heard a word on an old TV show, that I'd not thought of in, well, I don't know how long. I couldn't even recall what it meant. So I looked it up and wow, so glad I did. It's a marvelous word, worthy of its own chapter in The Phantom Tollbooth! The word is "transmogrify." It may have even been in the Phantom Tollbooth where I last read it. I had occasion to use it very soon afterwards in a poem I just wrote. I'm not going to tell you what transmogrify means. Try to "collect" it yourself! 

✨ Your Mission, Young Padawan:

Find the meaning of "Transmogrify." Once you've caught it, try to release it into a sentence of your own this week! Hint: ask Trans-Frog-Grify to help you if you're stuck. 

“Behold! A common ceramic teacup caught in the marvelous act of being transmogrified into a woodland frog. His name is "Trans-Frog-Grify"

Stay tuned to this woodland fairy station for more word-ventures with Jenny Us Loci the Libra-fairy Lady! Just one of Teacher Omi's many roles.