“Said is dead,” I said to my class after reading aloud Chicken Little.
We counted 26 times the word SAID was used after a character talked in the story.
We counted 26 times the word SAID was used after a character talked in the story.
We decided to put a stop to this overuse of this word. We brainstormed other words
that we remember reading in our books that could be used instead of SAID when a character talks.
that we remember reading in our books that could be used instead of SAID when a character talks.
To really show how serious we were, we put the word SAID on a headstone and underneath,
we composed a list of synonyms like: yelled, cried, shouted, replied, asked, told, and screamed.
we composed a list of synonyms like: yelled, cried, shouted, replied, asked, told, and screamed.
Then we practiced writing a sentence with dialogue, making sure we used one of our
new words instead of SAID. We also glued down elbow macaroni to
be the quotation marks--because, let’s be honest, that pasta just looks like a quotation mark!
new words instead of SAID. We also glued down elbow macaroni to
be the quotation marks--because, let’s be honest, that pasta just looks like a quotation mark!
***I must say, " I need coffee " quite a bit if that is what a student writes for an example!!!!!
To really but SAID to bed, we went back through our stories in our writing folders and looked
for the word SAID and crossed it out and inserted a new word from our headstones…
for the word SAID and crossed it out and inserted a new word from our headstones…
“I think I have created a classroom full of word detectives that are going to be on the lookout
for over-used words.” I SAID to myself…..
for over-used words.” I SAID to myself…..
**** In case you were counting, I used the word SAID (including this one, 9 times....OOPS!)
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