Have you ever had a chill run through your body and felt goosebumps form during a musical performance, perhaps when the singer or musician hits that note?
Recently, on my way home from the theatre, I wondered, Is there a word for that? There sure is!
frisson
I was thrilled to discover a word for this phenomenon!
In the classroom, I encourage students to collect favourite words. They might like a word because of how it sounds (smithereens), because of its meaning (serenity), or because of associations or memories with a word (malarkey – When playing cards, my dad used to say “Who dealt this malarkey?”).
Reading The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds is a wonderful way to begin this practice in your classroom. From there, be creative! Where will students collect their words? A literacy notebook? A shared bulletin board space? As part of an art project?
Word collecting can help students pay more attention to words when reading and writing, increase vocabulary, and lead to discussions about structure, meaning, origin, and context.
Remember, “A word after a word after a word is power.” Margaret Atwood