Word Sense 

Since the new school year is in its formative stages, I would encourage you to expose your students to this incredible tool. Learning how words are related and how to increase the use of vocabulary are pillars to success. When students see the simplistic brilliance of this incredible tool, it is likely that they will make it a part of a more rigorous assignment. The tool is agnostic. It doesn't care what platform or device you use. It doesn't care what subject you use it for because if it is a noun, verb, adjective or adverb, it can be found. Let's encourage students to make connections with words because when they begin to see how they are interconnected, the light bulb goes on. I would recommend using it from 4^th grade up, but primary teachers could use it as a whole class lesson. One of the greatest ways to build vocabulary is to watch a video and pause it often as the class discovers new words. Why not upgrade that strategy with Word Sense to see what other connections the word has that would not normally be apparent?

How do you use Word Sense? Visit the learn section of the site and experiment. These are the basic steps that I tried:

1. Use the search box at the top of the page to find words.
2. Select a word on the left side of the page to view its figure (table) on the right side of the word page.
3. Interact with the word figure (table) by clicking on any word.
4. Less specific words are to the left and more specific words are to the right.
5. Nouns and verbs are in hierarchies.
6. Adjectives and adverbs are grouped and are usually shown with opposites.
7. Try some of their sample words or just put in the words you are studying.

Have fun becoming a word smith!

         

Ubiquitously Yours, my salutation 

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Lee Kolbert