Handy Words and Jabberwocky

A Facebook friend shared a link to 25 Handy Words That Simply Don’t Exist In English. This list is full of great words that could easily kick-start a poetry or language arts lesson. Not all the words on this list are appropriate for all age groups, but all of them are magical and some are very funny. For example, Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan), means "a look between two people that suggests an unspoken, shared desire," and Tingo (Pascuense language of Easter Island) means "to borrow objects one by one from a neighbor’s house until there is nothing left."

I've used lists of strange or made-up words in lessons before, and the poetry opportunity is when you ask kids to write poems that include the tricky new words, or, working as a group to come up with your class's own unique words. The poem best suited to a lesson like this is, of course, "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll. Just one stanza is enough to show your students that making up words is a very cool way to write. (Make sure you're not asking kids to compose on a computer with a spell-check program, as that takes all the fun out of it! Remember that a critical part of an art lesson is to remind your students that not everything they learn in school has to have only one right answer, one correct spelling, one perfect solution.)

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.

This link will take you to a complete version of the poem, annotated with sounds and images to enchant and educate. In particular, I love Kennith William's reading from his album Parlour Poetry. Make sure you click on the yellow text in the poem to see the amazing artwork that has been illustrating this poem throughout the years. My favorite is this illustration of the Tum Tum tree.

 

Enjoy this word play lesson! Add some English history or etymology concepts for expanded reach.