Fresch and Harrison present definitions and playful examples (in poetry and prose) to teach antonyms, synonyms, acronyms (and many more "nyms"), similes, metaphors, idioms, shades of meaning, and word origins. A final chapter offers insights into language choices by eight well-known children's poets and authors, including former US Young People's Poets Laureate Kenn Nesbitt and Margarita Engle and world-renowned Jane Yolen.

With this fun and practical book, grades 3-5 teachers have at hand both the research and the day-to-day practical activities that support a fascinating approach for empowering their students' vocabulary. Upper elementary students will develop a deeper understanding of how the English language works, enrich their vocabularies, and improve their reading and writing skills through the information and lessons provided by veteran educators Mary Jo Fresch and David L. Harrison. Six chapters present definitions and playful examples (in poetry and prose) to teach antonyms, synonyms, acronyms (and many more "nyms"), similes, metaphors, idioms, shades of meaning, and word origins. Practical lessons and activities for each category will engage students in joyful practice. A final chapter offers insights into language choices by eight well-known children's poets and authors, including two former US Young People's Poets Laureate-Kenn Nesbitt and Margarita Engle-and world-renowned Jane Yolen.

Mary Jo Fresch is an academy professor and professor emerita in the School of Teaching and Learning, College of Education and Human Ecology, at The Ohio State University. She has been an educator for more than forty years. She began her teaching career as a third-grade teacher, and then worked with adults with challenging literacy needs at the University of Akron. She has spent the last thirty years teaching literacy courses for preservice and inservice and providing professional learning workshops teachers across the United States. She speaks nationally and internationally about literacy-related topics.

Her research focuses on the developmental aspect of literacy learning. She has over sixty peer-reviewed articles in professional journals such as Language Arts, Journal of Literacy Research, The Reading Teacher, Reading and Writing Quarterly, and Reading Psychology. Her professional books include Strategies for Effective Balanced Literacy (2016), The Power of Picture Books: Using Content Area Literature in Middle School (2009), Engaging Minds in English Language Arts Classrooms: The Surprising Power of Joy (2014), and An Essential History of Current Reading Practices (editor; 2008). She coauthored Learning through Poetry (2013), a five-book phonemic and phonological awareness series, and 7 Keys to Research for Writing Success (2018) with David L. Harrison. She is married to her college sweetheart (Hank), has two married children, and five grandchildren.