Margin Notes

Engage Your Students with Vocabulary, Word Study, and Poetry

Literacy teachers are always looking for new ways to inspire creativity and deepen students’ understanding of language. Rudy Francisco’s “I’ll Fly Away” is a a compilation of invented words, each followed by a poem that illustrates the meaning of the created word.

The concept is introduced with the poem “Mama Saba Asks.” This poem explains the idea of inventing new words and the limitations of language, setting the stage for your lesson.

Mama Saba Asks

“What’s the word for that in English?”

And there I am,
trying to catch the breeze
with a butterfly net.

I fumble through
the only language I know
and find everything
but an answer.

Eventually, I give up and say,
“I don’t think there is one.”

English is the shiniest hammer
I own, but it’s also
the only thing in my toolbox.

I use it all the time,
but there is so much
it cannot do.

Why Try This Tomorrow?

By incorporating the creation of new words into your lessons, you can:

• Enhance vocabulary and word study.
• Foster creative thinking and expression.
• Deepen comprehension through the exploration of nuanced meanings.
• Encourage exploring poetry.

Here is an example of a created word and the poem that follows it:

Acentate verb

a · cen · tate | \ a-sen-tāt \

Definition of acentate:
1 : to take a picture that you think is perfect

I hope the camera gods bless you with a steady hand

great lighting, the perfect angle,
and enough storage space
to save the results.

May you snap the picture
at the right time, eyes open
and smiling with your entire face.

Months from now,
I hope you stumble
across the picture

and you are ambushed
by your own radiance.

Here is How to Try This Tomorrow:

Introduce Neologisms

• Discuss what neologisms are and why they are created. Young people create new words ALL the time.
• Provide examples from popular culture and everyday language. These change so quickly that I hesitate to even provide examples but here are a few: rizz, cheugy, vibe check, rent-free etc.

Read and Analyze Poems from “I’ll Fly Away”

• Select and read poems where Rudy Francisco invents new words.
• Discuss the meanings and contexts of these new words.
• Analyze how new words can convey complex emotions and ideas.

Create New Words

• Have students brainstorm and invent their own words for emotions, actions, or abstract concepts.
• Write short poems or paragraphs using these new words.

Share and Reflect

• Students share their invented words and writings with the class.

• Discuss the creative process and the impact of these new words.
  • How did creating a new word change the way you expressed your idea?
  • What challenges did you face during this activity?
  • How can new words impact the way we communicate?

Collaborate on Writing Projects

• Model using a form of representing to illustrate a new word. Individually or in pairs, students write stories, create images or craft poems illustrating their invented words.

Rudy Francisco’s “I’ll Fly Away” offers a way to engage students in thinking about words. Let us know if you try this tomorrow!