Avalanche, Aztek, or Bravada? A Connotation Minilesson
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Overview
In designing a lesson to promote effective word choice in students' writing, the object is to start with something familiar. In this lesson, students start by discussing the associations they feel for car names from the 60s and 70s and analyze why those names were chosen. They then work in small groups on one of several possible activities, each exploring connotation in the context of car names.
Featured Resources
Automobile Names Connotation Activities: This handout explains the choices for the culminating activity for the lesson.
What Does the Word Chicken Mean in these Titles?: This reproducible shows a variety of book covers featuring "chicken" in some way. This provides an excellent jumping off point for a discussion of connotation.
From Theory to Practice
In designing an activity that encourages students to use language effectively, you need to begin with ideas and elements that are familiar to students. Cognitive psychologists who study information-processing capacities of the brain have identified the importance of the role of prior knowledge in learning. Researchers have found that the best way to spend time in studying new material is not necessarily to focus on the material itself; if we need certain information to understand it better, then we should devote more time to studying this prerequisite material. While this activity does not provide "knowledge" in the form of factual information, it does provide students a format through which to wrestle with concepts in familiar contexts before attempting the same activity in a less familiar context.
Further Reading
Common Core Standards
This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.
State Standards
This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.
NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts
- 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
- 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
Materials and Technology
General classroom supplies (paper, pens, pencil, etc.)
Printouts
Websites
Preparation
- Prepare overheads or handouts; or arrange to present materials on the board.
- Explore these background Websites for additional material on the automobile industry's naming practices and to familiarize yourself with current automobile model names:
- Super-secret car name decoder story: This CNNMoney.com article discusses the ways that cars are named.
- Creating Great Product or Company Names: IGOR, a naming and branding agency, provides an overview of the process that their consultants follow as they help a client name a product or service. The site provides great insight into how names are chosen for products.
- Cars.com: This commercial site, related to the NPR radio show Car Talk, includes pull-down menus that list car makes and models. While you'll want to avoid the e-commerce options at the site, used carefully, you might visit these pages to help students compile lists of current names used by the automobile industry.
- Build Your Ford Website: Students might use this site to create specifications for custom cars, which they then propose names for. Naturally, the cars on the Ford site will already have names, but students can use the information at the site to think through the various choices.
- Super-secret car name decoder story: This CNNMoney.com article discusses the ways that cars are named.
Student Objectives
Students will
- define and explore the concept of connotation.
- examine how word choice affects meaning.
- write vivid, connotative language as part of a description.
Instruction & Activities
- Give students the names of cars popular in the 1960s: Thunderbird, Falcon, Charger, Comet, Mustang, Barracuda.
- Ask the students the following questions:
- How are these names effective in evoking powerful associations in a listener or reader?
- What kind of performance could you expect from each of these cars?
- Why do you think these names were selected, and for what kind of buyer?
- How are these names effective in evoking powerful associations in a listener or reader?
- Present a second list of car names, this time from the 1970s: Rabbit, Pinto, Colt, Civic, Starlet, Gremlin.
- Ask the students the following questions:
- How are the associations we make with these names different?
- What kind of performance could you expect from each of these cars?
- Who might you expect to buy them?
- Why do you think these names were selected?
- How are the associations we make with these names different?
- Introduce the idea of connotation, defining it as the associations that people make with a word. You can contrast connotation with the denotative value of a word, its more literal meaning, and give an example of a word (such as "chicken") which has particular connotation depending on the listener: to a poultry farmer, it might bring one thing to mind; to a restaurant owner, another thing; to someone who is afraid, still another thing. In the phrase, "chicken soup," it can bring to mind another kind of thoughts.
More Practice
If your students need more information to understand connotation, share the What Does the Word Chicken Mean in these Titles? handout as an overhead or handout to demonstrate the many connotations of the word. You can either explore the various meanings of the word in whole class discussion or divide your class into small groups that consider one or more of the images each then share their findings with the class before proceeding. - Once you've defined connotation and you're satisfied that students understand the concept, divide students into small groups of 4 to 5 students each. Write the assignment on the board, or use the reproducible to create an overhead or handouts. In the groups, students complete one of the following activities:
Option One
Here are the names of some new cars:
- Buzzard
- Ox
- Gnat
- Walrus
- Toad
- Eel
- Basset Hound
- Slug
- Rhinoceros
- Stegosaurus
- Porcupine
- Squid
- Dodo
Describe them, and tell why this car fits the needs of the society. Who drives it? What does it look like? How big and fast is it? Is it a family car, an SUV, a sporty car, or something else?
Option Two
Your group has been asked to think up a name for a new car. Choose a name and then describe your car. Why does this car fits the needs of the society? Who drives it? What does it look like? How big and fast is it? Is it a family car, an SUV, a sporty car, or something else?
Option Three
Brainstorm a list of currently used automobile names and analyze the choices as they relate to the vehicle they relate to. What connotations did the manufacturer hope to evoke? What details do the names bring to mind? What does the name tell you about who drives the car, how fast it is, and what its features are? - Allow students 15 to 20 minutes to explore the car names; then gather the class together and discuss the connotations that students associate with each word.
Extensions
After students explore the idea of connotation in this lesson, turn their attention to the connotations of their word choice in their own writing with She Did What? Revising for Connotation.
Student Assessment / Reflections
This should be a fun activity that students complete without the pressure of a grade. Discussion between and among groups, supported by your commentary on particularly strong choices, can provide adequate feedback. Additionally, you might try one of these options:
- Monitor student progress during the minilesson and as students work independently through anecdotal notetaking and kidwatching.
- Comment on the group work by responding in writing or during individual or group conferences.
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