WORD POWER OF THE DAY: fritinancy

My favorite high school English teacher recited this Emily Dickinson poem to my class nearly every day:

A word is dead  –  Emily Dickinson

A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.

I say it just
Begins to live
That day.

This poem has stayed with me all these decades since high school.  I recited it to my own students when I became an English teacher, I recited to my children and now my grandchildren, too.

There’s just something about saying a word that makes it come alive. WORDS are what we celebrate when kids first say them.  WORDS are what we celebrate when kids first read them.  Making WORDS come alive for kids is what brings the great gift of literacy.

Bring fritinancy alive today for your kids or grandkids.

fritinancy is a noun meaning the chirping, twittering or creaking of insects, as in crickets.

Pronounced frit´i`nan`cy.

Some say fritinancy is obsolete. But I say if we all use fritinancy each time we hear the delightful sounds of insects chirping – well, fritinancy begins to live that day. I can just hear your kids saying to you, “Listen to the fritinancy of the crickets, bees and cicadas this morning!”

Thanks, Emily Dickinson.