Building vocabulary can be especially difficult with reluctant readers. I personally know quite a number of adults who were formerly reluctant readers themselves. What eventually turned them on to reading? Comic books! There are even comic book versions of most literary classics now.

After all, who doesn’t love a classic “super hero vs. villain” story? In this vocabulary lesson, “Bad Words,” we find our super hero, “Captain Lexicon” battling his nefarious nemesis, Doc Nuisance, who wants to stink up the town with a noxious gas. Building vocabulary is easy and fun with activities students find interesting. It’s the “Comic Con” of vocabulary lessons!

Capitalizing on what is already appealing to them is one way to “hook” kids. The lesson’s title, “Bad Words” lets them think something naughty. The bait-and-switch comes later. Instead of expletives, or similar interjections, the “bad” words found in the vocabulary exercises in this lesson turn out to be college-prep vocabulary words. Maledictions, Batman!

To download a free .pdf of the sample lesson, “Bad Words,” click here: