Using books to teach lessons is effective with young children. Double Talk: Word Sense and Nonsense, by: Zora and David Aiken, is a great book to teach a child homonyms and having fun with words. It is a great book to encourage creativity and imagination in your child.
Double Talk: Word Sense and Nonsense
Written by Zora and David Aiken, Illustrated by David Aiken
Age Recommendation: Grades PreK-3
Book Description
Double-Talk: Word Sense & Nonsense invites children to explore homophones and shows them that words can be fun. Pairs of deliberately ambiguous words are presented in rhyming verse and illustrations across thirteen double-page spreads. On each spread, the words may sound the same, but they are used to describe two very different images. Readers must study the art to see how the words relate to the pictures. Serious or silly? Sense or nonsense? Either way, the readers will learn to study words more carefully. With the simple surprises spelled out in the illustrations, the “I-get-it!” smile grows into a full-body giggle. This laughter-inducing book is ideal for young readers and the adults that love them. Grades Pre-K to 3.
Lessons Focus: Homophones
A homophones is a word the same as another in sound and spelling but different in meaning. However, in a loose sense it is a word that sounds the same and has different meaning such as night and knight.
Double Talk: Word Sense and Nonsense focuses on homophones in which makes it the perfect book to teach the concept. It is also a fun comedic way to look at words and literal meaning of words.
Gather a list of homonyms to use to make sentences. For instance:
My aunt loves to read to me at night.
Have your child determine if you mean “ant” or “aunt”. Then have the child draw a picture of the opposite homophone in that sentence. The results will be full of giggles.