Award-winning educator Bob Greenman says teachers should promote pun-making in the classroom. "The pun is liberating," Greenman writes. "It says to students, you can make language do as you please. You can twist words to make them your own. You can make connections between two entirely different things and think on two planes at once. You can improvise language and play with words. Isn't that a great thing to help develop in students?"  Continue reading...

As we settle into 2011, Visual Thesaurus contributor Bob Greenman has been reflecting on the past year of writing for the VT. Join Bob as he takes a versified look back at how he has been inspired by his "lexicon-muse."  Continue reading...

Once again award-winning writer and educator Bob Greenman takes us on a journey through words selected from More Words That Make a Difference, a delightful book illustrating word usage with passages from the Atlantic Monthly.  Continue reading...

When I entered Edward R. Murrow High School after 22 years of teaching English and journalism at another Brooklyn high school, I entered a different world. No bells rang to begin and end periods. No hallway passes required; to go to the bathroom during class, students simply left the classroom without asking permission. In the hallways no adult ever asked, "Where do you belong?"

Where was I? In college?  Continue reading...

Once again award-winning writer and educator Bob Greenman takes us on a journey through words selected from More Words That Make a Difference, a delightful book illustrating word usage with passages from the Atlantic Monthly.  Continue reading...

Once again award-winning writer and educator Bob Greenman takes us on a journey through words selected from More Words That Make a Difference, a delightful book illustrating word usage with passages from the Atlantic Monthly.  Continue reading...

One of the qualities of New York Times writing is that it not only informs clearly (almost all the time), concisely (almost all the time), and gracefully (almost all the time) — but that it delights. On almost every page, well-turned phrases, alliterations, similes and word play amuse and delight readers. My favorite Times verbal delight, though, is the headline that contains an allusion to a song.  Continue reading...