Jamie McKenzie on the right words

Our capacity to grasp complex ideas or deep concepts is tied in part to the shades and distinctions supported by our vocabularies. As we add new words to our collection, we can appreciate the difference between enchantment and charm, delight, capture and fraud.
If our brains are filled with simple word lists, we are likely to see things in simple terms and respond eagerly to those who give us simple answers to complex problems.

The above comes from a piece at Visual Thesaurus. To read more, click the above hyperlinked text.

The importance of writing across the curriculum

Why should students engage in writing activities in every class? An important answer to that question is that student writing, in any classroom, is a window into how students think about the concepts they are learning. Writing assignments make terrific formative assessments. Something as simple as an exit pass, a few sentences written on index cards summarizing the day's lesson, allows teachers to gauge the level of concept mastery students have attained. Written products, whether simple or complex, reveal the extent of a learner's understanding and are a window through which the writer's thinking processes can be viewed. For this reason alone, writing activities are essential learning experiences and should be a part of every teacher's routine practice.(from the Teachers At Work column at Visual Thesaurus)

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