10:2 Lexicon

When and Where I Found It:  While I was doing research for my strategies due for the project this week, I came across the word "lexicon".  It was in the article Playful Textbook Previews:  Letting go of Familiar Mustache Monologues by Karen Garber-Miller.  Garber-Miller (2007) discusses everything that she was planning on using a certain textbook for, including "[to] introduce the grade-level lexicon of literary terminology" (p. 284).

Garber-MIller, Karen. (2007). Playful textbook previews: letting go of familiar mustache monologues. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 50(4), 284-288.

Meaning:  From this usage of the word "lexicon", I would predict that it indicates a large number of something, however I think that it has something to do with the alphabet from what I have read in the past.  According to Webster's online dictionary, the word lexicon means "a book containing an alphabetical arrangement of the words in a language and their definitions: dictionary".  Although my predicted definition would have fit based on the context of the above sentence, the accurate definition lends much more meaning to the sentence!

As found in:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lexicon

Level of Familiarity:  I have seen the word lexicon before and had a vague idea that it had something to do with alphabetizing.  I did not know the full implications of the word lexicon, and would not have used it in my own writing.  At this point I am beginning to understand the word more, but will pay close attention to how author's use it in context as I am reading more literature.

Do I Want to Know This Word Well?  Why?  I would like to know the word "lexicon" well.  As I am looking at becoming a literacy specialist, being able to refer to a lexicon of terminologies or words could be useful.  When I read or write reports on students that refer to standardized testing, this word may be included.  Language that refers to skills we want our students to have - looking up terms in a math glossary (a lexicon also) seems to me to be language that I should know as a teacher!

Do I Want Others to Know this Word Well?  Who and Why?  Teachers, especially those who teach literacy, should know this word.  As I stated earlier, they may come across it in a report and need to know what it is referring to.  Teachers may even have to create a lexicon of their own - in that case, teach the word to your students!