Use your hallways to create a word graveyard.

Teacher Michelle Gowan, from Macon, Georgia, likes to use her entire school as a canvas for learning. (See her "Sensational Sidewalks" in Instructor September 2003). So when Gowan grew tired of seeing the same flat words again and again in her students' writing, she turned to the only empty space left at Sonny Carter Elementary: the hallways. With the help of fellow teachers, parents, and students, she created the "Writer's Rest Memorial Garden," dedicated to burying those boring, worn-out words like "nice," "pretty," and "amazing" six feet under.

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Words to "Rest In Peace"

While students pay their respects to deceased vocabulary, they can check out a list of alternative words to use in their writing.

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To choose the words that needed to be "put to rest," Gowan polled teachers and students alike. "Very" and "amazing" were at the top of the list.

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Gowan notes that the attention-grabbing mural had an immediate, positive effect on her students' first drafts and revisions. In fact, she says, "writing scores at Sonny Carter have skyrocketed!"

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Visitors always admire the mural. Another school was inspired to create a "Sea of Synonyms" with an ocean theme.

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