There is a fabulous kids book called If Wishes Were Horses. There are some great words that are not used very often in the story. I use that book to teach how to figure out the meaning of a word using your schema and the text. It's a super fun book with lots of great vocabulary!
What a great thread! Did anyone here new NPR series Letters of Note. Here's one all about this guy's love of words:
Dear Sir, I like words.
I like fat, buttery words, such as ooze, turpitude, gluttonous, toady.
I like solemn, angular, creaky words, such as straitlaced, cantankerous, precuneus, valedictory.
I like spurious, black-as-white words, such as mortician, liquidate, tonsorial, demimonde.
I like suave V words, such as Svengali, svelte, bravura, verve.
I like crunchy, brittle, crackly words, such as splinter, grapple, jostle, crusty.
I like sullen, crabbed, scowling words, such as skulk, glower, scabby, churl.
I like Oh-Heavens, my-gracious, land's-sake words, such as tricksy, tucker, genteel, horrid.
I like elegant, flowery words, such as estivate, peregrinate, elysium, halcyon.
I like wormy, squirmy, mealy words, such as crawl, blubber, squeal, drip.
I like sniggly, chuckling words, such as cowlick, gurgle, bubble and burp.
I like the word screenwriter better than copywriter, so I decided to quit my job in a New York advertising agency and try my luck in Hollywood, but before taking the plunge I went to Europe for a year of study, contemplation and horsing around. I have just returned and I still like words.