The Professor and the Madman

Reading about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary was interesting. The struggles both James Murray and and Dr. William Chester Minor had throughout this story show their relationship through the text. It is amazing to think that Minor sent definitions for the dictionary. The creation of words is an interesting study. I can see how this novel relates to our final project of slang words because students essentially make up words and definitions through slang. As a project, students could create their own dictionary of slang and use in their writing. The students would have to turn in their dictionary for the teacher to reference what the word means. If a teacher needed to teach students how to read the dictionary and how to use it as a reference, this could be a fun activity. I found a video of Simon Winchester discussing The Professor and the Madman. As interesting as I found this book, I am having a hard time relating it to teaching. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!