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This chapter sketches out a research base for word play in the classroom based on four principles:(1) Word play is motivating and an important component of the word-rich classroom;(2) word play calls on students to reflect metacognitively on words, word parts, and context;(3) word play requires students to be active learners and capitalizes on possibilities for social construction of meaning; and (4) word play develops domains of word meaning and relatedness as it engages students in practice and rehearsal of words. Each principle is examined in turn, and then exemplars of word play and supporting scaffolding are presented. The chapter concludes with options for web-based word play as well as other resources.

The title of this chapter comes from a teacher participating in staff development on word play who noted,“Well, this puts some of the ‘fun’back in fundamental. Vocabulary instruction can be pretty grim sometimes.” This comment dovetailed with our own experiences in working with reluctant readers in clinics and classrooms where word play proved to be a powerful