Teaching vocabulary often began as a poorly organized, extensive list of new terms presented to students each week. Students recorded a selected list of words and sought their meanings. With time devoted to study and review of the new terms, students were considered prepared for a test on mastery by the final class session of the week. The following week, students were given another list of terms and the routine repeated. It appeared that little thought was given to the impact of forgetting and the need for review. More important, the concomitant of this instructional strategy designed to increase student word power served an altogether different outcome. To many students, it was a discouraging practice and its negative effects directed students away from a desire to expand their knowledge of words. It is important for school leaders to define the objectives of vocabulary and word knowledge instruction for the entire staff. A concerted effort by each instructor will lead to a unified effort to improve all students' word power. This article presents categories of words that may be introduced to students to expand their word knowledge as well as to pique their interest.