What do these three words mean:  taunt, attest, wail?

Read these three sentnences.  Do you need to revise your predictions?

1) “Your dress is the ugliest one at the dance,” taunted Allison.

2) “There’s the killer!” the witness attested as she pointed to the defendant.

3) “Give me back my toy!” the two-year-old wailed.

What do these three words have in common?  That’s right!  They are all synonyms for “said.”  These are the synonyms for said I found in the first chapter of Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney:  told, cried, went on, demanded, asked, admitted, explained, pointed out, agreed.  What words for said do you find in the book you are reading? 

Reflect on these questions.  Post your thoughts in a new post on your blog.  Title the blog post “Says Who.”  For bonus points, look in the book you are currently reading and list the words for said you find in one chapter.

Why not just use the word said only?  Why do authors use different words for said?  How  do we, as young writers, learn variations of words like said?  How do we learn variations of other words that will strengthen our writing?  Why is it important to develop broader vocabularies?  How does reading help us to become better writers?