Monotonous

Destitute

remunerate

Periods 4 & 8 Word of the Week - scleroderma

This week, both period 4 and period 8 voted for scleroderma to be our word of the week.  This medical term means, "a group of rare diseases involving the hardening and tightening of the skin and connective tissue."

Our sentences to show our understanding of the word scleroderma are:
1. Susy has scleroderma in her hand, which hinders her ability to write.
2. Miley had scleroderma, so, thankfully, she could not twerk.

Period 6 Word of the Week - sonorous

This week, period 6 selected sonorous as our word of the week.  We were able to guess that the word sonorous has something to do with sound because of the root word "sono."  We looked up the dictionary definition, and here is what we found:

Sonorous means, "giving out a deep, resonant sound; loud, deep, or resonant in sound; or rich and full in sound."

Our sentence for this week was: Matthew does not want to sing and share his sonorous voice with the class.

Period 3 Word of the Week - hilarity

Period 3's word of the week is hilarity.  Most students understood that this word has something to do with humor, or, as one student said, "hilariousness."  We decided that enough students know the word that we did not need to look up the dictionary definition.  We said that the definition of this word is "the humor or humorousness" of a joke or situation.  We clarified hilarity is a noun, as opposed to the more common form of the word, hilarious, which is an adjective.

Our sentence to demonstrate our understanding of the word is: The hilarity of Lorenzo's fall made the whole class laugh.

Tenacious

Periods 4, 6, and 8 Word of the Week: botched

Periods 4, 6, and 8 voted for botched to be our word of the week.  The word botch, of which botched is the past tense, has several meanings:

1. to do or say in a bungling manner
2. to spoil by poor work
3. to mend or patch in a clumsy manner

Here are some of the sentences we created to demonstrate our understanding of botched:

1. Billy Cundiff botched the field goal to eliminate the Ravens from the playoffs.
2. Kriss distracted Lexi from her art project with all his compliments, so she botched it.
3. I botched the test; I got a 0.

Period 3 Word of the Week: caryatid

This week, period 3 selected caryatid as our word of the week.  A caryatid is a sculptured female figure used as a column (i.e. a column shaped like a lady).  We made up the following sentence to demonstrate our understanding of the word:

I went to Greece and saw a caryatid that resembled my mother.

Translucent

The Glass Castle Map

Follow this link to explore the many locations in the southwestern U.S. where Jeannette Walls and her family lived before moving to Welch, West Virginia.

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=212487313279371181520.0004b6eb3dd4b103f53f7&msa=0

All Classes - Word of the Week: exacerbate

This week, all of Ms. Bourque's English classes selected exacerbate as the word of the week.  Exacerbate means, "to increase the severity, bitterness, or violence of, to aggravate" or, "to embitter the feelings of, irritate, exasperate."  Here are some of the sentences we created to demonstrate our understanding of the word:

1. My mom knew the truth about me skipping class, so my lie only exacerbated the situation.
2. Jerome was in an argument with the police when he exacerbated the situation by pulling a gun.
3. Mayowa had a bad sunburn, and Sam exacerbated the pain when she smacked him.

Period 6 Word of the Week - facade

This week, period 6 selected facade as our word of the week.  Facade means:

1. the front of a building, especially an imposing or decorative one;
2. a superficial appearance or illusion of something.

We wrote the following sentence to demonstrate our understanding of the word facade:

Bob put up a facade of happiness, but he was actually depressed.

Period 3 Word of the Week - enigma

This week period 3 chose enigma as our word of the week.  An enigma is:

1. a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation;
2. a person of puzzling or contradictory character;
3. a saying, question, or picture containing a hidden meaning; a riddle.

Our sentence that correctly uses the word enigma is:

All the windows in the house suddenly opened; it was a frightening enigma!

Periods 4 & 8 Word of the Week - pulchritudinous

This week, periods 4 and 8 voted, and pulchritudinous was the winner of our "word of the week" contest!  We looked up the word and discovered that it means "physically beautiful."

Each class created a sentence or two to reflect our understanding of the word:

1. All the ladies in this class are pulchritudinous.
2. The celebrity was pulchritudinous, but her inner beauty left much to be desired.
3. He felt his girlfriend was very pulchritudinous.

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

Zygomatic

Euphemism

Periods 3 & 4 Word of the Week - subordinate

This week, periods 3 and 4 selected subordinate as our word of the week.  Subordinate means:

1. placed in or belonging to a lower order or rank;
2. of less importance, secondary;
3. subject to or under the authority of a superior;
4. subservient or inferior;
5. subject; dependent.

The sentences we created to demonstrate our understanding of the word subordinate were:

1. The subordinate clause, in English, is a dependent clause.
2. GHS may be subordinate to QO in rank, but tonight we will show QO how subordinate they are.

Periods 6 & 8 Word of the Week - infusion

This week, periods 6 and 8 selected infusion as our word of the week.  In order to understand the definition of infusion, we had to look it up, and, in addition, we had to look up its root word: infuse.  Here are the definitions we found:

infusion:
1. the act or process of infusing;
2. something infused.

infuse:
1. to introduce as if by pouring;
2. to imbue or inspire

The sentences we created to show our understanding of infusion were:

1. Each year a class of new freshmen is infused into GHS.
2. The gunshot victim lost too much blood and needed an infusion of new blood.

repugnant

revengeance

All Classes - Word of the Week: myopic

This week, all four of Ms. B's English classes selected myopic as our word of the week.  Myopic has several meanings:

1.  Opthmalogically, it means nearsighted (only able to see things that are close by);
2.  Figuratively, it means unable or unwilling to act prudently;
3.  Figuratively, it also means narrow-minded.

The sentences we created to demonstrate our understanding of the word myopic are:

1. Infants are myopic when they are very young.  (definition 1)
2. My parents were myopic; they did not see the good points in that out-of-state college. (definition 3)
3. The government acted myopically when tapping our phones. (definition 2)
4. I am myopic without my contacts. (definition 1)
5. His myopic personality will be his downfall because he will never make a plan and stick to it. (definition 2)
6. The racist man was myopic to the pain he inflicted on others. (definitions 2/3)

Periods 4 & 8 Word of the Week: modicum

Period 4 and period 8 both chose modicum as our word of the week.  We looked up modicum and discovered that it means "a moderate or small amount."

Here are the sentences that we made up to show our understanding of the word:

1. I can't buy new shoes with the modicum of money that I have.
2. I only have a modicum of money, so I cannot buy what I want.
3. The bags of chips in the vending machine only give you a modicum of chips.

Period 6 Word of the Week: smite

This week, period 6 selected smite as our word of the week.  Dictionary.com tells us that smite has a number of meanings.  The two most common are:

1. To strike or hit hard, as with a hand, stick, or other weapon;
2. To strike down, injure, or slay.

We created the following sentence to demonstrate our understanding of the word smite:

If you don't leave me alone I will smite you!

Period 3 Word of the Week: moot

This week, period 3 selected moot as our word of the week.  When we looked up the word, we discovered that moot has a number of definitions.  The most commonly-used meanings are:

1. Open to discussion or debate
2. Of little or no value

We created the following sentences using definition #2:

1. Crayons are moot in high school.
2. Eight-track tapes are now moot to music listeners.

Period 8 Word of the Week: syzygy

This week, period 8 selected syzygy as their word of the week. We learned that a syzygy is an alignment of three celestial bodies (for example, the earth, moon, and sun), or, it can be an alignment of two related things, either alike or different, but that have something in common.

Coincidentally, syzygy was the first word spelled in last year's school musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

The sentence we created for syzygy was:

The twin sisters are in syzygy.

Period 3 Word of the Week: tub-thumper

Period three selected tub-thumper as its word of the week this week.  A tub-thumper is "a vociferous supporter or promoter (of a cause)."

The sentence we wrote to illustrate our understanding of the word was, "I am tired of the tub-thumpers handing out flyers during election week."

Periods 4 and 6 Word of the Week: gallimaufry

This week, both period 4 and period 6 chose gallimaufry as their word of the week.  A gallimaufry is a hodgepodge or mixture of unrelated items.  It is also a type of stew or hash sometimes made in France.

The sentences we wrote for gallimaufry included:

1. This school is a gallimaufry of races, ethnic groups, and personalities; there is a mixture of many different kinds of students.

2. My bookbag contains a gallimaufry of items by the end of the year: pens, pencils, headphones, old papers, snacks, and many other odds and ends.

Period 4 Word of the Week: mulatto

This week, period 4 selected mulatto as its word of the week.  Many students knew the meaning already, but we looked up the word to make sure we had a clear definition.  Mulatto means "the offspring of one white parent and one black parent."  It was a term used during and after slavery to describe the skin tone of people of African descent and to segregate people into groups. 

Our class came up with a sentence illustrating the definition of mulatto:  In A Lesson Before Dying, Grant's girlfriend, Vivian, is a mulatto; she has one black parent and one white parent."

Periods 3, 6, & 8 Word of the Week: bumbershoot

This week, periods 3, 6, and 8 selected bumbershoot as their word of the week.  When we looked up the word, we found that it is another name for an umbrella.  We theorized that perhaps it is a slang word from another country, perhaps England, since none of us had heard the word before outside of movies set in Britain.

Each class wrote a sentence using the word bumbershoot:

1. Yes, it was a fine day for a bumbershoot because it was raining cats and dogs.
2. I didn't have my bumbershoot today, so I got wet.
3. My mum told me to bring a bumbershoot because it was raining.

Pervade

Corrugated

Moot

Penitentiary

Modicum

Periods 3, 4, & 6 Word of the Week: hemopneumothorax

On September 6, Periods 3, 4, and 6 selected hemopneumothorax as their word of the week.  When we looked up hemopneumothorax, we discovered that it means, "the accumulation of air and blood in the pleural cavity."

We decided that we also needed to look up the definition of the "pleural cavity" to make sure we understood our word of the week correctly.  The pleural cavity is the chest cavity containing the lungs.  

Once we understood hemopneumothorax, we made up the following sentences to illustrate our understanding:

1. My dad had a bad cough; he was diagnosed with hemopneumothorax.
2. My grandfather had difficulty breathing; he suffered from hemopneumothorax.
3. The patient appears to suffer from hemopneumothorax; he has blood running from his nose and he is struggling to breathe.

Period 8 Word of the Week: Cajun

On September 6, period 8 chose Cajun as our word of the week.

We used Wikipedia to find our definition of Cajun because it is a word that is commonly understood, and the dictionary might not have as much information as an encyclopedic website.

We discovered that Cajuns are "an ethnic group living mainly in Louisiana, descended from French and African immigrants to the U.S."

We then wrote a sentence about Cajuns:

The Cajuns are most dominant in Louisiana.

Auspacious

Auspacious

jimsonweeds

jimsonweeds

Sequestration

amalgamate

misogynistic

xenograft

encephalitis

chauvinist

orthostasis

vertiginous

enema

duodectomy

chordotomy

Heinus

Meander

Welcome, class of 2015!

We are so excited to explore our new building and learn along with all of you by starting to use our vocabulary blog this school year.

As you read, watch TV, listen to music, travel, work, and use the internet, we hope you will keep track of unfamiliar words and post them here on our blog.  Each week our class will vote on a "word of the week" that we will study and practice.  That will help us all incorporate the new word into our vocabulary.

Periodically, you will be quizzed on the words we've studied in class to see how well you're paying attention.  Our quizzes will help you figure out how many new words you've learned.  You might just impress yourself...
 
Oh, and by the way, GO TROJANS!

Baby Bourque has arrived!

My dear, wonderful English 11 students:

I miss you all very much, and I'm proud to see you moving on to be GHS seniors.  I'm looking forward to attending the class of 2014 graduation next spring and seeing you in the fall.

Here's the announcement some of you have been waiting for:

Aurora Amélie Bourque (a.k.a. Rory) was born on Monday, June 17 at 1:14 p.m.

She weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces at birth and was 19.5 inches long (tall).

We returned from the hospital yesterday and now we're figuring out our new routine at home.

Hope you all have a wonderful summer and come back refreshed and ready for another school year.

Solace

Scrupulous

Periods 1, 4, & 6 Word of the Week: Preternaturally

This week, periods 1, 4, and 6 selected preternaturally as the word of the week.  We looked up the definition and discovered that preternaturally means "out of the ordinary course of nature; exceptional or abnormal."

We also discussed that the word preternaturally is an adverb, which describes an action or state of being verb.  In this case, it typically describes state of being verbs.  If we want to use the word as an adjective, we need to change it to preternatural.

We then made up sentences to describe some preternatural occurrences:

1. The snow in July is preternaturally strange.
2. It was preternaturally unusual to witness cats and dogs raining from the sky.
3. It was preternaturally strange to see a polar bear in the desert.

Period 3 Word of the Week: Lecherous

This week, period 3 selected lecherous as our word of the week.  This word has applied quite well to some of the literary characters we have studied this year, so students were able to give lots of good examples of people who demonstrate lecherous behavior, once we looked up the word.

Lecherous means "having or showing excessive or offensive sexual desire." 

Some of our examples of lecherous characters from literature included Abigail Williams from The Crucible, Troy Maxson and his father from Fences, and Malcolm from Macbeth, who fibbed about being a lecherous man.

Our sentences to demonstrate the meaning of the word lecherous were:

1. Zeus was a lecherous god; he had many illegitimate children.
2. Malcolm lied about being a lecherous man to test Macduff's loyalty.

All Classes - Word of the Week: obsequious

This week, every class chose obsequious as the word of the week!

We looked up the definition of obsequious and discovered that it means:

"obedient, or attentive to an excessive or servile degree."

We discussed the characteristics of an obsequious person and decided that the classroom example of this adjective is the teacher's pet.

Here are the sentences we created to show our understanding of obsequiousness:

1. The obsequious butler happily served his arrogant employer.
2. The obsequious teacher's pet was constantly bringing brownies to her favorite teacher.
3. The obsequious servant annoyed the master because he wanted to help with everything.
4. The obsequious intern did everything he was told to do and constantly asked his boss for more tasks (in a high-pitched voice).

Period 4 Word of the Week: legerdemain

Students in period 4 voted for legerdemain as this week's word of the week.  When we looked up the word, we discovered that legerdemain means "skillful use of hands while performing tricks."

We had a difficult time creating sentences to convey the meaning of this rare word, but here's what we came up with:

The magician's hands showed great legerdemain while he was performing the card trick.

Period 1 Word of the Week: fallacious

Students in period 1 voted for fallacious as this week's word of the week.  We looked it up, and we discovered that fallacious means "erroneous, tending to deceive or mislead."

We then wrote sentences to convey the meaning of fallacious:

1. Hitler was a fallacious dictator.
2. Cigarette ads give the fallacious impression that it is cool to smoke.

Periods 3 & 6 Word of the Week: loquacious

This week, students in periods 3 and 6 chose loquacious as our word of the week.  The word loquacious means "talkative" or "uses lots of words."  Students in both classes came up with sentences to demonstrate the meaning of loquacious:

1. Janessa is loquacious; she never stops talking.
2. The loquacious girl was giving me a headache with all her talking.
3. The loquacious teacher explained the problem for the entire class period.
4. When I skipped school, my mom lectured me loquaciously.

expropriated

arbitrary

flagellate

Periods 1 & 4 Word of the Week: Pragmatic

Both 4th period and 1st period chose pragmatic as the word of the week.  When we looked up the word pragmatic, we discovered that it means, "dealing with things sensibly and realistically," or "practical."

Both classes discussed the kinds of people who need to think pragmatically and then made up sentences to demonstrate our understanding:

1. The Boston police were pragmatic about giving information to the public; they wanted to keep their witnesses safe.

2. The pragmatic doctor carefully marked the patient's body before making surgical incisions.

Period 6 Word of the Week: Duplicitous

This week, period 6 chose the word duplicitous as our word of the week.  When we used a cell phone to look up the word, we learned that it means "deceitful."

We decided that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both very deceitful characters, and we made up a sentence to reflect our thoughts:

Lady Macbeth's behavior toward King Duncan is duplicitous; she puts on a fake personality to deceive him. 

Period 3 Word of the Week: Vacuous

Period 3 voted for vacuous as our word of the week.  We looked up vacuous and discovered that it means "mindless," or "showing a lack of intelligence."

The sentence we devised to reflect our understanding was:

The bride on My Big Redneck Wedding vacuously left the address off the wedding invitations. 

All Classes: Word of the Week - Tortuously

On April 5, all classes selected tortuously as their word of the week.  What a coincidence!  When we looked up the word tortuously, we learned that it means "with twists and turns." It is an adverb, which means it is used to describe an action (verb).  If we want to make it an adjective, we can remove the -ly suffix to create the word tortuous.

Here are the sentences our classes created using the word tortuously:

1. The snake slid tortuously across the field.
2. The rollercoaster train turned tortuously through the loops.
3. Gymnasts tumble tortuously on the mat.
4. Inflatable Cletus flails tortuously.

All Classes - Word of the Week: Contemptuous

This week, all of Ms. B's English classes had contemptuous as our word of the week because it was the only word posted!

We looked up contemptuous and found that it means "showing or expressing contempt or disdain."  

In order to understand this definition, we had to understand the word contempt, so we discussed that to have contempt for something is to have a strong dislike or hatred for it.

Next, we clarified the difference between the words "content" and "contempt."

Finally, we wrote sentences to demonstrate our understanding of the word contemptuous:

1. The students at the school were contemptuous of having to wake up so early.
2. Many people have contemptuous feelings about racism but don't do anything about it.
3. The man felt so contemptuously about traffic that he ran a red light and swerved past several cars.
4. He felt contemptuously about school.

Period 4 Word of the Week: Pervasive

This week, Period 4 chose pervasive as our word of the week.  To define the word, students used their phones to conduct a Google search, and here is what they found:

Pervasive means "spreading widely throughout an area or group of people."

Next, we wrote a sentence to make the meaning of pervasive clear:

The swine flu was pervasive in 2010, so most people went and got their flu shots. 

Period 3 Word of the Week: Affirm

This week, Period 3 selected affirm as our word of the week.  When we looked up the definition of affirm, we discovered that it means "to state as a fact, strongly and publicly."

We then discussed the word and wrote a sentence to confirm its meaning:

Bob went to a bar, and when a lady hit on him he affirmed that he is married.

Periods 1&6 Word of the Week: Precursor

This week, Periods 1 and 6 selected precursor as their word of the week.  Students searched online for the definition of the word, and they found that precursor means "a person or thing that precedes another of like kind."  We further clarified that to precede means to come before.

Our classes then wrote sentences to help us understand the word precursor:

1. Light rain is a precursor to a thunderstorm.
2. The iPhone 4s is the precursor to the iPhone 5.

Period 3 Word of the Week: Petulant

This week, period 3's English students selected petulant as their word of the week.

Petulant means "showing sudden impatient irritation."

Our class made up two sentences using the word petulant:

1. My sister is petulant when we tell her we are going somewhere.

2. Mom was petulant when I didn't clean my room.

Period 1 Word of the Week: Lagan

This week, students in period 1 chose lagan as their word of the week.

According to www.dictionary.com, lagan means "anything sunk in the sea but attached to a buoy so it can be recovered."

During class, we made up a sentence to demonstrate the meaning of the word:

The mermaid found the lagan, cut the buoy line, and stole it.

Periods 4 & 6 Word of the Week: Venerate

This week, students in periods 4 and 6 chose the word venerate as our word of the week.

Venerate means "to regard or treat with reverence or respect; to revere."

Our classes came up with some sentences using the word venerate:

1. We venerate our parents' decisions.
2. We venerate idols like Martin Luther King, Jr.
3. I venerate my coach.
4. If we don't venerate Chuck Norris, he'll kick us in the face.   

Period 3 Word of the Week: Glean

This week, period 3 chose glean as its "word of the week." 

According to www.dictionary.com, to glean is to gather something bit by bit, with great effort.


Our class created some sentences using the word glean:

By reading the article carefully, he gleaned information.

By working as a handyman, he gleaned enough money to buy a new car.

Periods 1, 4, & 6 Word of the Week: Plethora

This week, periods 1, 4, and 6 chose plethora as their "word of the week."

According to www.dictionary.com, a plethora is "an excess or surplus."


Each of our classes made up some sentences using the word plethora:

There was a plethora of flowers at GHS on Valentine's Day.

There is a plethora of people in my basketball class.

Sam's Club offers a plethora of cookies.

Ms. B has a plethora of homework to grade this weekend.

There was a plethora of food on the dining room table.

Periods 1, 3, & 6 Word of the Week: Ecumenism

Yesterday, periods 1, 3, and 6 chose ecumenism as their word of the week.

We used www.dictionary.com to look up the word ecumenism, and then we had to follow the link to the definition of ecumenical to really understand these terms.  Based on the two definitions we reviewed, here is our classroom definition of ecumenism:

1. general or universal thinking;

2. a philosophy promoting unity among the whole Christian church.

Next, our classes came up with sentences to use ecumenism, or one of its forms, correctly.  We decided to make sentences using the first definition, rather than the second one.  Here are the sentences we devised:

1. Scientists think ecumenically.

2. Scientists are ecumenical thinkers.

3. To make his choice, the judge thought ecumenically.

4. Psychologists solve people's problems using principles of ecumenism.    

Period 4 Word of the Week: Climacteric

This week, period 4 chose climacteric as its word of the week.  We used www.dictionary.com to look up the word, and here is the definition we found:

1. any critical period,

2. a year in which important changes in health, fortune, etc. occur.

There were also some scientific definition of the word climacteric, but we chose to use the more universally-applicable definitions.

We then devised a sentence using the word climacteric:

The teenage years are the most climacteric period in a person's life.