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.