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.