Grade 9-10: Vocabulary Lesson for Thursday, Week 11

Word List 11

1. malady: a disease, a disorder, or an ailment; an unwholesome condition
2. mediocre: moderate to inferior in quality; ordinary
3. overt: open and observable; not hidden, concealed, or secret; of, relating to, or being military or intelligence operations sanctioned or mandated by Congress
4. paltry: lacking in importance or worth
5. pompous: characterized by excessive self-esteem or exaggerated dignity; pretentious; full of high-sounding phrases; bombastic
6. precedent: an act or instance that may be used as an example in dealing with subsequent similar instances; a judicial decision that may be used as a standard in subsequent similar cases
7. precocious: manifesting or characterized by unusually early development or maturity, especially in mental aptitude

Thursday Activities

1. Mind Mapping - On a piece of paper, or on the computer in Word, draw a circle and write the vocabulary word inside the circle. Think of words that mean the same thing and put those in circles around the outside of the word drawing a line to connect the synonyms. You can find ideas for making word maps on the Internet by clicking on the link.
2. Create a word cloud with this tool. Type in each vocabulary word. Also type in some synonyms and antonyms of each word. When you are finished, click "Go." See if you can match up the vocabulary word with its synonyms and antonyms.
3. Mind Games - Create a mind map with words that mean the opposite or antonyms. Use the thesaurus built into your word program to find more words that are antonyms. Or you can go to this on-line thesaurus. Click on the button in front of Thesaurus at the top of the page, then type your word into the white area.

Other Help

If you need more information on your words, click on the link to use a on-line dictionary.

Use the daily activities to help you remember words that you learn each week. It is much easier to remember what the words mean if you do something with them and use them frequently in talking with your parents, family and friends.

Sample sentences:

A strange malady seemed to have overtaken the entire compound.
"The malady may have many causes," the forensic scientist informed us, "We must begin testing immediately.^

After the game our star quarterback apologized to the fans for his mediocre performance that day.
"Mediocre at best," is how the coach characterized his team's performance after the loss.

We wanted to conduct a covert operation but our lieutenant insisted that all our actions should be overt, he wanted nothing hidden.
"I can't point to any overt act," the mayoral candidate told his chief aide, "but I feel like you are undermining my election attempt.^

At the end of the day we pooled our money and then frowned at the paltry pile of coins on the table.
For a paltry cum of thirty coins the disciple turned informant against his leader.

None of us had respect for the corporal; a pompous little man who strutted like he was Napoleon.
"You pompous fool!" the captain screamed at his first mate, "You have turned right into the path of the torpedo.^

"I'm sorry," apologized the District Attorney regretfully, "I can find absolutely no precedent for what you propose.^
Not realizing that he was setting a dangerous precedent, the teacher allowed both boys to skip school without r4eporting them.

The precocious child easily switched from one language to another as he sat in the middle of the tribal council.
Expecting precocious little darlings, the kindergarten teacher was dismayed to be facing a class of thoroughly ordinary children.

 
 

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