Grade 9-10: Vocabulary Lesson for Wednesday, Week 4

Word List 4

1. mentor: a wise and trusted counselor or teacher
2. nemesis: an opponent that can not be overcome or beaten; one that inflicts retribution or vengeance
3. subside: to sink or settle down, as into a sofa; sink to a lower or normal level; sink to the bottom, as a sediment
4. perceptive: marked by discernment and understanding; sensitive; having the ability to perceive
5. procrastinate: to put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness; to postpone or delay needlessly
6. reputable: having a good reputation; honorable
7. subtle: so slight as to be difficult to detect or describe; elusive; characterized by skill or ingenuity; clever

Wednesday Activities

1. Make Mind Maps - Link your vocabulary words to words that you already know. On a piece of paper, or on the computer in Word, draw a circle and write/type 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.
2. 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.
3. Mind Mapping Tool - Go to the website and click on play for instructions. Create a mind map with your vocabulary words. Print it out and put it in your vocabulary notebook.

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:

The school system hired local college students to serve as mentor to students in underperforming schools.
My grandfather, who speaks five languages, has agreed to mentor me during my summer language course.

We were doing great in the tournament until we had to play Main Street High, our long time nemesis.
Every good comic book must include an evil nemesis to make the story interesting.

I decided to wait for my father's anger to subside before I asked him for anything else.
My doctor reassured me that my symptoms would subside in two or three days.

The homicide detective didn't look like much but he was extremely perceptive.
I have stopped trying to lie to my Mother, she's just so perceptive.

I would probably do much better in school if I didn't procrastinate so much.
I plan to stop procrastinating; tomorrow!

After buying a very bad car last year my aunt decided to visit a more reputable dealership this year.
When doing Internet research one should only visit sites which are considered to be reputable.

My father's subtle humor is sometimes misunderstood by my friends.
My algebra teacher tried to give me a subtle hint, but finally she spoke up and warned me to stop cheating.

 
 

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