9:2 Scintillating

Where & When: I found this word from the book, Absolutely True Diary, I am reading with my 7th grader. I made it one of his vocabulary words this week.

"I'm planning on heading back to the classroom for more scintillating lessons from the history teacher. But then I hear that noise again" (Alexie, 2007, p 106)

Alexie, S. (2007). Absolutely true dairy of a part-time indian. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.

Definition: Scintillating: brilliantly lively, stimulating, or witty

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scintillating 

In Context: The boy, who loved physics, dreamed he had a scintillating conversation with Einstein about the meaning of life.

Level of Familiarity: I do not recall hearing this word before reading this book. I read thr book in one of my undergraduatute classes as well as at the school I worked at last year, but I do not rememeber the word standing out.

Reflective Commentary: I picked this word this week because I was unfamiliar with the word. Since I was having my 7th grader learn the word, I decided I should know what it meant too. Overall I like the word. It is an interesting word that kind of matches its definition. The word reminds me of the word skin and how your skin reacts when you are excited or stimulated. Based on the context of the paragraph the sentence was in, I could have easily used context clues to figure it out. Based on the actually sentence it is in, it would be hard to use context clues. Junior, who said this, is using sarcasm as his teacher is rather boring and monotonous. Looking at the sentence above, you would not be able to get the sarcasm Junior was using. I think this is a good word to know as it a great word to use instead of excited or witty.

9:1 cognizant

Where & When: I found the word cognizant when I was reading an article on Yahoo.

"Duryea's neighbors are 'very cognizant of the fact' he wants to respect their privacy, and explains 'they've been extremely tolerant and gracious because it's for charity" (Murphy, 2012)


Murphy, E. Top 7 outrageous Halloween houses. (2012). http://gma.yahoo.com/top-7-outrageous-halloween-houses-214835771--abc-news-house-and-home.html


Definition:  knowledgeable of something especially through personal experience


http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognizant

In Context: The man was very cognizant of his neighbor's pain while suffering from the bird flu.

Level of Familiarity: Before I looked up the word, I did not think I was familiar with it. After looking it up, I believe I had heard this word before. I have heard the word from my graduate classes.

Reflective Commentary: Before I looked up for the definition I had a different meaning of the word in my head. I was saying the word in my head wrong so I did not think I had heard it before. I think that is because it is spelled with the letter z and I did not realize it was spelled with a z. I thought it was spelled with a letter g. This is just a good example of how we say things in our head that turn out to be way different than they actually are. For example, I thought Professor Snape from Harry Potter was called Professor Snap, not Snape. After believing that's how it was actually said for about two years, I one day said it aloud to my brother, who in turn made fun of me. I do think it would be a good term to know, especially since it relates to our program. Instead of saying 'aware' or 'know,' cognizant can easily replace them.

8:3 pantomiming

Where & When: I found the word, pantomiming, when I was reading an article from The New York Times with my 9th graders.

"Bonnie Ousley found Greg lying on his stomach, refusing to speak or even look at her. She sat on the edge of the bed and began stroking his back. In the telling, Greg slid into present tense, pantomiming his mother’s caress. 'And she keeps saying: ‘What’s wrong, honey? What’s going on with you? Talk to me. Just talk to me’' ” (Anderson, 2012).

Anderson, S. (2012, July 19). Greg ousley is sorry for killing his parents. is that enough?. The new york times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/magazine/greg-ousley-is-sorry-for-killing-his-parents-is-that-enough.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Definition: Communication by means of gesture and facial expression.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pantomiming

In Context: When the actor felt that words could no longer express the words he wanted to say, he started pantomiming the story.

Level Familiarity: As far as I know, I have never heard this word before.

Reflective Commentary: I decided to define this word for one of my words this week because I had never heard it before and because I was unsure of its meaning after using context clues. Based on the word in the sentence from the article, I can kind of see how it means communication by facial expression and gesture. Now that I look back and reflect on the sentence from the article, it does make sense in the context. But I do wonder if he was pantomiming his mother's caress on himself or the interviewer? I suppose this is a good word to know. Instead of saying that he was communicating by facial expression, you could simply say pantomiming. The only problem is that I don't know if a lot of people would know it's meaning and thus could get confused. But if they know how to break down the word to understand its meaning, you can see the word mime in it. Mimes do not speak and communicate by hands or facial expressions. So if you are able to interpret that from the word, it would be easy enough to understand.

 

8:2 Corpulent

Where & When: I found the words corpulent and jaundice when I was reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower Tuesday night.

"He also said I should use the vocabulary words that I learn in class like 'corpulent' and jaundice.' I would use them here, but I really don't think they are really appropriate in this format" (Chbosky, 1999, p.14)

Chbosky, S. (1999). The perks of being a wallflower. New York City: MTV Books.

Definition:
Corpulent: large or bulky of body; portly; stout; fat.
Taken from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/corpulent

In context: After eating McDonald's every day for a year, the boy was rather corpulent and had to be rolled to school.

Level of Familiarity: I thought I had heard of this word before. It sounds familiar but the definition does not match what I thought it was.

Reflective Commentary: Previously I always assumed the word meant something along the lines of dealing with the penal system. I cannot exactly write out what I had thought it meant but I assumed it related to being bad or being punished. I curious what the words meant because they were words that should be known by 9th graders, at least the kids in the book. Ordinarily I would not struggle with not knowing two words in the same sentence. But in this case, the narrator, Charlie, did not provide
any context clues to go with the words. He was merely stating two words his English teacher wanted him to use in everyday context. This is what most of us want as teachers; to have students became familiar enough with the words to use them in every day sentences. I think everyone should know this word because if you want to insult someone by calling them fat, you can call them corpulent instead since they probably will not know what it means. But in all seriousness it is a great word to know instead of just saying fat or large.

8:1 disingenuous

Where & When: While reading a Times article with my 9th graders, I stumbled upon the word disingenuous. The article is titled "Should the Law Treat Kids and Adults Differently?"

"Or are there other factors? Defense attorneys might offer a different argument: Since the bulk of the drop-off in juvenile crime predates most states' embrace of harsher penalties for young offenders, it is disingenuous to assume any connection between the two."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,110232,00.html#ixzz29Ttlufmy

Definition: lacking in candor; also : giving a false appearance of simple frankness : calculating

In other other words (what I told my students) it means not truly honest or sincere.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disingenuous

In Context: While playing poker, the girl was disingenuous when she told the players she was terrible at playing poker.

Level of Familiarity: I do not recall knowing the definition of this word. I believe I have heard the word before, but never sought out to learn it's meaning.

Reflective Commentary: I picked this word for a few reasons. If I am unsure of a word and I am using it for a lesson, I think it's important to know the word. Usually I can figure out its meaning using context clues, and save myself the trip to the computer. I had my 9th graders think of questions they asked themselves when I read the article to them. To get them started I gave them question prompts, such as asking what a word meant; I used the word disingenuous as an example. I think this is a great word to know as its synonyms are common words (insincere - false - devious - hollow-hearted).

7:2 caucuses

Where & When: I found the word caucuses  from the website I am using for part of my annotated text set.

"These factors will help determine the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the candidates in the months leading up to the caucuses and primaries."

http://bensguide.gpo.gov/9-12/election/primary.html

Definition: a closed meeting of a group of persons belonging to the same political party or faction usually to select candidates or to decide on policy; also : a group of people united to promote an agreed-upon cause 

Taken from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caucuses

In Context: Before the election, the members of the Democratic party met for their first caucus in order to decide their campaign approach.

Level of Familiarity: I have heard this word before. I am sure at one point I knew what it meant since I took AP Government in high school. Since I never really paid too much attention to the election process until recently, I have forgotten what it meant.

Reflective Commentary: I decided this word was important to know for several reasons. First because the election is coming up and I should know what caucus means. Whenever I hear/see it, I think of carcasses. Which we know has no relation and is rather morbid. Secondly if I am doing the election process for my group project, I should know what this word means. If I am going to teach students this, whether it is my peers or imaginary students, I should know the material.

7:1 integrity

Where & When: I was watching Jersey Shore (please no judgement) and the word integrity was mentioned.

to quote Deena: "Integrity means like shame. Like, ‘I got a lot of shame, I got a lot of integrity.'"

Definition: Deena was incorrect about this word. It means the opposite.

"The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness."
*taken from the Google definition

In Context: The young adolescent, who attended church every Sunday, was deemed to have more integrity than the adolescents who stayed home and listened to rock n' roll.

Level of Familiarity:I have heard this word all the time as well as use the word quite frequently. Deena on the other hand, apparently does not. At least correctly.

Reflective Commentary: To explain why I was watching Jersey Shore: The debate was on so nothing else was on at 9. For anybody who happens to catch part of the show, there are many many words we could look up and define. This particular word caught my attention because Deena was using it wrong. While I use the word and hear it all the time, I do not know the actual definition. I know the general meaning of the word but was unsure of its exact meaning. Unlike Deena, I know that it has nothing to do with having a lot of shame. I do not remember if they said the actual definition of it on TV, but I hope all the impressionable youths watching the show realize integrity does not mean shame. 


The moment where Deena learned the real meaning of a word

6:2 clavicle

Where & When: I found the word clavicle when I was reading a news article from Yahoo.

"During a report on FOX's pregame show, Glazer explained that Amendola dislocated his clavicle, which actually popped in and could have threatened Amendola's trachea and aorta. The Rams' medical staff acted quickly, putting Amendola to sleep before popping the clavicle back into place and making sure it could not dislodge again."

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/danny-amendola-injury-could-life-threatening-173715914--nfl.html


Definition: According to http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/clavicle, clavicle is defined as "either of two slender bones, each articulating with the sternum and a scapula and forming the anterior part of a shoulder; collarbone."

In simple terms, the clavicle is just a synonym for collarbone. 

In context: While the boy was running, he tripped over his neighbor's dog and landed on his shoulder. This resulted in him breaking his clavicle.

Level of Familiarity: I do not believe I have heard of the term clavicle before, however; I have heard of collarbone before. I am sure though if I have heard it, I skimmed over it just assuming is was some type of bone.

Reflective Commentary: I wonder why they used the term clavicle instead of collarbone in the article. Perhaps using clavicle made the injury appear to be more serious. Generally if I read about an injury and it uses a word I do not know, I assume it is a serious injury. After reading the article it is easy to see that it was a serious injury. The medics had to put the poor guy to sleep in order to fix the injury. It must have been very painful if they had to put him to sleep first. I used to dislodge my arm from the shoulder socket quite frequently when I was younger. I was too young to remember but my parents told me it was not pleasant. Especially when my doctor taught my parents how to do to avoid the frequent trips to the doctor's office. I doubt my dad enjoy popping my arm back in as much as I did. My brother actually broke his clavicle a few years ago during a bicycle accident. A man opened up his car door in front of my brother who in turn crashed into the door and went through the car window. This was a long and painful recovery for my brother, who would not have survived if it wasn't for his helmet or the fact that the car was a convertible (no metal door frame around the window). 

Based on my own background knowledge of dislocations and broke collarbones, I determine this to be a serious and painful injury. The player is lucky to have not broken it or have it puncture his trachea. This would have resulted in being out the rest of the season or worse, death. This word would be useful to know since it is a synonym for collarbone.

6:1 fracking

 Where & When: The word fracking has appeared frequently in my news articles that pop up on my home page. After seeing this article, I have decided it's time to investigate.

During hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," millions of gallons of high-pressure, chemical-laden water are pumped into an underground geologic formation (the Barnett Shale, in the case of northern Texas) to free up oil. But once fractures have been opened up in the rock and the water pressure is allowed to abate, internal pressure from the rock causes fracking fluids to rise back to the surface, becoming what the natural gas industry calls "flowback," according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Definition: The word is defined in context. Fracking means hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is when millions millions of gallons of high-pressure, chemical-laden water are pumped into an underground geologic formation to free up oil. 

In Context: To help solve problems with the oil crisis, the crew flew to Alaska to do some fracking  in the lands of the wild.

Level of Familiarity: I have see the word plenty of times before. It always pops up on Yahoo news in news titles. But that is the extent to my exposure to the word.

Reflective Commentary: This word has haunted me for a long time. I always see it and wonder, what does fracking mean? For a while I thought it had to do with the government. Clearly I was wrong. The word interests me because it keeps showing up as a misspelled word. Word check thinks I mean 'racking' or 'tracking.' This leads me to believe it is a newer term and has not reach popularity or complete acceptance yet. I know Wikipedia is a unreliable source but my options to learning the origin of the term were small. And Wikipedia does a wonderful job of simplifying concepts for me. From Wikipedia I learned that fracking was first used in 1947. This brings me to wonder why it shows up as a misspelling still, and 50+ years. Interestingly the concept of fracking dates back to the 1860's. According to Wikipedia, "fracturing as a method to stimulate shallow, hard rock oil wells dates back to the 1860s." In other words this concept existed for 150+ years. Why is still showing up as a misspelling? Now this word greatly interested me because of the circumstance of why I had so many lines on the page. Should we know this? Maybe. If you want to use a big word when discussing hydraulic fracturing. But the odds of that happening are not very slim. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fracking