Grade 9-10: Vocabulary Lesson for Wednesday, Week 15

Word List 15

1. odyssey: an extended adventurous voyage or trip; an intellectual or spiritual quest
2. preclude: to make impossible, as by action taken in advance; prevent; to exclude or prevent (someone) from a given condition or activity
3. prosaic: consisting or characteristic of prose; matter-of-fact; straightforward; lacking in imagination and spirit; dull
4. resourceful: able to act effectively or imaginatively, especially in difficult situations
5. thwart: to prevent the occurrence, realization, or attainment of; to oppose and defeat the efforts, plans, or ambitions of
6. renegade: one who rejects a religion, cause, allegiance, or group for another; a deserter; an outlaw; a rebel
7. virtuoso: A musician with masterly ability, technique, or personal style; a person with masterly skill or technique in the arts

Wednesday Activities

1. 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.
2. Word Scrambler - Click on the link and create your own word scrambler with your vocabulary words. Type in the number of words you wish to scramble and press the "next" buton. You will see a sheet that has the answers for you. Press next again and print out the page. Complete it and put it in your notebook.
3. Create your own stacks of flashcards using this site. Register for free, then create your note cards. Type in your vocabulary words and then the definition.

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:

We turned in our caps and gowns and then Jimbo and I piled in his car to begin a strange odyssey across the entire country.
The wise old man smiled and said, "I look at my life as an enjoyable odyssey, not just a set of trials.^

"I hope you two boys understand," the headmaster told us sternly, "Your actions over the weekend will preclude either of you from consideration for the Citizenship award.^
The judge looked down at me sternly and said, "This felony conviction will preclude you from many of the rights of other citizens.^

After weeks of anticipation, the headmaster's prosaic pronouncement was rather anti-climactic.
The publisher of owner's manuals fired me because my poetic writing style was simply not prosaic enough for his needs.

"We are giving you only limited equipment," the scoutmaster told the five of us, "to determine which of you will be the most resourceful during the next eight hours.^
Learning to be resourceful is much more important than memorizing lists of facts.

I could see it in his eyes, he was going to do everything possible to thwart my plans.
"I will not let you thwart my plans!" I declared defiantly.

Following the attack, the renegade band of deserters proved difficult to apprehend.
"Sorry son," the captain informed me, "We have no use for a renegade like you in this unit.^

He was young but we all had to agree, Marcel was a virtuoso at the piano.
The young piano virtuoso was about to become a university graduate at the young age of seventeen.

 
 

For more vocabulary, reading and other language arts resources, please visit our interactive skillbuilders.