Unit 1: Vocabulary from Readings 1

This list covers "The Circuit," "Schools Hustle to Reach Kids Who Move with the Harvest, Not the School Year," and "My Superpowers."
15 words 358 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. jalopy
    a car that is old and unreliable
    That was the name Papá gave his old ‘38 black Plymouth. He bought it in a used-car lot in Santa Rosa in the winter of 1949. Papá was very proud of his little jalopy.
  2. gasp
    breathe in a heavy or labored way
    “We have work! Mr. Sullivan said we can stay there the whole season,” she said, gasping and pointing to an old garage near the stables.
  3. strain
    become stretched or tense or taut
    The walls, eaten by termites, strained to support the roof full of holes.
  4. murmur
    speak softly or indistinctly
    He wrote down numbers, crossed some out, wrote down some more. “Quince,” he murmured.
  5. savor
    derive or receive pleasure from
    I woke up early that morning and lay in bed, looking at the stars and savoring the thought of not going to work and of starting sixth grade for the first time that year.
  6. period
    one of the divisions of a school day
    For the rest of the reading period I kept getting angrier and angrier with myself.
  7. vital
    urgently needed; absolutely necessary
    Ximena is young, but her education is arguably vital right now.
  8. barrier
    any condition that makes it difficult to make progress
    Often children living this lifestyle face interrupted schooling, cultural and language barriers, and social isolation — all factors that inhibit a child’s ability to do well in school.
  9. social
    living together or enjoying life in communities
    Often children living this lifestyle face interrupted schooling, cultural and language barriers, and social isolation — all factors that inhibit a child’s ability to do well in school.
  10. isolation
    a state of separation between persons or groups
    Often children living this lifestyle face interrupted schooling, cultural and language barriers, and social isolation — all factors that inhibit a child’s ability to do well in school.
  11. inhibit
    limit the range or extent of
    Often children living this lifestyle face interrupted schooling, cultural and language barriers, and social isolation — all factors that inhibit a child’s ability to do well in school.
  12. locomotive
    a self-propelled vehicle that draws a train along a track
    Like Superman, I wanted to be able to fly faster than speeding bullets, to be more powerful than locomotives, to leap tall buildings at a single bound.
  13. terrorize
    frighten greatly
    On the coldest days of winter, three bullies waited for me after school, just for the fun of terrorizing me.
  14. voodoo
    a religion practiced chiefly in Caribbean countries
    I took part in dangerous voodoo ceremonies in Haiti.
  15. radioactive
    exhibiting or caused by emissions in nuclear decay
    I created another series called Maximum Boy, about a boy named Max who accidentally touches radioactive rocks that just came back from outer space and who suddenly develops superpowers.
Created on Tue Nov 09 11:57:53 EST 2021 (updated Wed Dec 15 13:58:24 EST 2021)

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