1/25/05

Words in the News

If we weren't familiar with the word tsunami before December 26, we certainly are now. The word's definition, "A very large ocean wave caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption," comes from a Japanese word meaning "wave."

Besides an actual tidal wave, tsunami has other similar meanings, such as flood, inundation, deluge. For instance, I received a tsunami of get-well wishes after my accident. The reporter's story evoked a tsunami of angry responses. Tsunamis of fan mail often overwhelm movie stars. It wasn't only the tsunami of misspelled words that got me down, it was also thinking of what my parents would say. Discuss these with your students and find out what other examples they can create.

Another word appearing frequently on television and in print is "bioterrorism." Just a few years ago, science lessons about smallpox and anthrax would have indicated that these dreaded diseases had been eradicated. Now, we know them as potential weapons of terror. Nerve gas and other biological and chemical weapons are also frightening threats. From these concerns come terms such as biotechnology (http://www.whybiotech.com/) and biodefense (http://www2.niaid.nih.gov/biodefense/public/factsheets.htm; http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/biodefenseandbioterrorism.html). When students reach Lesson 21 in Volume I, they may enjoy learning more about these relatively new terms.

Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is making news, too, as the Huygens space probe transmits images of it after its successful landing. Titan is relevant to those teachers and students who downloaded the PDF I created last year entitled "Large, Larger, Largest." If you haven't used it yet, now would be a good time, especially for those of you who live in the northern part of our country and will be having many days of cold, snow and gray weather. I think this treatise on large sizes should brighten any classroom's day!

A headline grabber this week and feature story on many television stations described the new French Airbus, described in one write up as a "superjumbo jet." Super is a commonly-used prefix which won't show up in Word Web Vocabulary until Volume V. However, "jumbo" fits perfectly with the above-mentioned PDF of large sizes, where there is a complete account of the elephant named Jumbo and the many spin-offs that have capitalized on his name. Do today's students connect superjumbo to the elephant? 

Please contact me (elinormiller@seepub.com.com) with questions or comments. I'd love to know how you are making out with Word Web and how your students are doing!

That's my word for this time, Ellie

Word Web Vocabulary - recommended on Heidi Hayes-Jacobs' website,
moving vocabulary from the edge of language arts to its center