13.1 Panegyric

When and Where did I find the word: I went online to dictionary.com's word of the day page and found "panegyrize" was the word of the day.  The definitions that were provided confused me even more.  For example, "To indulge in panegyric; bestow praises."  Since I had no idea what panegyric meant, this definition did not help me.  As a result, I decide to look up the word panegyric. 

What is means: According to dictionary.com, panegyric is "a lofy oration or writing in praise of a person or thing; eulogy."  It is also a "formal or elaborate praise." 

Level of Familiarity: I have never heard this word before. 

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? I have never heard this word before and for that reason I looked it up. I feel like this word is a "high-class" word, meaning that it is used in very formal situations and therefore, I feel that many people do not know this word.  Including myself.  However, because I like words, I am glad I learned this word.

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well...if so WHO and WHY?: I don't think this is a word used in daily conversation. I don't think that this word is imperative to know, however, I do believe that if one comes across this word, then one should look it up.  I think that building vocabulary is important for everyone and therefore if the word is stumbled upon, one SHOULD look it up. 

12.2 Mitigate

When and Where did I find the word: I found this word on dictionary.com's word of the day page.  I have not visited the page in a while due to the high amounts of new words that I have finding in my assigned readings, so I figured it was time to pay a visit to the site.   

What is means: According to dictionary.com, mitigate means "to lessen in force or intensity, as wrath, grief, harshness, or pain; moderate; to make less severe: to mitigate a punishment; to make (a person, one's state of mind, disposition, etc.) milder or more gentle; mollify; appease; to become milder; lessen in severity."  


Level of Familiarity: I have heard and used this word several times before. 

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? Mitigate is a good word to know.  I have word heard the word mitigate several times in daily conversations and even on television. The word mitigate seems to be a "popular" word that is used by many and in many different circustances.

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well...if so WHO and WHY?: As I said before, I have heard this word several times before and as I result I consider it a word to know.  I figure that if it is used a lot, it is a word worth knowing.   I think that everyone should know this word.

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12.1 Apropos

When and Where did I find the word: I found this word in one of our course texts (Content-area writing).  The word can be found on page 162. 

Citation:

Daniels, H., Zemelman, S. & Steineke, N. (2007.  Content-area writing.  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

What is means: The sentence states that "one focus that might be especially apropos, if many students have chosen conversations . . ." (p. 162).  I had to read this sentence several times but I still could not find many contexts clues to help me figure it out.  I tried breaking the word down into word parts, hoping that maybe it would help me to define the word.  I found the word "appropriate" in the word, and the word "pro." Based on these findings I knew that word have to be something positive.  However, I still turned to my trusty friend, dictionary.com, to help me define the word.  According to the website, apropos means "fitting; at the right time; to the purpose; opportunely."

Level of Familiarity: I was not familiar with the word apropos until this very moment (well probably a few days have gone by since this was posted). 


Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? I did want to know this word and that is why I looked it up.  Without knowledge of this word and I would not have been able to complete or fully understand the assigned chapter reading for the week. 

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well...if so WHO and WHY?: I think others that are reading the course text should know this word.  Without knowledge of this word, they will not have a complete understanding of what the author is trying to say in that one particular sentence.  I also think anyone that encounters this word should know this word. 

11.2 Studying

When and Where did I find the word: I  also found this word in Jessica and Danielle's assigned article for the week.  The word is located on p. 278. 

Citation: Davis, S. J. (1990). Applying content study skills in co-listed reading classrooms.   Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 33(4), 277-281.        


What is means: The author uses "Anderson and Armbruster's (1984) definition of studying as a special form of reading that is done in order to perform an identifiable cognitive task."  The author then goes on to say that "they difivde studying into two components: state and processing variables. State variables are those relating to the student and the material. Processing variables are those used in focusing attention and in encoding and retrieving information" (p.279). 

Level of Familiarity: Like most graduate students and educators,  I am VERY familiar with the word studying. 

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? I do want to know this word.  I hate studying but I think by better understanding how to study, I will like the word better.  I think that when students hear the word they often shut down.  Maybe studying is given such a bad rep, is because it isn't being done correctly, or teachers aren't explicity teaching study skills. 

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well...if so WHO and WHY?: I think everyone should know what studying is, the "science" of it, not just the process.  I think educators, especially, and even students should know how to study and what studying is.  I think so many students don't truly know what studying is or how to do it.  I think by having educators be educated on what is so that they can educate their students on studying, is very imperative. 

11.1 Idiosyncratic

When and Where did I find the word: I found this word in the article that Danielle and Jessica assigned us for the week.  The word can be found on page 280 where the authors state that "studying is an idisyncratic process" (Davis, 1990).

Citation: Davis, S. J.  (1990).  Applying content study skills in co-listed reading classrooms.  Journal of
                             Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 33(4), 277-281                      


What is means: The authors do not provide a definition or much of an elaboration of the word idiosyncratic for readers.  According to dictionary.com, idiosyncratic means "pertaining to the nature of idiosyncrasy, or something peculiar to an individual."  I had to do a little more research on this word and look up the work idiosyncrasy in order to gain a better understanding of the word.  Dictionary.com defines idiosyncrasy as "a characteristic, habit, mannerism, or the like, that is peculiar to an individual."  Therefore, studying is a peculiar process. 

Level of Familiarity: I am somewhat familiar with this word.  I have heard it once or twice but never really in the educational process. 

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? I did want to know this word.  Studying plays a major role in education and I wanted to know why the author was calling studying an "idisosyncratic process."  I felt that in order to truly understand what the author was saying I had to look up the word. 

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well...if so WHO and WHY?: I think that everyone should have a general understanding of this word to use in conversation.   I feel that educators should know this word, especially since it was used in conjunction with studying.  Personally, I feel that if you run across a word you do not know, LOOK IT UP. I love learning new words and then using them.

10.2 Morphology

When and Where did I find the word: I found this word in the article that Carrie and Meghan assigned to the class this week. The word can be found on page 137 of the article. 

Citation: Kieffer, M. J.  & Lesaux, N. K.  (2007).  Breaking down words to build meaning:
                            Morphology, vocabulary, and reading comprehension in the urban classroom.
                            The Reading Teacher, 6(12), 134-144. 


What is means: The authors state that "the word morphology can be broken down (morphologically) into two meaningful parts (known as morphemes): morph- meaning shape and ology-meaning the study of.  Thus, morphology, in its most generic form is the study of shape.  In language and reading morphology refers to the study of the structure of the words, particularly the smallest units of meaning in words: morphemes" (p. 137). 

Level of Familiarity: I am familiar with this word.  I have heard this word a lot during my graduate work. 

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why?  As a literacy specialist and as an educator I think that it is imperative that I know this word, not only for myself but for my students. Like the authors of the text say, knowing how to break down words and look at prefixes or suffixes is important when it comes to building vocabulary which ultimately helps to aid in comprehension of the text.  Students need to be aware of morphology and how to break down words into smaller root parts. 

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well...if so WHO and WHY?: I think that everyone should have a knowledge of this word.  Morphology is important for students in their vocabulary development.  The authors state that "effective word-learners attack unknown words, break them into their meaningful parts, hypothesize meanings against the context of the text as well as their own background knowledge" (p. 135).   As educators we need to stress the importance of morphology to our students.  Students need to be able to break down words in order to succeed. 

10.1 Wide Reading

When and Where did I find the word: I found this word in one of our course texts (Word Wise and Content Rich).  The word is found in Chapter 4 on page 132. 

Citation:  Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2008).  Word wise and content rich: Five essential steps to
                              teaching academic vocabulary.  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 

What is means: The authors of the text state that "in the United States, wide reading refers to the in- and out-of-school practices of learners who engage with a variety of genres. In-school approaches to wide reading include sustained silent reading, which allows for student choice in what is read, and independent reading, where students are given blocks of uninterrupted time to read content-aligned material" (p. 132).  Wide reading programs give students opportunities to become better readers and allows them to experience a multitude of different genres. 

Level of Familiarity: I have never heard of the term wide reading before, but I have heard of sustained silent reading.  In my elementary and my early middle school years,  DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) was constantly implemented, however, it stopped once I moved on to the higher grades. 

Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? I do want to know this word well.  Wide reading programs help to improve reading.  As a Literacy Specialist,  I should know this word well and be knowledgeable about the different types of reading programs that are considered wide reading.  After reading about wide reading,  I definitely see its benefits, especially in the higher grades. 

Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well...if so WHO and WHY?: Definitely! I think all educators, especially Literacy Specialists, should know this word.  Educators should have a basic knowledge of how to implement a wide reading program into their classroom and even into their schools! Wide reading helps students to develop better reading habits and helps to improve students vocabulary.  When I googled this word, there were a lot of different websites to help teachers, administrators, and even community members, initiate a wide reading program.