All Summer in a Day Interactive Vocabulary Instruction

Frail  In Context: “She was a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from her hair.”  Definition: adj.: not very strong; easily broken  Another context: “The sick boy was thin and frail because he could not eat.”

Frail  Say frail if I describe something that is not very strong and can be easily broken …  Why?  An ill person  Humanity  A Basket  A heart  Include a picture

Vital  In context: “There was talk that her father and mother were taking her back to Earth next year; it seemed vital to her that they do so, though it would mean the loss of thousands of dollars to her family.”  Definition: adj.: necessary for life; very important  Another context: “It was vital for her to see the sun.”

Vital  Describe the most vital situation you’ve ever read about or seen.

Concussion  Word in context: “It had been raining for seven years; thousands upon thousand of days compounded and filled from the one end to the other with rain, with the drum and gush of water, with the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy they were tidal wave come over the islands.”  Definition: n,: violent shaking or shock  Another context: “The shock waves of the concussion grenade were more damaging to the enemies hiding in enclosed areas then those in open areas.”

Concussion Think of three things that make a concussion sound. Why?

Slackening  Word in Context: “But that was yesterday. Now the rain was slackening, and the children were crushed in the great thick windows.”  Definition: v.: lessening; slowing  Another context: “The slackening of the rope caused the boat to drift, and it crashed into the rocks.”

Slackening  How can a runner, a student, a flood show that they are slackening?

Consequence  Word in context: “And so, the children hated her for all these reasons of big and little consequence.”  Definition: n.: importance  Another context: “Their teacher realized the great consequence of the day.”

Consequence What is the importance of consequences? Explain:

Surge  Word in context: “They surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door.”  Definition: v.: moved forward, as in a wave.  Another context: “The sudden surge of energy from the explosion knocked him off his feet.”

Surge  Describe how the examples below might surge.  Why?  Electricity  Soldiers  A wave  An angry mob ..

Tumultuously  Word in Context: “ They stopped running and stood in the great jungle that covered Venus, that grew and never stopped growing, tumultuously, even as you watched it. It was a nest of octopuses, clustering up great arms of flesh-like weed, wavering, flowering in this brief spring.”  Definition: wildly; violently  Another context: “The angry crowd was demonstrating tumultuously during the riots.”

Tumultuously  How might a cook...musician…a basketball player show they are tumultuous? Why?

Savor  Word in context: “…they put their hands up to that yellowness and that amazing blueness and they breathed of the fresh, fresh air and listened and listened to the silence which suspended them in a blessed sea of no sound and no motion. They looked at everything and savored everything.”  Definition: v.: delighted in  Another context: “She savored every single bite of that warm apple pie after a long, hard day of play in the snow.”

Savor  How might a lawyer...prisoner…a baseball player savor a moment? Why?