macabre

(adj) - Something that is macabre is shockingly unpleasant and horrific, and usually connected with death or with people being seriously hurt.

• Synonyms: eerie, deathlike, dreadful, frightening, grim, spooky
• Antonyms: living, normal, pleasant
• Etymology: Early 15th Century French, from Danse Macabré meaning "dance of Death." The word macabre most likely came from the Latin name Machabæorum, which was the last name given to Judas, third son of Mattathias the Hasmonean, who was the leader of the religious revolt against Antiochus IV, 175-166 B.C.
• Example: Some people feel that Halloween is a bit of a macabre celebration, so they dress up in eerie or spooky costumes. For me, today is all about the candy!

The song Danse Macabre (Dance of Death) was composed by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1874, and it is still used in eerie films today!

keen

(adj) - Something that is keen is very sharp. For example, a keen sense of smell is an extremely good ability to smell. A person with a keen sense of humor has a very sharp and witty talent when it comes to "funny stuff."

This word can also be used to describe something that you think is "awesome." This is more of a British term, but it was commonly used by teenagers in the US during the 1950s and 60s.

*This word can also be used as a verb, meaning "to sharpen."

• Synonyms: sharp, acute, clever, quick
• Antonyms: ignorant, stupid, dull 
• Etymology: 1200 Old English, from cēne  meaning "bold brave," and later "clever, wise." This comes from Proto Germanic word *kan- meaning "be able to" (which is where we get the word can)
• Morphology: keenly - adv
• Example: An owl has keen senses of sight and hearing.

Today, Emma shows us more keen examples:

excursion

(n) - An excursion is a short journey made with a particular purpose in mind.

• Synonyms: journey, trip, expedition, outing
• Antonyms: stay home!
• Etymology: 1574 Latin, from from ex- meaning "out" + currere meaning "to run" (as in current)
• Example: I'm excited to discuss our excursion to the Alberta Bair Theater last Friday. 

The play Great Mountain was based on the Native American Folktale, The Story of Jumping Mouse. Let's take a virtual excursion into Jumping Mouse's illustrated land.

lingo

(n) - Lingo is a "language" that is used only by a particular group of people, or during a certain period of time.

• Synonyms: jargon, slang, speech, verbiage, terminology, vocabulary
• Antonyms: standard
• Etymology: 1650s Latin, from lingua meaning "tongue"
• Morphology: linguistic - adj
• Example: A team of doctors and nurses would use different lingo than a group of lumberjacks.

How well do you know your math lingo?

Click here or on the image below to try out some common 5th grade lingo!

exude

(v) - Something that exudes flows out slowly and steadily, like a steady leak. This could literally be liquid, or it could be more of a figurative connotation. For example, if you exude a particular quality, it is easy to see that you have a lot of it, because it practically oozes out of you.

• Synonyms: bleed, leak, ooze, radiate, sweat, trickle out, seep
• Antonyms: hide, conceal, trap
• Etymology: 1570s Latin, from ex- meaning "out" + sudare meaning "to sweat"
• Example: Dylan N. is a happy-go-lucky guy who exudes confidence.

gregarious

(adj) - Someone who is gregarious is friendly, outgoing, and social, and prefers to be around other people.

• Synonyms: fun, social, friendly, outgoing, sociable
• Antonyms: introverted, shy, unfriendly, quiet
• Etymology: 1660s Latin, from grex meaning "flock, herd," from (and plus!) PIE root *ger- meaning "to gather together, assemble" + adjective-forming suffix -ous
• Example: Camryn is one gregarious 5th grade girl!

connotation

(n) - A connotation is the inferred meaning of a word. When thinking of the "meaning of a word," a connotation is a quality or an idea that is more than just its basic meaning.

• Synonyms: association, implication, hint, suggestion
• Antonyms: definition
• Etymology: 1530s Latin, from com- meaning "together" + notare meaning "to mark" (which is where we get the word note) + the noun-forming suffix -tion
• Morphology: connotative - adj
• Example: Even though the words thin, slim, and bony are all synonyms, "bony" has a negative connotation.

Words are incredible!

Click here or on the image below to see some more examples:

nonchalant

(adj.) - Someone who is nonchalant is behaving calmly and does not seem interested in or worried about anything.

• Synonyms: easy going, laid back, calm, casual, untroubled, without a care
• Antonyms: caring, jumpy, nervous, anxious
• Etymology: 1734 French, from Fr. nonchaloir meaning "be indifferent to, have no concern for;” originally from 1300s Latin, from non- "not" + French chaloir meaning "have concern for," ultimately from Latin calere "be hot" (as in calorie)
• Morphology: nonchalance - n
• Example: If we are nonchalant when it comes to protecting Earth, then our resources will continue to become more scarce.

Click here or on the image below to adventure with the Green Squad, a special group of friends who are anything but nonchalant when it comes to taking care of our planet!

contemplate

(v.) - If you think about something that you might do in the future, or think about something seriously for a period of time, you are contemplating.

• Synonyms: consider, think about, reflect on, take in, study
• Antonyms: disregard, forget, ignore
• Etymology: early 1200s Latin, from com- meaning “with” + templum meaning “temple”
• Morphology: noun - contemplation, adjective - contemplative
• Example: I don't even want to contemplate what will happen if we slowly allow more animal species to become extinct!

Now that you have had a day to contemplate all of the things that Mr. McCall taught us about green building yesterday, can you think of any more questions you would like to ask him?

Let's contemplate the status of some of the world's endangered species.

Click here or on the image below to go to the site.

scarce

(adj) - If something is scarce, there is not very much of it available. You can make yourself scarce by leaving a place, especially in order to avoid an unpleasant situation.

• Synonyms: not enough, insufficient, in short supply, limited, almost out, scanty, sparse, few and far between
• Antonyms: plentiful, abundant, sufficient
• Etymology: 1300 Latin, from excarpere meaning "pluck out." This comes from ex- meaning "out"+ carpere meaning "pluck, gather," which comes from PIE *kerp- meaning "to gather, pluck, harvest"
• Morphology: scarcely - adv, scarcity - n
• Example: If we don't take steps to conserve, our natural resources will become more and more scarce.