Dear Mr. Henshaw

Word Wizard

First Word:

• Insulated page 95 paragraph 3

• Sentence in which word appears: "While I was looking around for the right kind of insulated wire, a man who had been watching me (boys my age always get watched when they go into stores) asked if he could help me."

• Definition:  This word means that there is something around a wire that helps keep electricity from conducting, or passing through it to something else.  Insulated could also describe a house's walls, which would keep the air conditioning inside during the summer, and the heat inside during the winter.  Insulated could also describe a coat that you would wear during the summer. The dictionary says that if something is insulated, it keeps something separate from conducting bodies by means of nonconductors so as to prevent transfer of electricity, heat or sound.

• This word adds meaning to the story by describing the kind of wire that Leigh needs to create his burglar alarm on his lunchbox. 

• Click HERE for sample card.

• Daily vocabulary activity: (Sentence Stem/Idea Completion) The mountain cabin was very cold during the snow storm because the walls were not insulated.  I chose the purple coat because it was very well insulated with feather down and fleece.  The electric blanket caught fire because the wire was not insulated and it caused the blanket to get hot and catch on fire. 

Second Word:

• Invention  page 98 paragraph 2

• Sentence in which the word appears: "She laughed and said it was a great invention."

• Definition:  This word describes a new idea of something that someone creates.  An invention is something new that no one has created before.  Usually, the invention helps make life easier by making a task easier, or by helping life.  The dictionary defines invention as a discovery, a finding or a product of imagination.

• This word adds meaning to the story by labeling Leigh's alarm as something that he created in order to make his life easier.  This is because he was having his lunch burgled everyday and he has now come up with a way to keep his lunch safe.

• Click HERE for sample card.

• Daily vocabulary activity: (Examples & Non-examples) Which would be an invention: A robot that cooks macaroni and cheese all by itself or a rock?

Third Word:

• Permission page 115 paragraph 2

• Sentence in which the word appears: "Miss Neely telephoned Mom at work for permission and I gave my lunch to Barry because my lunches are better that his."

• Definition: This word means that Leigh was able to go to the luncheon to meet a famous author because his mother said it was alright.  The definition in the dictionary says that permission means formal consent, or authorization.

• This word adds meaning to the story because it describes Leigh's ability to go to the luncheon since another writer copied a story from a book and lost his award.  Permission describes the word that is used to describe Ms. Botts response to Miss Neely's call to ask if Leigh could go. 

• Click HERE for sample card.

• Daily vocabulary activity: (Synonyms & Antonyms)

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