First Day Jitters
By Julie Danneberg
downstairs
• The compound word downstairs means “down
the stairs.”
• The girl walked downstairs to get the mail.
• What word means the opposite of downstairs?
nervous
• A person who is nervous is afraid or
worried.
• I feel nervous when I ride on an airplane.
• When do you feel nervous?
chuckled
• You may have chuckled, or laughed quietly
when you saw something funny.
• I chuckled when I heard the joke.
• How is chuckled different from laughed out
loud?
nonsense
• Nonsense is a silly or untrue idea or
thought.
• I was afraid to go to the library. My friend
said my fears were nonsense.
• What is something you think is nonsense?
fumbled
• If something is fumbled, it is done in a
clumsy way.
• He was tired and fumbled into his
pajamas.
• When have you fumbled something?
trudged
• Trudged describes a way of walking slowly
or dragging one’s feet.
• The tired student trudged up the hill to his
house.
• Can you think of a reason why you might
have trudged somewhere?