6th Grade Vocab Word List Week 1: Building Your Vocabulary
All your life you will be exploring new areas of learning. Each year you will start new school subjects. Sometimes
you will explore a topic on your own simply because it fascinates you. From time to time, too, you will begin a new sport
or learn a new skill. In each of these subjects or activities, you will learn a new set of words.
Every time you learn a new group of words, you will find that you need to use a basic set of vocabulary words
when you study and discuss the new terms. What you need, you see, are words about words! Ten such words are
presented in this lesson. Learning these words will give you an approach to any new topic.
Word
Part of Speech
Definition
antonym
noun
a word that means the opposite of another word
concept
noun
a general idea or understanding; a thought or notion
 related word: conceive (verb)
context
noun
words/ideas surrounding a particular word or idea; a general setting or situation
define
verb
to state the meaning of; to explain; to make exact or specific
 related words: definite (adjective), definitely (adverb), definition (noun)
effective
adjective
producing a desired impression or result; in operation
 related words: effect (noun), effect (verb), effectively (adverb)
repetition
noun
the act or process of repeating; something repeated or produced by repeating
 related words: repeat (verb), repetitive (adjective)
retain
verb
to keep or hold in possession, use, or memory
specialize
verb
to train or work in one special area; to deal or trade in one thing; to adapt to a
particular environment
 related words: special (adjective), specialist (noun), specially (adverb), specialty (noun)
synonym
noun
a word with a meaning very close to that of another word
 related word: synonymous (adjective)
terminology
noun
the specific vocabulary of a particular trade, science or art; technical terms
 related words: term (noun), term (verb)
6th Grade Vocab Assignment Week 1
Select a word (other than one of this week’s vocab words or their related words!!!) with which you are unfamiliar. You
might have come across this word in your reading, or you might have heard someone use it in conversation. With a
dictionary as your reference, write an explanation of the word. The explanation should be thorough enough that you
could present it to the class. In your explanation, include any words that are opposite in meaning or close in meaning to
the word you are discussing. With your explanation, use five words of your choice from this lesson. To do the
assignment, you will need to do all of the following:
 Write 5 unique, complete sentences – one sentence per vocab word you choose – using the word correctly (part
of speech and definition)
 Always use the words from the far left column – NEVER THE “RELATED” WORDS
 Sentences should be more than just the word and the definition
 Sentences should be unique (different from every other sentence on the page, written by you and you alone)

Sentences should be written neatly
 The paper should have a heading and should be neat (no folds, tears, etc.)
 Underline the vocab words (or circle, highlight, etc. – just call my attention to the word)
 Skip a line after every line you’ve written (think of it as double-spacing the whole page)
 This is in paragraph form
FLASHCARDS WILL BE DONE TOGETHER IN CLASS ON FRIDAY!!!
SENTENCES DUE: Monday, Aug. 24
6th Grade Vocab Word List Week 1: Building Your Vocabulary
All your life you will be exploring new areas of learning. Each year you will start new school subjects. Sometimes
you will explore a topic on your own simply because it fascinates you. From time to time, too, you will begin a new sport
or learn a new skill. In each of these subjects or activities, you will learn a new set of words.
Every time you learn a new group of words, you will find that you need to use a basic set of vocabulary words
when you study and discuss the new terms. What you need, you see, are words about words! Ten such words are
presented in this lesson. Learning these words will give you an approach to any new topic.
Word
Part of Speech
Definition
1
noun
a word that means the opposite of another word
2
noun
a general idea or understanding; a thought or notion
 related word: conceive (verb)
3
noun
words/ideas surrounding a particular word or idea; a general setting or situation
4
verb
to state the meaning of; to explain; to make exact or specific
 related words: definite (adjective), definitely (adverb), definition (noun)
5
adjective
producing a desired impression or result; in operation
 related words: effect (noun), effect (verb), effectively (adverb)
6
noun
the act or process of repeating; something repeated or produced by repeating
 related words: repeat (verb), repetitive (adjective)
7
verb
to keep or hold in possession, use, or memory
8
verb
to train or work in one special area; to deal or trade in one thing; to adapt to a
particular environment
 related words: special (adjective), specialist (noun), specially (adverb), specialty (noun)
9
noun
a word with a meaning very close to that of another word
 related word: synonymous (adjective)
10
noun
the specific vocabulary of a particular trade, science or art; technical terms
 related words: term (noun), term (verb)