Middle School EOG Words of the Week & Stems (posted on wiki each Friday &
given to students in Homeroom):
Each week, students will complete the following using the Words of the Week/Stems for
a homework grade in Language Arts (must be hand-written):
Friday-Day 1) Write the definition for each word.
Monday-Day 2) Write a sentence using each word.
Tuesday-Day 3) Write each word five times.
Wednesday-Day 4) Copy & complete the 5 stems/definitions by writing two words for
each stem. Use a dictionary for help with the words!
Thursday/Friday- Turn in completed work (stapled together in a packet if more than one
page) to teacher for a weekly homework grade at the beginning of class.
***See the complete list of 100 words in the word document to the right called "Middle
School EOG Vocabulary Words List 2013."
Words of the Week-May 10:
1. Claim- The writer's position on an issue or problem. It usually reflects the writer's
viewpoint, or attitude, on the issue.
2. Counterclaim- An argument made to answer likely objections.
3. Connotative- The ideas and feelings associated with the word, as opposed to its
dictionary meaning. For example, the word bread, in addition to its denotation
meaning of a baked food made from flour and other ingredients, has connotations
of money, life and general nourishment.
4. Denotative- The dictionary meaning of a word.
5. Bias- An inclination for or against a particular opinion or viewpoint.
Words of the Week-May 3:
1. Fact- A statement that can be proven, or verified.
2. Opinion- A statement that cannot be proven because it expresses a person's
beliefs, feelings, or thoughts.
3. Stereotype- A dangerous type of overgeneralization. Stereotypes are broad
statements about people on the basis of their gender, ethnicity, race, or political,
social, professional, or religious group. For example: Boys are better at sports
than girls are.
4. Primary Source- Materials created by people who witnessed or took part in the
event they supply information about. Letters, diaries, autobiographies, and
eyewitness accounts are primary sources.
5. Secondary Source- Made by people who were not directly involved in the event
or even present when it occurred. Encyclopedias, textbooks, biographies, and
most news articles are secondary sources.
Words of the Week-April 26:
1. Symbolism- Using a person, a place, an object. or n activity that stands for
something beyond itself. For example, a flag is a colored piece of cloth that stands
for a country and a white dove is a bird that represents peace.
2. Dialogue- A written conversation between two or more characters. Writers use
dialogue to bring characters to life and to give readers insights into the characters'
qualities, traits, and reactions to other characters. In fiction, dialogue is usually set
off with quotation marks.
3. Dialect- A form of a language that is spoken in a particular place or by a
particular group of people. Dialects may feature unique pronunciations,
vocabulary, and grammar.
4. Irony- A contrast between what is expected and what actually exists or happens.
Exaggeration and sarcasm are techniques writers use to express irony.
5. Figurative Language- Conveys a meaning beyond the ordinary. Words are used in
an imaginative way to express ideas that are not literally true. for example,
"Megan has a bee in her bonnet." Figurative language is used for comparison,
emphasis, and emotional effect.
Words of the Week-April 19:
1. Protagonist- The main character in a story, play, or novel that is involved in the
conflict of the story.
2. Antagonist- The force working against the protagonist, or main character, of the
story, play or novel. The antagonist is usually another character but can be a force
of nature, society itself, or an internal force within the main character.
3. Autobiography- A writer's account of his or her own life and it is usually told
from the first-person point of view.
4. Biography- A true account of a person's life, written by another person and
usually told from the third-person point of view.
5. Chronological Order- The arrangement of events in the order in which they
happen. To show order of events, writers use order words, such as before, after,
next and time words that identify specific times of day, days of the week and
dates, such as the next morning, Friday, June 6th.
Words of the Week-April 12:
1. Flashback- An interruption of the action to present events that took place at an
earlier time. A flashback can help a reader better understand a character's current
situation.
2. Myth- A traditional story that attempts to answer basic questions about human
nature, origins of the world, mysteries of nature, and social customs.
3. Foreshadowing- When a writer provides hints that suggest future events in a
story. Foreshadowing creates suspense and makes the reader eager to find out
what will happen.
4. Omniscient- An omniscient narrator knows the thoughts, feelings and motives of
all the characters.
5. Limited- A limited narrator stands outside the action and only knows the
thoughts, feelings and observations of one character.
Words of the Week-March22:
1. Imagery- Consist of words and phrases that appeal to the five senses: sight,
hearing, touch, smell, taste.
2. Simile- A comparison between two unlike things using like, as, than or resembles.
3. Personification- Giving human qualities to an animal, object or idea.
4. Alliteration- Repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of works or within
words. Ex: Sue sell sea shells by the sea shore.
5. Metaphor- A comparison between two things that are basically unlike but have
some qualities in common.
Words of the Week-March15:
1. Onomatopoeia- The use of words whose sounds echo their meanings, such as
buzz, meow, etc.
2. Hyperbole- Exaggeration for emphasis or for humorous effect.
3. Repetition- Technique in which a sound, word, phrase, or line is repeated for
effect or emphasis.
4. Tone- Expresses the author's attitude toward his or her subject.
5. Mood- The feeling or atmosphere that an author creates for the reader.
Descriptive words, imagery, and figurative language all influence the mood of a
work.
Words of the Week-March 8th:
1. Stanza- A group of two or more lines that form a unit in a poem. Each stanza may
have the same number of lines, or the number of lines may vary.
2. Rhythm- The musical quality created by the alternation of stressed and unstressed
syllables in a line of poetry. Poets use rhythm to emphasize ideas and to create
moods.
3. Rhyme- The repetition of sounds at the end of words. Words rhyme when their
accented vowels and the letters that follow have identical sounds. For example:
big and pig.
4. Prose- Includes all forms of writing that are not in verse form. The term may be
used to describe very different forms of writing, such as short stories and essays.
5. Free Verse- Poetry without regular patterns of rhyme and rhythm is called free
verse. Some poets use free verse to capture the sounds and rhythms of ordinary
speech. The poem “On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins is written in free verse.
Words of the Week-March 1st:
1. Internal conflict- A struggle that occurs within a character. For example, a
character with an internal conflict may struggle with fear.
2. External conflict- Involves a character who struggles against a force outside himor herself, such as nature, a physical obstacle, or another character.
3. Detail- Helps to support, or prove, a claim or idea.
4. Main idea- The most important idea about a topic that a writer or speaker
conveys. The main idea can be expressed in the story or implied, or suggested, by
details.
5. Propaganda- Any form of communication that is so distorted that it conveys false
or misleading information to advance a specific belief or cause.
Words of the Week-Feb. 22nd:
1. Exposition- This is the first stage of the plot and it usually provides important
background information and introduces the setting and the important characters.
2. Rising Action- This stage of the plot develops the conflict, or struggle, in the
story. The events that occur here make the conflict more complicated and build
towards toward the climax.
3. Climax- The climax stage is the point of greatest interest in a story or play and it
usually occurs near the end of the story. It is the turning point of the story or play.
4. Falling Action- This stage of the plot is when the story begins to draw to a close.
It comes after the climax and the events in the falling action show the results of
the important decision or action that happened at the climax. Tension eases as the
plot moves to the resolution.
5. Resolution (also called the denouement)- This final stage of the plot reveals how
everything turns out.
Words of the Week-Feb. 15th:
1. Author's purpose-Authors usually write for one or more of these purposes:
Persuade, Inform, Entertain, Explain, Express thoughts or feelings.
Remember, author's purpose is as easy as "P.I.E.E.E" to find!
2. Characters-Characters are the people, animals, or imaginary creatures who
take part in the action of a work of literature. Like real people, characters,
display certain qualities, or character traits, that develop and change over
time, and they usually have motivations, or reasons, for their behavior.
There are four types of characters: main characters (most important),
minor characters (less important), dynamic characters (undergoes
important changes as a plot unfolds) & static characters (remains the same
throughout a story).
3. Setting-The setting of a story, poem, or play is the time and place of the
action. Elements of setting include geographic location (ex: New York
City, in the woods, at home, etc.), historical period (past-yesterday,
present-today/now, or future-later today, tomorrow, 2016, etc.), season
(summer, winter etc.), time of day (morning, 8:15 a.m., etc.) and culture.
4. Theme- A theme is a message about life of human nature that the writer
shares with the reader. In many cases, the reader must infer what the
writer's message is. One way of figuring out a theme is to apply the
lessons learned by the main characters to people in real life. For example,
a recurring theme found in a variety works may have to do with the
importance of family values. Universal themes are themes that are found
throughout literature of a time periods. For example, Cinderella stories
contain a universal theme relating to goodness being rewarded.
5. Plot- The plot is the series of events in a story. The plot usually centers on
a conflict, or struggle, faced by the main character. The action that
characters take to solve the problem builds towards a climax, or turning
point, in the story. Most story plots have five stages: exposition, rising
action, climax, falling action, and resolution (or denouement).
Stems of the Week-May 10th:
Stem (Latin or Greek) Definition **Write 2 words that use this stem with definitions.
1. biblio
book
2. cent
one hundred
3. chlor
green
4. choreo
dance
5. patho
disease
Stems of the Week-May 3rd:
Stem (Latin or Greek) Definition **Write 2 words that use this stem with definitions.
1. proto
first
2. phor
carry
3. ly
every/like
4. aqua
water
5. aer
air
Stems of the Week-April 26th:
Stem (Latin or Greek) Definition **Write 2 words that use this stem with definitions.
1. sequ
follow
2. und
wave
3. sed
sit
4. medi
middle
5. circum
around
Stems of the Week-April 19th:
Stem (Latin or Greek) Definition **Write 2 words that use this stem with definitions.
1. tude
state of
2. punct
point
3. phon
sound
4. crypt
hidden
5. alter
other
Stems of the Week-April 12th:
Stem (Latin or Greek) Definition **Write 2 words that use this stem with definitions.
1. magni
large/big
2. lent
full of
3. ambi
both
4. ous
full of
5. hend
grasp
Stems of the Week-March 22nd:
Stem (Latin or Greek) Definition **Write 2 words that use this stem with definitions.
1. poly
many/much/excessive
2. pre
before/in front/superior
3. psych
4. non
5. uni
soul/mind/mental
not/negative
one/only one
Stems of the Week-March 15th:
Stem (Latin or Greek) Definition **Write 2 words that use this stem with definitions.
1. inter
between/among/with
2. equi
equal/equally
3. auto
self/for oneself/by oneself
4. mono
one/alone/single
5. micro
small/minute/enlarging
Stems of the Week-March 8th:
Stem (Latin or Greek) Definition **Write 2 words that use this stem with definitions.
1. in
in/into/not/without
2. syn
with/together
3. multi
many/more than two
4. spec
look/see
5. epi
on/upon/beside/among
Stems of the Week-March 1st:
Stem (Latin or Greek) Definition **Write 2 words that use this stem with definitions.
1. trans
across/over/through
2. super
over/above/higher
3. com/con
together/with
4. dis
away/apart/not/cease
5. ex
out/beyond/without
Stems of the Week-Feb. 22nd:
Stem (Latin or Greek) Definition **Write 2 words that use this stem with definitions.
1. ob
against/upon/toward
2. ad
to/toward/nearness
3. re
again/back/anew
4. pro
forward/before/for
5. sub
under/beneath/below
Stems of the Week-Feb. 15th:
Stem (Latin or Greek)
1. per
2. de
3. apo
4. anti
5. dia
Definition **Write 2 words that use this stem with definitions.
through/away
down/away/from
up/away/off
against/opposite/conteract
across/through/apart
**A good place to find the words is in a dictionary! Example for #1:
Word 1: pervasive-means to spread throughout.
Word 2: pervious- means to open to passage or permeable.