JAN. 23 — IRREFUTABLE
Cannot be proved wrong.

It's an irrefutable fact that Chicago winters are frigid.

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The purpose of H-F's Word of the Week program is to emphasize to our students the power of words while encouraging them to develop more sophisticated vocabularies. 

As Kelly Gallagher (2004) points out in Deeper Reading, expanding one's vocabulary actually expands one's intellect. Contrary to the traditional belief that intelligence is innately fixed, educational psychologists now understand that intelligence is quite fluid. In fact, we can continually expand our intellects and aptitudes as we learn more and more words because our brains have the ability to rewire and adapt to new information. Robert Marzano (2004) explains in Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement that "teaching vocabulary is synonymous with teaching background knowledge. The packets of information that constitute our background knowledge all have labels [words] associated with them" (p. 35). Thus, making connections between familiar and unfamiliar terms actually makes us smarter!

We encourage teachers to display the Word of the Week in classrooms, to refer to it when appropriate, to use it and, most importantly, to encourage students to use the Word of the Week in their own speaking and writing.  

Words for 2011/12
Aug. 22 - Predicting
Aug. 29 - Deft
Sept. 5 - Summarizing
Sept. 12 - Deleterious
Sept. 19 - Viable
Sept. 26 - Acumen
Oct. 3 - Derivative
Oct. 10 - Apathetic
Oct. 17 - Pastoral
Oct. 24 - Enigma
Oct. 31 - Motley
Nov. 7 - Connecting
Nov. 14 - Blatantly
Nov. 21 - Eclectic
Nov. 28 - Palpable
Dec. 5 - Ornate
Dec. 12 - Irascible
Dec. 19 - Restive
Dec. 26 - Proclivity
Jan. 2 - Ascertain
Jan. 9 - Foraging
Jan. 16 - Questioning
Jan. 23 - Irrefutable
Jan. 30 - Obtrusive

Words for 2010/11

2010 - Quarter 1 Summary

2010 - Quarter 2 Summary


See Word of the Week History