B. Foundations of Language · Foundations of Language: Listening, Speaking, Words, Fluency and Conventions

Vocabulary for Every Grade 9 Course: Word Forms, Task Words and a Personal Word System

B2.2 A3.1 A1.2About 65 minutes

Learning goals

I can use the right form of a word (noun, verb, adjective or adverb) in a sentence.
I can explain what common task words, such as analyze, evaluate and justify, ask me to do.
I can use the same word flexibly in different subjects and explain how its meaning shifts.
I can learn new vocabulary with a system: a word map, spaced review and real use.

Words to know

word form
The version of a word that does a particular job: analyze (verb), analysis (noun), analytical (adjective), analytically (adverb).

task word
A verb in an assignment or test question that tells you what kind of thinking to show, such as explain, evaluate or justify.

academic vocabulary
Words used across many school subjects, like analyze, factor, significant, evidence.

word map
A graphic organizer (such as a Frayer model) for a new word: definition, characteristics, examples and non-examples.

spaced review
Reviewing new words several times with growing gaps between reviews, which helps long-term memory.

sustainable
Able to continue for a long time without using up or damaging what it depends on.

Remember from Grade 8

In Grade 8 you learned academic words like synthesize, critique, perspective and corroborate, saw that words like pressure and cell change meaning across subjects, and noticed collocations (words that go together). Grade 9 brings more courses, more reading and more independent work. To keep up, you need to use new words flexibly (in the right form and the right subject) and have a system for learning them.

Let's start with three sentences

What's wrong with each?

My analyze of the poem shows that the speaker is lonely.
The difference between the two groups was signify.
She spoke very analysis about the problem.

Each uses a word you know, but in the wrong form. Sentence 1 needs a noun: My analysis. Sentence 2 needs an adjective: The difference was significant. Sentence 3 needs an adverb: She spoke very analytically. Knowing a word means knowing its family and choosing the form that fits the sentence.

One word family, four jobs. Ask what job the word is doing in your sentence (naming a thing, an action, describing a noun, or describing how) and pick that form.

Verb	Noun	Adjective	Adverb
analyze	analysis	analytical	analytically
sustain	sustainability	sustainable	sustainably
signify	significance	significant	significantly
urbanize	urbanization	urban	—
vary	variable, variation	variable, various	variably
justify	justification	justifiable	justifiably

Word families you'll use in Grade 9 courses. Not every family has all four forms.

Task words: what is the question really asking?

Assignments and tests in every course use the same task words. Each one asks for a different kind of thinking:

Describe: tell what something is like (features, details).
Explain: tell how or why, with reasons or steps.
Analyze: break into parts and show how the parts work together.
Compare / contrast: show similarities / differences.
Evaluate or assess: judge how good, effective or important something is, using criteria and evidence.
Justify: give reasons and evidence that support a decision or answer.
Interpret: explain what something means (a poem, a graph, a symbol).
Infer: figure out something not stated directly, from clues.

A common mistake is to describe when the question says analyze or evaluate. That answer may be accurate, but it doesn't do the task.

Same word, different courses

Many academic words travel between subjects, with shifts in meaning:

variable: in mathematics, a letter that stands for a quantity that can change (x); in science, a factor you change or measure in an investigation; in everyday use, changeable (variable weather).
function: in mathematics, a relation where each input has exactly one output; in biology, the job of an organ; in English grammar, the job a word does in a sentence.
conflict: in English, the struggle that drives a story (character versus nature); in history and geography, a disagreement or fight between groups.
model: in science, a representation that explains or predicts (a model of an atom); in mathematics, an equation or graph that represents a situation; in everyday use, an example to copy.

When you meet a familiar word in a new course, ask: "What does it mean here?"

A personal word system

To really own a word, you need to meet it, map it, review it and use it:

Meet: collect words from your reading and your courses in one place (a notebook section or a document).
Map: for the important ones, make a word map: definition in your own words, characteristics, examples and non-examples (a Frayer model).
Review: look at new words again after about a day, a few days, a week and a couple of weeks. Short, spaced reviews beat one long cram.
Use: say or write the word in a real sentence within a week, in class, in an assignment or in conversation.

A word map (Frayer model) for sustainable, a word you'll use in science and geography. Non-examples are powerful: they show the edges of the meaning.

Worked example

Let's answer a question with the right task word

Science question: "Evaluate the claim that planting trees is a sustainable way to reduce flooding in a city." A student wrote: "Trees have roots. They are green and grow in parks. Cities have floods sometimes." What went wrong, and how should the answer start?

Identify the task word: evaluate means judge how good or effective something is, using criteria and evidence.
Check the student's answer: it only describes trees and cities. There's no judgment, no criteria and no evidence.
Choose criteria: Does it reduce flooding? Is it sustainable (can it continue long-term without harm)? What are the limits?
Start with a judgment: "Planting trees is a partly effective and sustainable way to reduce flooding."
Support with evidence and reasons: roots and soil absorb rainwater, so less runs into storm drains; trees keep working for decades with little energy; but trees alone can't handle a very large storm, so cities also need other measures.

The answer described instead of evaluating. A good start: "Planting trees is a partly effective and sustainable way to reduce flooding, because roots and soil absorb rainwater for decades with little upkeep; however, trees alone can't absorb the water from a very large storm."

Underline the task word first

Before answering any question in any course, underline the task word and remind yourself what it asks for. Explain wants how or why. Evaluate wants a judgment with criteria. Justify wants reasons for your answer.

Hands-on activity

Build your word system

You need: a notebook (or a document) and sticky notes.

Start a Word Bank section with today's date.
From your textbooks or class notes this week, collect 6 important words, at least one from each course you take.
For each, write the word family (verb, noun, adjective, adverb) if it has one.
Make a Frayer word map for the 2 hardest words.
Put review reminders on a calendar or in your phone: tomorrow, in 3 days, in a week, in 2 weeks. At each review, cover the definitions and test yourself.
Use one new word in conversation at dinner. (Bonus if nobody notices it's a vocabulary word.)

Just for fun

Teacher: "Please analyze this poem."

Student: "I've described it beautifully."

Teacher: "That's lovely. Now please answer the question I actually asked."

Your turn

Fix the word form: The significant of the discovery was huge.

Fix the word form: The city is urbanization quickly.

Give the adverb form of sustainable and use it in a sentence.

What does the task word justify ask you to do?

What's the difference between describe and explain?

What does variable mean in a science investigation?

Give one example and one non-example of renewable energy.

More practice: warm-up

Name the noun form of justify.

Which task word asks you to judge how good or effective something is?

Which task word asks you to find things that are the same?

What part of speech is analytically?

Name the four parts of a Frayer word map.

More practice: on your own

Explain how function has different meanings in mathematics and biology.

Rewrite this answer so it analyzes rather than describes: "The poem is about winter. It has four stanzas. It mentions snow."

Choose the correct forms: The (vary / variable / variation) in temperatures was (significant / significance / significantly) greater in January.

Why is spaced review more effective than studying 20 new words once for an hour?

Write a sentence using conflict in its English-class meaning and one using it in its geography or history meaning.

Challenge

A test question says: "Assess the effectiveness of the town's recycling program. Justify your answer." Explain what the two task words require, and write a two-sentence opening.

Explain why understanding the word model in science can help you understand a mathematical model, and how they differ.

Make a complete Frayer word map (in words) for biodiversity.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which sentence uses the correct form?

The task word evaluate asks you to:

In a science investigation, a variable is:

Which is a non-example of sustainable?

Spaced review means:

Which word is the adverb?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: B2.2 asks students to understand a wide variety of words, and acquire and use explicitly taught vocabulary flexibly in various contexts, including other subject areas. This lesson focuses on word forms, task words and a learning system.

How to help at home: Ask your teen to show you one task word from any assignment and explain what it asks for. Quiz them on a few Word Bank words in the car or at dinner.

Common difficulties:

Wrong word form ("The analyze shows..."). Ask, "Is that word naming a thing or an action?"
Describing when asked to analyze or evaluate. Underlining the task word helps.
Learning words once and forgetting them. Spaced review and using words in conversation help them stick.