2 B TOTALLY LITERATE

WORK ON WORDS
A Vocabulary Builder

Accompanying The Red Well-Read Reader

CELESTIAL BOUND With Heart n Mind Entwined

How Should This Book Be Used?

Unlike its two companion workbooks, Play Onwardswhich have a blank space for each missing letterthis workbook has a blank space for each missing word. This feature makes Work On Words somewhat more difficult. And because these exercises do not provide contextual cluesi.e. sentencesthe difficulty is compounded. Therefore, students should not begin doing theses exercises until they have gained proficiency on the easier exercises in Play Onwards, Volumes 1 & 2. With parental or teacher support and by applying themselves just a little harder, students should be able to handle the exercises of this workbook without undue difficulty. All that is required is some confidence and a realistic expectation not to be able to recognize all, or even most, of the words on the first attempt. Depending on the age of the child and the vigilance that parents can provide to expound on the various vocabulary words, the exercises of Work On Words should be done two or three times in the course of as many years. Before beginning any exercise, determine how many exercises you plan to do for the current session and then print out the necessary pages. Next, download the free textto-speech software from http://naturalreaders.com and put their miniboard on your computer screen. (As with the two companion workbooks, the Read Out Loud function found on this PDF document does not work adequately with this format.) Students should start every exercise by listening to all of the red vocabulary words, slowly and one at a time. Next, they should listen to the first of the several selections and attempt to match it with the correct word above. If unable to do so, they should simply move to the next selection. Irrespective of the number of blanks left unfilled, they should progress to the next exercise. Using the process of elimination may be helpful merely to fill in the blanks indiscrimatively to complete an exercise, but not alwayssome of the vocabulary words are often used twice or thrice. Hence, all work must be monitored closely by a parent/teacher. Because this workbook, as well as the other two workbooks, contains virtually every monosyllabic word and many of their numerous meanings, a parent/teacher should be near at hand to answer students many questions. Whats more, some of the words are rarely heard and certainly not in everyones vocabulary. Thus, having a dictionary, preferably an unabridged one, within reach is advisable; or if you are online, simply right click the word in question, and prestoif will be defined by http://dictionary.com.

Notes
The correct choice of word is usually a synonym, but now and then it may be either a description or an example. Italicized suffixes signify that the appropriate vocabulary word takes on this form. Often this requires a modification of the spelling, e.g. scathing. Italicized vocabulary words signify a pronunciation different from the other words in its grouping. Virtually all of the vocabulary words are pronounced correctly; however, due to the limitation of text-to-speech software to distinguish between homonyms, an occasional word in the selections has an aberrant pronunciation. The several words that are highlighted in gray signify a homonym that should be pronounced as the other words in its grouping but has an aberrant pronunciation due to the limitations mentions above. In a few instances there are two groups of vocabulary words with the same ending spelling but a different pronunciation; hence, the second group is underlined. The tilde (~) stands for any deleted word.

Laughing while Learning, Striving to Better Educate America!

Published by Celestial Bound Greenville, South Carolina

To order: www.2btotalllyliterate.com

Work On Words by McGann, Thomas Daniel. Copyright 1993-2010. ISBN 0-938761-14-6. All rights reserved. Except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher. This edition is a modification of same title 1993 by same publisher doing business as Word Play.

Work On Words Exercise 1 blab to complain __________ cab crab dab drab dull or colorless __________ a shellfish __________ taxi __________ a small amount, pat __________ to reveal a secret __________ swab, daub; a light tap __________

lab

jab

nab

grab

gab

jabber, chatter __________ workroom __________

to catch a crook __________ a punch __________

to take hold __________

scab

slab

stab

tab

crust of a wound __________

a label __________

to pierce with a knife __________ a thick irregular piece (as a ~ of butter or concrete) __________ to take a chance __________ a bill, chit, or check __________

Work On Words

Exercise 2 back a color __________ black clack flack jack behind __________

car lift __________ fragments of a grenade __________ a harsh metallic sound (as made by a car chains striking the road) __________ criticism; hostile reaction __________

knack

crack

hack

lack

pack

a slight break, split or fissure __________ less than enough __________

to chop out __________

a cab driver __________ a group of wolves __________ know-how; hang of it __________

quack

sack

slack

shack

a shed, hut, hovel __________ a fake or pretender, esp. one pretending to be a doctor __________ a bag __________ duck sound __________ loose __________ to fire a person from his job __________

Work On Words rack track smack snack

running surface __________ shelves or a stand for holding things __________ a loud kiss __________ a light meal __________ to hit or strike __________ to follow, trail or pursue __________ a device used to torture a person by stretching ones limbs __________

stack

tack

thwack

wrack

whack

a pile __________ a small nail __________ to break up and be in ruins (as a ship wrecked) __________ ed to strike or hit __________ to hem or stitch up __________ a loud sound __________, __________ changing direction (as when steering a sailboat) __________ to act with diplomacy __________

flak

yak

claque a group hired to applaud __________

plaque

grenade fragments or shrapnel __________ a hairy beast of burden __________ film of bacteria on teeth __________ an award (a lacquered board often with a metal name plate) __________

Work On Words Exercise 3 tract pact fact act tact perform __________ a stretch or parcel of land __________

an agreement __________ cannot be denied (as 2+2=4) __________ knowing what, when, and how to talk so as to endear yourself to others __________ Exercise 4 ad brad dad clad bad advertisement __________ father __________ a small nail __________ Brad had naughty __________ dressed, clothed __________ glad fad cad

a craze __________

happy __________

owned __________ a boy who doesn't treat girls with due respect __________ a boy's name __________ grad tad not a gentleman, a rogue or heel __________ sad mad lad add

a graduate __________ a small amount __________

a young boy __________ crazy; angry __________

very sorry; grieved __________ 1 + 2 = 3 __________

Work On Words

pad

shad

scad

plaid

bade

a large number __________ a kind of fish __________

cushion __________ checkered design __________

tablet __________ slang: an apartment, flat __________ to have bid a greeting __________

Exercise 5 badge fadge cadge a metallic emblem (such as a cops ~) __________ to bum or beg __________ an Irish potato pie __________

Exercise 6 staff gaff chaff a spear or lance __________ fodder; hay or straw without the kernels or seeds __________ group of leaders, faculty __________ laugh graph staph half calf

a chart __________

baby cow __________

an infection __________ one of two equal parts __________ to he-haw or guffaw __________

Work On Words gaffe giraffe carafe

a wine vessel or bottle; a decanter __________ a social blunder __________ an African animal __________

Exercise 7 aft shaft raft draft waft

a light breeze __________ to draw up __________

the rear of a boat __________ a mine opening __________

to select or induct (as into the Army) __________ ed a water vessel or boat __________ a sudden puff or gust of wind __________ a heap, a batch; many things to do __________

Taft

craft

haft

daft

a former president& Supreme Court justice __________ silly or foolish; batty, bonkers __________ art-like (such as basket weaving or ceramics) __________ the handle of a weapon or tool __________

Work On Words

Exercise 8 crag sack __________ bag brag drag boast, crow __________ a jagged rocky cliff __________

pull along __________

hag

lag

flag

gag

choke __________ a screw or bolt __________ fall behind __________ to hail a taxi __________ a practical joke __________

witch; an ugly, evil-looking old woman __________

slag

sag

nag

rag droop __________

a piece of cloth __________ dross, volcanic ash __________

a worn-out old horse __________

to scold or to habitually find fault __________

snag label __________

tag

wag

stag

male deer __________

move back and forth (as a tail) __________ a joker or jester __________ a game __________ to become caught (as a hook in a rocky lake bottom) __________ ged without a companion; to go alone (as to a dance) __________

Work On Words Exercise 9 bam clam cram dam damn a kind of shellfish __________ to stop water __________

to stuff into __________ a gun sound __________ to be sentenced to Satan's home __________ ed to study hard for an exam __________

slam

ham

jam

graham

ma'am

jelly __________

from a pig __________ a tight situation __________

to shut hard __________ a kind of cracker __________ a lady __________

ram

yam

scam

scram

a male sheep __________

sweet potato __________

to butt into __________ go away, buzz off, scat __________ a scheme to swindle or make money dishonestly __________

Work On Words Spam swam tram wham jamb lamb

to have swum __________ processed ham __________ a loud sound __________

a young sheep __________ door frame __________

train, streetcar, trolley __________

Exercise 10 amp camp cramp champ victor or winner __________ muscle ache __________ hamper, hinder __________ sleep out __________

an electrical measure; ampere __________ forced tightly together __________ chomp; chafe at the bit __________

damp

clamp

lamp

ramp

dank or wet __________

to bind tightly __________

a light fixture __________ an animal standing on its rear legs in fury __________ slanted runway __________ a vegetable (wild leeks) __________ s to speed up, increase, or increase (such as ~ up the engines to full speed) __________

Work On Words scamp stamp tamp tramp

to pound down or compact soil (as around a fencepost)__________ to stomp __________ , __________ a rascal, scalawag, rapscallion __________ postage __________ a vagabond, bum or hobo __________ to walk, tread or step heavily __________ Exercise 11 ban bran can clan husks of cereal grain __________ a metal container __________

a kindred group, tribe __________ to prohibit, forbid, outlaw __________

fan

man

pan

scan

a fully-grown boy __________ to make a breeze __________

a cooking utensil __________ to read over, skim __________

a critical review (such as of a movie) __________ an ardent admirer, a devotee, an enthusiast ( such as of a sport) __________ shown by a rotating TV camera (as to ~ a football stadium end to end) __________ span plan ran van

a have run __________ to bridge __________ to think ahead __________ a vehicle __________ forefront, vanguard __________

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