Study the word ROMP:
When you romp, you move around in a loud, rough, playful, silly way. Or, when you romp to a place, you move there in a fast, easy, silly way.
Romping is usually something that kids or animals do. If you look silly and you're making a mess, but you don't care because you're having fun and burning off your extra energy, you're probably romping.
Here's a goat romping around with a ball. We call this "romping" because it's playful behavior that's noisy and full of energy.
Romping is usually a little rough! It's NOT romping if you and your friends are talking normally as you build a sandcastle together. But it IS romping if you're pushing each other, falling over in the sand, and shouting loudly at each other. You're not mad, you're just wild: that's romping.
Finally, if you say that a book is a romp, or that a movie is a romp, or really that anything else is a romp, like a song or a vacation, you mean it's a fun, silly, crazy, lighthearted thing.
Study the word DISGUISE:
A guise is a way that something looks: a way that somebody appears. Now take the word "guise," and add "dis-," which means "off or away," and you get "disguise."
A disguise is something you wear that changes the way you look, so that others don't know it's you. This kid is wearing a disguise! With new glasses and a new nose, plus the crazy eyebrows and moustache, this kid is disguised as a totally different person.
We often say that someone or something is "in disguise," meaning they're wearing something that hides who or what they truly are. Below, Damian is in disguise. Because he's sneaked into an assembly for just girls, he's got to disguise his boyish face and hair.
If something bad or unlucky happens, but something good comes out of it, we sometimes call the bad thing "a blessing in disguise." That means it was really a good thing (or a blessing), but we couldn't tell at first because it seemed to be dressed up as a bad thing. In the book A Farewell to Arms, Henry gets injured, but at the hospital, he gets to spend time with his nurse, Catherine, who becomes the love of his life. You could say that his injury was a blessing in disguise.
"Disguise" is a verb, too. When you disguise something, you change the way it looks so that you can hide it or keep it a secret. For example, if you're bothered by the look of acne on your face, not to worry: you can disguise it with makeup. That means you apply makeup on top of the acne to hide it.
Sometimes, you have to disguise your feelings, or disguise your reactions. For example, if you're laughing when you're not supposed to, then you might disguise your laughter as a cough. Hmm, hmm, hmm—mm, mm. Heh, hmm, hmm. Hrm. Hrm... hrm.
Study the words DOUBT, DOUBTFUL, and DOUBTLESS:
If you doubt something, or if you have doubts, that means you think it's not true or that it won't happen.
Trixie says, "You're a lot like us!" Pharynx replies, "Doubt it!" He means, "Nope, I think that's NOT true: I'm NOT a lot like you."
In the movie Robots, Herb tells Rodney, "You've got greatness in you, Rodney. Never doubt it." That means, "Never think it's false that you've greatness in you. Never think it's untrue!"
If you’re doubtful, you’re thinking that something is not true or that something won’t happen. If you said, "Miss Liesl, I couldn't do my homework because I got sucked up in a tornado with 92 cows," then I would be doubtful!
If you doubt yourself, that means you don't believe in yourself: you don't think you're smart enough or strong enough to do something. If someone tells you, "Don't try out for the basketball team; you're not fast enough," then don't listen. Don't doubt yourself! Believe in yourself.
Something that's doubtless, or undoubted, is definitely true, or definitely will happen, and nobody questions it: nobody thinks it's false, or nobody thinks it won't happen. Lindsey's musical talent is undoubted. That means, nobody questions it: everybody knows that Lindsey is a talented musician. We often use "doubtless" as an adverb, like this: "Lindsey's show will doubtless amaze you." Or, "She will doubtless impress you with her performance."
Study the word SPLATTER:
When something wet splatters, that means it spills or sprays or splashes out all over the place. And a splatter is a messy spill of something liquid.
Check out how this pink paint splatters against the girl, the canvas, and the wall. What a wonderful mess! Now there are pink splatters all across the canvas and the wall.
Some kids love to get in the bathtub and splatter the water all over the walls and the floor. That makes a huge mess! And if you splash water onto your face like this, you'll probably splatter some on the counter and the floor.
I once splattered almost an entire bucket of dark gray paint onto a beige rug. It was a terrible mess! In the end, I couldn't clean up the splatters: all I could do was hide them!
Splattering is almost always very messy, and almost always an accident. Here's Jimmy splattering an egg on his face. Do you think he did it on accident?
Now, although splattering is usually an accident, you can also create art on purpose by splattering paint, like we saw a moment ago with the pink paint. And here's a splatterpainted sweatshirt. As you can see, the design suggests that someone has splattered the paint on purpose.
Study the words PURPOSE, PURPOSEFUL, and PURPOSELESS:
A purpose is somebody's goal or reason for doing something. In other words, a purpose is what a thing does, or why a person does what they do.
We could ask, what's the purpose of eyelashes? What do eyelashes do? Well, the purpose of eyelashes is to stop dust and other junk from getting into our eyes. That's their purpose: the reason we have them, the thing they do for us.
We could ask, why do ants always carry little things from place to place? What's their purpose for moving things around? What are they trying to do? Well, their purpose is probably to bring food home to their nest, or to move their stuff to a new nest.
In our kitchen, we keep the spices arranged in ABC order. Why? What's the purpose? Our purpose is to make it easy to find the spices we want.
(Source: original photo)
If you look inside the word "purpose," you can see how it has Latin bits that mean "(something) put or placed forward." The "pur-" bit means "forward," and the "pose" bit means "put or placed." Imagine that what you want is placed right in front of you, so you know what you're reaching for. You've got a purpose.
Something purposeful, or something done on purpose, is done for a reason. It's not done by accident or by mistake. When you do something on purpose, or when you do something purposefully, you knew what you were doing, and you meant to do it! There was no "oops" about it!
Someone threw a drink at this guy's face on purpose. They did it purposefully! (You can also say they did it "purposely," but that word is a little informal: it's fine to use it with your friends.)
Check out this guy's purposeful walk! When you know where you're going, you know what you're doing, you're standing straight and tall, and you're taking big, confident steps, then you have a purposeful walk. Your stride is purposeful. You might walk purposefully onto the soccer field, ready to play, or stride purposefully up the whiteboard, ready to solve a math problem.
If you have a purpose in life, or if you have a strong sense of purpose, that's wonderful. It means you know why you're alive! You know what you're doing with your life! You know what you want to accomplish in your life. You have purpose. And your life is purposeful.
The opposite of "purposeful" is "purposeless." Something purposeless is pointless: there's no reason for it. It's a waste of time! To me, it seems purposeless when a dog chases its tail. But what do I know? The dog must have its own purposes for doing it! And he probably thinks my spice drawer is purposeless!
5. The word that means "to think something isn't true or that it won't happen" is...
...
doubt.
Otter: Oh No, Bath Time!
Day 2: Understand
Let's understand how these words connect to our book!
Listen to each question, and decide which answer choice is correct. You can check your answer by clicking "Show Answer." If you make a mistake, don't worry! Just listen to the question again, then try again.
1. Remember: to romp is to play or move along in a goofy, noisy, crazy, messy, fun way.
(Source) In our book, Otter loves to romp in the mud. What does this mean?
A) It means that Otter plays freely and wildly outside, not caring how dirty he gets.
2. Remember: to disguise something is to make it look different so that no one realizes what it really is.
(Source) In our book, Otter wears a disguise. What does this mean?
B) It means that Otter dresses up as someone else, trying to hide from Otter Keeper.
3. Remember: to doubt something is to question it, or to think that it's maybe not true.
(Source) In our book, Otter doubts that he'll enjoy his bath. What does this mean?
B) It means that Otter thinks, "Hmm, no, I don't think the bath will be fun at all."
4. Remember: to splatter is to slosh or spill onto a surface, spreading out and making a big, wet mess.
(Source)
In our book, Otter splatters the walls and floor with bathwater. What does this mean?
A) It means that Otter sends big splashes of bathwater all over the place.
5. Remember: to do something on purpose is to do it because you meant to, because you wanted to.
(Source)
Near the end of our book, Otter gets muddy again on purpose! What does this mean?
A) It means that Otter splashes in the mud again intentionally, because he wants to take another bath.
Finally, let's understand how these words can connect to other situations!
Listen as I describe each situation, and shout out the vocabulary word that comes to mind. You can check your answer by clicking "Show Answer." Remember, if you make a mistake, don't worry! Just listen again, then try again.
1. Carefully, you open a new gallon of milk. With both hands you heave it onto the counter, then tilt it toward your empty cup. But as the cup topples unexpectedly to the ground, you lose your grip on the milk, and the gallon falls, bounces once on the counter, then hits the floor. There's a word that starts with S that describes what the milk does. What's the word?
splatters
2. You and your best friend are about to begin a game of checkers. You're both very good at this game, and you're excited and eager as you sit down together and shake hands. You focus hard on your strategy, feeling confident, as if you're totally sure that today, you'll win. You smile as you swiftly arrange the checkers onto the board. There's a word that starts with P that describes the way you set up the board. What's the word?
purposefully
3. On Halloween, you put on a rainbow wig, giant sunglasses, and a handlebar moustache. When you go trick or treating, your neighbors don't recognize you at all! There's a word that starts with D that describes what you're wearing. What's the word?
disguise
4. You're at a slumber party with your friends, and all of you are hyped up on frosted cupcakes and sugary juice. You're playing Twister, and you keep collapsing on each other on purpose, laughing loudly. One of your friends shouts, "Someone's feet are in my faaaaace!" There's a word that starts with R that describes what you and your friends are doing. What's the word?
romping
5. You're at a pizza party for your entire school, and there's a hot pile of 15 pizza boxes on the table, each holding an extra-large pizza, heavy with cheese and sauce. Your youngest friend walks up to this pile of pizza boxes, which towers over him, and he shouts, "I bet I can lift all these pizzas at once!" He stretches his skinny arms into the air. You frown as you look at your friend's tiny arms and the tall, heavy stack of pizza boxes. You say, "Uhhhh...?" There's a word that starts with D that describes how you feel. What's the word?
doubtful
Otter: Oh No, Bath Time!
Day 3: Illustrate
Grab some index cards, or open Quizlet.com. It's time to illustrate some flash cards!
If you're using index cards, write your word on the front, and on the back, write the definition and draw a picture: something that'll help you understand what the word means. If you're using Quizlet, simply add your words and definitions to your set, and choose any picture you like.
You can copy my definitions below, or you can write your own. And, you can use the pictures I've suggested, or pick your own.
When you're done illustrating your words, be sure to scroll down and tell me about the pictures you picked!
Term
Definition
Picture
romp
to play around, with big movements and loud noises
disguise
to hide things or people by making them look different
doubt
to think something isn't true or that it won't happen
splatter
to spill or slosh onto something and make a mess
purpose
why something exists, or why somebody is doing something
Tell me about your pictures!
Take your pictures one at a time, and tell me: what's in the picture, and how does it connect to the word? For example, let's say I just studied the word "frantic." I could write: "Mickey is throwing clothes into his suitcase as fast as he can. He's frantic because he's worried he'll be late."
For another example, let's say I just studied the word "triumphant." I could write: "The girl just won a contest, and she's holding a big trophy. That's why she's triumphant."
Let's see one more example! Let's say I just studied the word "dumbfounded." I could write: "This girl is dumbfounded because she sees a gigantic birthday cake that's taller than she is; now, she's so shocked that she doesn't know what to say." Maybe that's not REALLY what's happening, but it's okay to use your imagination!
Otter: Oh No, Bath Time!
Day 4: Apply
Today, you'll apply the vocabulary words to your own life! I'll help you write a sentence using each word that expresses your own thoughts, ideas, wishes, and experiences.
For each word below, write your own sentence. You can use either of the two ideas I'll suggest, or you can invent your own. Include as much detail as you can!
(Source) 1. Write a sentence with the word ROMP:
Remember: to romp is to play or move along in a goofy, noisy, crazy, messy, fun way.
Idea 1: "(Someone) and I romp in (the rain, the snow, or the water) (at a certain place), laughing loudly as we (do something silly)."
Idea 2: "You're not allowed to romp around (some place), because (of some reason)."
(Source) 2. Write a sentence with the word DISGUISE:
Remember: to disguise something is to make it look different so that no one realizes what it really is.
Idea 1: "To sneak into (some place or event), I disguise myself as (someone or something else)."
Idea 2: "When (something bad or unlucky happened), it turned out to be a blessing in disguise: (something good or lucky resulted)."
Idea 3: "If you don't like the taste of (some flavor or ingredient), you can disguise it by adding (some other flavor or ingredient)."
(Source) 3. Write a sentence with the word DOUBT:
Remember: to doubt something is to question it, or to think that it's maybe not true.
Idea 1: "Even if (something unlikely happens), I doubt that (something really, really unlikely will happen)."
Idea 2: "(Some specific thing) is undoubtedly the very best kind of (something)."
(Source) 4. Write a sentence with the word SPLATTER:
Remember: to splatter is to slosh or spill onto a surface, spreading out and making a big, wet mess.
Idea 1: "Rain splattered onto our faces as we (did something), (singing or laughing wildly)."
Idea 2: "As I struggled to carry the (container of some sort), it was so full of (some kind of liquid or sauce) that some of it splattered onto (my shirt, or the floor)."
(Source) 5. Write a sentence with the word PURPOSE:
Remember: a purpose is why you're doing something: it's what you want, or what you get out of it.
Idea 1: "The purpose of (some club, class, or activity) is to (learn or practice something)."
Idea 2: "When you play (some game or sport), you're trying to win by (doing something), but the real purpose is to have fun."
When you're ready, paste your sentences into the form below. Now is a good time to read your sentences out loud, and think, "Do I like my sentence? Does it sound good? Do I need to fix anything? Could I add any more details?"
Otter: Oh No, Bath Time!
Day 5: Free-Write
You've studied hard! Today, before you write, please take a few minutes to play with your flash cards.
Try looking at your pictures and recalling your words. Be sure to say them out loud! If your flash cards are in Quizlet, play the Match game.
When you feel comfortable with all your words, you're ready to write!
Pick one topic below:
Look through your flash card deck of all the words you've studied recently. First, which word in your deck best connects to the book Otter: Oh No, Bath Time!? How does it connect? Next, which word connects second-best, and how? Finally, which word totally does NOT connect to Otter: Oh No, Bath Time!, and why?
In our book, Otter and Teddy love to romp in their yard. What's your favorite place to romp? Maybe it's a yard, a park, a playground, or even an indoor space, like a gym or a basement. Tell me all about your favorite place to romp, and tell me how you like to play there.
When you're done with your draft, look through your flash card deck of all the words you’ve studied recently, and pick one word that could fit into your paragraph. Add it in.
Look through your flash card deck of all the words you’ve studied recently, and pick three words that seem fun or weird. Use these three words to tell me a story about how you and Otter make a huge mess. Your story can be as realistic or magical as you like.
When you're all done, it's a good idea to take a little break! Come back later, and paste your first draft (above) into the box below.
Read your work out loud, and think, "Do I like this? Does it sound good? Do I need to fix anything? Could I add any more details?" Please try for three or more sentences.
When you're happy with your second draft below, click the Submit button.
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