CONTEXT (based on Password)

Overview
This activity relies on students' ability both to create good context sentences, and to determine the meanings of words from their contexts. Students compete in teams, with the highest point values awarded for an ability to guess a word's meaning based on the most limited context. As more context clues are added, a word's point value goes down.
Procedures
1. The students organize into 5 teams of equal size. Each team then divides in half, with 2-3 members on each team division. Each team division then sits facing its teammates on opposite sides of the room, so that they cannot hear one another's planning. For instance, a class of 24 students might divide itself into 5 teams, with the makeup being: Team #1 - ABCD; Team #2 - EFGHI; Team #3 - JKLMN; Team #4 - OPQRS; and Team #5 - TUVWX. The teams would then split in half, with the team divisions lined up along opposite walls facing each other. Students A and B from Team #1, therefore, would group together against one wall, and face their teammates C and D, who would group together against the wall opposite them. Students E and F from Team #2 would group together a few feet from A and B, and face their teammates G, H and I. The rest of the teams would divide and station themselves accordingly. This set up procedure is very unconventional, and requires several minutes to arrange at the beginning of the period; some students have a hard time understanding that some of their teammates will be across the room. A little patience will help get this activity off to a smooth and well organized start. [NOTE: INCLUDE GRAPHIC]
2. The teacher would then take a word from the activity word list, and provide a copy of the word and its definition to each of the team divisions lined along one of the walls. (It doesn't matter which wall you start with, since the roles will later be reversed.) For example, if A&B, EF&G, JK&L, OP&Q, and TU&V are lined up along one wall, facing their teammates, you might start the activity by providing each of these five groups with a word and its definition from the activity word list, such as "aprosexia," which means the inability to concentrate. Simultaneously, their partners across the room will be given a different word, perhaps "cornigerous," meaning "having horns." The teams will need several minutes to make up a context sentence which they hope will lead their teammates to guess the correct definition of the word. The context sentence has two limitations: it may not include a definition of the word, and it may not exceed 12 words in length. In preparing their sentences, the students should not speak loudly enough for the students sitting across the room to hear them. Each team should check its sentence with the teacher, to make sure that is uses the word properly and to make sure that it conforms to the rules.
3. When each team has created its sentence, the competition begins. Team #1 starts with students A&B reading their context sentence. Students C&D have one minute to guess the word's meaning. Should they succeed, Team #1 receives 50 points. Should they fail, Team #2's EF&G read their sentence. Students H&I have one minute to guess the word's meaning. Should they succeed, Team #2 receives 40 points. Should they fail, Team #3 proceeds in this fashion, with 30 points awarded for a correct guess. Should they fail, Team #4 tries for a 20 point reward; should they fail, Team #5 tries for a 10 point reward. Whenever a team correctly guesses a definition, a new round begins, with the teams rotating in order. On Round 1, Team #1 goes first; on Round 2, Team #2 goes first; etc.
4. After the first two rounds are over, the teacher should distribute the words for Rounds 3, 4, and 5. This means that the partners arranged on one side of the room will work on two context sentences, while the partners on the other side work on one. When the students have completed their sentences and checked them with the teacher, the class may proceed with Rounds 3, 4, and 5, with Team #3 going first in Round 3, Team #4 going first in Round 4, and Team #5 going first in Round 5. Usually, five rounds plus a Championship Round will fill a class period.
5. In the Championship Round, the teams with the 2 highest point totals "play off" for the championship. Divisions from both teams would be given the same word, and would have 3 minutes to come up with three context sentences. The team with the highest total would go first, with 60 points awarded for a correct guess. The teams would alternate reading their context sentences, with a 60-50-40-30-20-10 point value, until one team correctly guesses the word's meaning. Then, the same procedure is applied to a second word, with the second place team going first. Following this round, add the Championship Round points to the regular Context totals and declare a champion.
Condensed Procedures for Context
1. Students form teams of 4-5, then each team splits and lines up facing teammates from opposite side of class.
2. Distribute the word and its meaning to each team division on one side of the room; then give a second word and meaning to the team divisions on the other side of the room.
3. Each team writes a sentence that will help their teammates understand the word's meaning. Rules: Sentences must be 12 words or fewer, and cannot include a definition of the word. Students can check their sentences with the teacher for suggestions.
4. Round #1:
Team #1 reads sentence, teammates have one minute to guess the word's meaning. 50 points for a correct answer. If incorrect,
Team #2 reads sentence, teammates have one minute to guess the word's meaning. 40 points for a correct answer. If incorrect,
Team #3 reads sentence, teammates have one minute to guess the word's meaning. 30 points for a correct answer. If incorrect,
Team #4 reads sentence, teammates have one minute to guess the word's meaning. 20 points for a correct answer. If incorrect,
Team #5 reads sentence, teammates have one minute to guess the word's meaning. 10 points for a correct answer.
5. Round #2: Repeat procedures using the sentences developed by students on the other side of the room. Team #2 goes first for 50 points, Team #3 second for 40 points, etc.
6. Rounds #3-5: Distribute three new words and repeat steps #2 and #3. The only difference will be that students on one side of the room will develop sentences for two words.
7. Championship Round: The two groups with the highest scores compete. Each team gets the same word and makes up three sentences that include it. The team with the highest score goes first. Award 60 points if the first team guesses the meaning correctly, 50 points if the second team guesses correctly, and so on. The round ends when a team guesses the meaning of the word; add the point value from the Championship Round to the regular round points for the winner.
METHOD #1
CONTEXT LIST
pulchritude - beauty
aproterodont - absence of front teeth
sapid - mouth-watering
mansuetude - gentleness
leonine - like a lion
vulpine - like a fox
lupine - like a wolf
taurine - like a bull
cornigerous - having horns
polyphagous - one who eats anything
egregious - conspicuously bad
serpiginous - creeping, spreading
funabulist - tightrope walker
quidnunc - nosy person
oleaginous - oily
omnilegent - reading everything
fustigate - to criticize severely
quotidian - happening every day
vermicular - like a worm
morsicant - crazy
inosculate - blend
coriaceous - resembling leather
pusillanimous - cowardly
cunctation - delay, procrastination
esperance - hope
fabaceous - related to or resembling a bean
oniomania - irresistible urge to buy things
bellibone - good and beautiful woman
avuncular - like an uncle
aprosexia - inability to concentrate
anabiosis - revival after apparent death
adulation - extravagant praise
alliaceous - smelling or tasting like garlic
abnegate - to deny oneself of something
chrematophobia - fear of money
decorticate - to peel
defenestrate - to throw something out of a window
discalceate - barefoot
ephemeral - lasting a short time
equitation - the act of horse-riding
formication - the feeling that bugs are crawling all over you
galactophagous - drinking milk
hebetate - to grow dull or stupid
homunculus - dwarf
intumescent - swelling
limaceous - sluglike
noetic - having to do with the intellect
nugatory - having no value
oscitation - the act of not paying attention
otiose - serving no useful purpose
plenilunary - pertaining to the full moon
rebarbative - repulsive
redivivus - restored to life or liveliness
rodomontade - empty or arrogant boasting
sesquipedalian - pertaining to very long words
spurious - false ideas
suggilate - to bruise
susurrant - gently whispering and rustling
tetragram - four-letter word
ultracrepidarian - going too far, intruding in someone else's business
umbriferous - shady
undulating - moving like a wave
uxorious - overly fond of a wife
vapulation - flogging
vellicate - twitch
velocipede - vehicle propelled by the rider's feet
veneration - great respect and reverence
veracious - truthful
voracious - greedy

            METHOD #2
Context is an activity that you can use successfully with any chapter of VCBS since all you need to do beforehand is prepare a list of words from the chapter of your choice. We find Chapter 2, "Learning New Words from the Context," particularly effective since students use the same techniques described in this chapter both to create good context sentences and to infer the meanings of words in a session of Context. The Method #2 procedure for conducting a session Context is identical to Method #1, and preparation is similar.
Prior to the game, your first step again will be choosing words from the desired chapter. One alternative to Method #1 which you may wish to try is dividing the words into different rounds corresponding to their degree of difficulty, just as you would with Strategy and Root It Out. Finally, you will copy the words and their definitions to give to students during the course of the game.
One final note on preparation: For ease in organization and distribution, you may wish to copy the words and their definitions onto slips of paper and place all the words for a particular round into a separate envelope. For example, if the Round One word is "lapse," you would place five copies of the word and its definition (one for each team) in an envelope marked "Round #1." Separating the words into envelopes is especially helpful from Round 3 on when teams are composing context sentences for more than one round at a time.
The following words and definitions from Chapter 2 of VCBS are grouped by degree of difficulty into six rounds of play plus a Championship Round. Although you will use only one word per round, we have suggested several words for each round so that you can choose the words most appropriate for your purposes.
METHOD #2
CONTEXT LIST
Round One Words
baffle - bewilder
despise - loathe
detriment - damage, disadvantage
finicky - hard to please
folly - lack of good sense
hamper - interfere with
intact - kept or left whole
lapse - accidental mistake
probe - investigation
scuffle - fight
Round Two Words
excruciating - unbearably painful
expertise - expertness
haggle - argue over a price
impediment - hindrance, defect
insomnia - inability to sleep
invalid - having no force, void
rejuvenate - make young again
scrutinize - examine very closely
snub - insult, rebuff
unruffled - not agitated
Round Three Words
acquit - pronounce not guilty
detonate - explode, cause to explode
gullible - easily deceived
oblivious - forgetful
residue - remainder
replenish - refill
score - twenty
sweltering - oppressively hot
wager - bet
wane - descrease gradually in size
Round Four Words
admonish - warn of a fault
gall - irritate mentally, vex
noncarcinogenic - not cancer-producing
render - deliver, give
retort - reply quickly or sharply; a quick, sharp reply
subvert - undermine
supersede - force out of use, displace
surveillance - close watch
suture - stitch
unwittingly - inadvertently, by accident
Round Five Words
consign - hand over
exhort - urge
inane - silly, pointless
nettlesome - irritating
peruse - read
prodigious - enormous
spurn - reject
stipend - salary
tepid - lukewarm
unwieldy - bulky
Round Six Words
abhorrent - loathsome, repugnant
ambrosial - exceptionally pleasing to taste or smell
effrontery - shameless boldness
forbearance - leniency, patience
indolent - lazy
parsimonious - stingy
raze - demolish
repast - meal
reticent - inclined to be silent
tractable - capable of being controlled
Championship Round Words
ameliorate - become better, improve
ebullient - overflowing with enthusiasm
ephemeral - fleeting, short-lived
indemnify - reimburse
Occident - West
salutary - beneficial