Children of the Wild WestVocabulary Activities

Suggestions for vocabulary words in each of the seven chapters.

Chapter 1: Photographers of the Wild West

Crude Exposed

(photographic context)

Luminous Glimpse

Chapter 2: Going West Plodding Trudged Schooner Sentries Emigrants Transcontinental Crucial Desolate Plateau Hoisted Skirmishes

Chapter 3: Settling Down Surging Miring Forty-niners Treaties Fertile Gingham Boisterous Cosmopolitan

Chapter 7: Games, Parties, and Celebrations

Stagecoach Itinerant Slapstick Melodrama Amateur Calliopes Roustabouts

Chapter 4: The American Indians

Ferried Homely Intricate Quillwork Cradleboard Ridiculed Belittled Primitive Savage Reservations Exiled Epidemics Immunity Guerrilla war Reprisals Massacres Atrocities

Chapter 5: Frontier Schools

Adobe Piety Almanac Compulsory Ingenious

Chapter 6: Building the West Adjacent Obliged Skulking Timber Gunnysacks Turpentine Ramshackle Sprightly

Name: _____________________________________________ Date: ___________________________

Children of the Wild WestChapter 1: Frontier Photographers

Vocabulary Activity

Write the dictionary definition: Use it in a sentence:

Write a synonymous word:

Write an antonym:

Draw a picture:

Write the dictionary definition: Use it in a sentence:

Write a synonymous word:

Write an antonym:

Draw a picture:

Crude

Exposed

Write the dictionary definition: Use it in a sentence:

Write a synonymous word:

Write an antonym:

Draw a picture:

Write the dictionary definition: Use it in a sentence:

Write a synonymous word:

Write an antonym:

Draw a picture:

Luminous

Glimpse

Name: __________________________________________________ Date: _____________________

Children of the Wild WestChapter 2: Going WestVocabulary in Context

Word: What do you think it means?

Part of Speech:

Dictionary Check: Matches my meaning Different from my meaning (Reread and revise your definition)

What is it not like?

Emigrants

Skirmishes

Crucial

Transcontinental

Name: __________________________________________________ Date: _____________________

Children of the Wild WestChapter 3: Settling Down

Vocabulary: Context Clues

Surging: to rise, roll, move, or swell forward in or like waves Miring: becoming stuck or entangled in mud or mire Forty-niners: a person, especially a prospector, who went to California in 1849 during the gold

rush Treaties: a formal agreement between two or more states in reference to peace, alliance,

commerce, or other international relations Fertile: bearing, producing, or capable of producing vegetation, crops, etc. Gingham: yarn-dyed, plain-weave cotton fabric, usually striped or checked Boisterous: rough and noisy; noisily jolly or rowdy; clamorous; unrestrained Cosmopolitan: sophisticated, urbane, developed city

Directions: Fill in the blanks with your vocabulary words. Be sure to use context clues to correctly place the words in the text.

In the 1800s, the United States made several __________________________ with Native

American tribes to ensure peace. This encouraged settlers and emigrants to claim their own

_________________ land in the west. In California, _____________________________________ came

to find gold in the mountains. People began _________________________ across the continent to have

more space, run a homestead, or just to take part in an adventure! On their journey, emigrants had to

leave their homes in the ___________________________ cities of New York, Richmond, and

Philadelphia. They traveled in _______________________, rough, and dirty wagon trains across prairies,

forests, deserts, and mountains. When they encountered rivers, many livestock had trouble

________________________ down in the soft riverbed. By the end of the journey, many

_________________________ shirts and dresses were ruined by the long, hard journey.

Name: __________________________________________________ Date: _____________________

Children of the Wild WestChapter 4: The American Indians

Vocabulary: Sort

FerriedHomelyIntricate

QuillworkCradleboard

RidiculedBelittledPrimitiveSavage

ReservationsExiled

EpidemicsImmunity

Guerrilla warReprisals

MassacresAtrocities

How do the above words fit together? Arrange them into three categories.

Name: __________________________________________________ Date: _____________________

Children of the Wild West

Label: Label: Label:

Vocabulary Words:

Other words that might fit into this category:

Vocabulary Words:

Other words that might fit into this category:

Vocabulary Words:

Other words that might fit into this category:

Chapter 5: Frontier SchoolsVocabulary Definitions

Directions: Look up the following words from Chapter 5 in the dictionary. Use context clues within the text to help you select the correct definition.

Name: __________________________________________________ Date: _____________________

Children of the Wild WestChapter 6: Building the West

Vocabulary: Your Choice!

Chapter 5

Adobe

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Piety

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Almanac

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Compulsory

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Ingenious

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Directions: As you read chapter 6, find four interesting, unknown, or unusual words from the text. Fill in the charts below.

New Word: Dictionary Definition:

Picture to help remember the meaning: Why did you select this word?

New Word: Dictionary Definition:

Picture to help remember the meaning: Why did you select this word?

New Word: Dictionary Definition:

Picture to help remember the meaning: Why did you select this word?

New Word: Dictionary Definition:

Picture to help remember the meaning: Why did you select this word?

Name: __________________________________________________ Date: _____________________

Children of the Wild WestChapter 7: Games, Parties, and Celebrations

Vocabulary: Alphaboxes

Directions: Find a new, unfamiliar, or interesting word for each letter of the alphabet. If the definition is unknown, look it up using a dictionary and copy the correct definition down in the box.

A B C D E

F G H I J

K L M N O

P Q R S T

U V W X Y/Z