Category Archives: English Language Arts

Though it’s usefulness in the high school classroom may be dubious, here, nonetheless, is a context clues worksheet on the adjective stentorian. It means, simply, “extremely loud.” Unless this word is useful in, say, a forensics team lesson or anything else related to formal debate, I don’t know where or why to teach it. It’s not exactly a high-frequency word in English. I assume I wrote this because at some point it was the Word of the Day at Merriam-Webster.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

It’s the Word of the Day at Merriam-Webster, so here is a context clues on the verb lollygag. It means, variously but in same vein, “fool around,” “dawdle,” and (from the Word of the Day page itself) “to fool around and waste time” and “to spend time doing things that are not useful.” The verb is only used intransitively, so it will never take a direct object: you don’t lollygag something, you just lollygag.

I understand this slangy word isn’t at the top of the list of the lexicon we need students to accumulate in high school. Nonetheless, with its onomatopoetic character, even charm, it has its virtues. In any case, as a sometimes workaholic (the respectable addiction), I want to make the case for lollygagging as an occasional and necessary part of life.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.