The Learning Network - The Learning Network Blog (2024)

Updated: Sept. 23, 2016

Students

1. After looking closely at the image above (or at the full-size image), think about these three questions:

• What is going on in this picture?
• What do you see that makes you say that?
• What more can you find?

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adorn • \ə-ˈdȯrn\ • verb

1. make more attractive by adding ornament, color, etc.
2. be beautiful to look at
3. furnish with power or authority; of kings or emperors

The word adorn has appeared in 106 New York Times articles in the past year, including on Aug. 14 in the Footsteps column “How to Find the Spirit of H.P. Lovecraft in Providence” by Noel Rubinton:

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parsimony • \ˈpär-sə-ˌmō-nē\ • noun

1. extreme stinginess
2. extreme care in spending money; reluctance to spend money unnecessarily

The word parsimony has appeared in three New York Times articles in the past year, including on Sept. 18 in the review “ Wadsworth Atheneum, a Masterpiece of Renovation” by Roberta Smith:

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In conjunction with our Second Annual Student Editorial Contest, we’re featuring this Reader Idea submitted by Ahlam Yassin, who used our resources to teach students how to think critically about editorial cartoons and how to make their own cartoons.

Do you teach, or learn, with The Times? Tell us about it here.

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silt • \ˈsilt\ • noun and verb

noun: mud or clay or small rocks deposited by a river or lake
verb: become chocked with silt

The word silt has appeared in 18 New York Times articles in the past year, including on Nov. 15 in the Magazine article “The Secrets in Greenland’s Ice Sheet” by Jon Gertner:

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carcinogenic • \ˌkär-sə-nō-ˈje-nik\ • adjective

: causing or tending to cause cancer

The word carcinogenic has appeared in 18 New York Times articles in the past year, including on Sept. 22 in “VW’s Recall Troubles May Have Little Effect on China, Its Largest Market” by Keith Bradsher:

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inequity • \(ˌ)i-ˈne-kwə-tē\ • noun

: injustice by virtue of not conforming with rules or standards

The word inequity has appeared in 72 New York Times articles in the past year, including on June 22 in the Magazine article “The Prosecutor and the President” by James Verini:

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Updated: Sept. 16, 2016

Welcome back, students and teachers.

We are excited to begin our fifth year of What’s Going On in This Picture?, and we are thrilled that it continues to be one of the most popular features we offer. Teachers tell us they use it for everything from helping students strengthen their skills in finding evidence to encouraging English language-learning students to practice speaking aloud.

We hope students will continue to join our moderators at Visual Thinking Strategies in responding to other students, making the feature truly an interschool conversation. Below, we explain all the directions we post on Mondays with each new photo.

Thank you for participating.

Students

1. After looking closely at the image above (or at the full-size image), think about these three questions:

• What is going on in this picture?
• What do you see that makes you say that?
• What more can you find?

Readmore…

prosody • \ˈprä-sə-dē, -zə-\ • noun

1. the study of poetic meter and the art of versification
2. a system of versification
3. the patterns of stress and intonation in a language

The word prosody has appeared in eight New York Times articles in the past year, including on July 22 in the book review “Time-Traveling Poems Consider the Self in Its Many Guises” by Joel Brouwer:

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leery • \ˈlir-ē\ • adjective

: openly distrustful and unwilling to confide

The word leery has appeared in 85 New York Times articles in the past year, including on Sept. 5 in “ ‘Gaps of Trust’ With Russia Bar a Syrian Truce, Obama Says” by Mark Landler:

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