compete
The kids in his class keep an eye on each other's reading levels, indicated by colors assigned by the teacher. The information isn't advertised, but they all know anyway from sneaking peeks into each other's notebooks and folders; the competitiveness is fierce, even at this young age. Instead of asking him where he stands in relation to the other kids, I tell him to focus on his own progress. And he really has improved. He's less prone to skipping over words he doesn't know or mumbling them quietly. Instead, he stops, tries to pronounce them (out loud or to himself), and asks if he doesn't know. He's starting to dip into simple chapter books. Does the competitiveness help? If it gets students to read more and maybe enjoy reading too, does it matter?
monkeying
In the game of monkey in the middle, it seems there are two monkeys, and neither is in the middle.
placid
On a lazy holiday afternoon, I'm reading in the sunshine.
salverform
Discovering delicate purple crocuses among the daffodils.
stuffed
Food is coming out of my pores, I'm so full.
terrene
He spins the globe as a self-soothing mechanism. The sound of the world rattling around and around calms him.
theatrical
She's memorized the book so she can read it to me even without knowing all the words. Then she can focus more on the acting: belting out dialogue in different voices or speaking in a stage whisper.
