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Illustrations by Lance Lekander; Real-Life Word Nerd Photo Courtesy of Family

Word Nerd / One Word, Three Ways

Weird, Wild, and Wonderful Words

From the October/November 2021 Issue

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The Adventures of The Word Nerd    

Tyler Maxwell used to be a typical boy. But one day, a 10-pound dictionary fell on his head.

Luckily, he survived. But now Tyler can use only the biggest, hardest words there are. His friends don’t understand him. Can you help?

Directions: Use a dictionary to help you figure out what Tyler is trying to say. Write your answer on a separate piece of paper.

Lance Lekander

I caterwauled when a bee whizzed toward me with its razor-sharp stinger.

One Word, Three Ways   

Look at how these curious aliens use our word of the issue, trace. It can mean:

  1. something that shows someone was in a certain place;
  2. to follow a path made by someone or something; or
  3. a little bit.

Lance Lekander

  1. Look! I have found a trace of human life!
  2. Let’s trace these footprints to find the humans.
  3. Meet the humans?! That makes me a trace nervous.

This article was originally published in the October/November 2021 issue.

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