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

One Word, 3 Ways / Root Power!

Weird, Wild, and Wonderful Words

By Della Herden

From the February 2025 Issue

Featured Skill: Vocabulary and Grammar,

The Story
Resources

One Word, 3 Ways

Look how this friendly ghost uses the word of the issue, spirit.

Even though I’m a spirit, real kids like to play with me.

After all, I’m friendly and have a lot of spirit.

Parents don’t like me though. They always spirit their children away when they see me.

Spirit can mean:

a ghost or supernatural being
courage, determination, and energy
to carry off, often secretly or mysteriously

Wild Word Challenge!

The word spirit appears in this issue’s play. Can you find it and determine which meaning is used there?

Root Power!

Meet Lexie! She time traveled from the ancient world and landed in Storyworks. Lexie loves words—especially ones with Greek and Latin roots. Today she’s using words with the Greek root phil. That means love. Can you figure out the meaning of each orange word below?

Lexie: Traveling is one of my favorite activities. My philosophy is that it’s the best way to learn new things.

Lexie: As a bibliophile, my first stop has to be a bookstore.

Lexie: My next stop is the post office to get a gift for my philatelist friend, Phil. He’s always updating his stamp collection.

Write to Win

What root should Lexie use next? Find three words that contain the same Greek or Latin root of your choice. Then write a sentence for each word (or create a comic that features your words). Entries must be submitted to “Root Power Contest” by a teacher, parent, or legal guardian.* Students whose entries are chosen for a future issue will receive a prize! Visit the Storyworks Contests page for more information.

^{*Entries must be written by a student in grades 2-8 and submitted by their teacher, parent, or legal guardian, who will be the entrant and must be a legal resident of the U.S. age 18 or older. See the Digital Resource Guide or visit storyworks.scholastic.com/contests for details.}