Article
Illustrations by Lance Lekander
Vocab Lab,

One Word, 3 Ways / Root Power

Weird, Wild, and Wonderful Words

photo of della herden
By Della Herden
From the March/April 2025 Issue
Featured Skill: Vocabulary and Grammar,
Standards
  • Common Core
    Anchor: L.4, L.5, L.6 Grade 4: L.4.4, L.4.5, L.4.6 Grade 5: L.5.4, L.5.5, L.5.6 Grade 6: L.6.4, L.6.5, L.6.6
  • TEKS
    Grade 4: 4.2; 4.3.c Grade 5: 5.2; 5.3c Grade 6: 6.2c

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One Word, 3 Ways    

Look how this creative kid uses the word of the issue, spark. 

Lance Lekander

Lately, my writing has lost its spark.

Thankfully, camping trips always spark my imagination!

Uh-oh! I’d better watch out for that spark.

Spark can mean:

  • a quality that makes something interesting or exciting  
  •  to cause something to start 
  • a small bit of burning material

Wild Word Challenge!

A form of the word spark appears in this issue’s poem. 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 micro. That means small. Can you figure out the meanings of the orange words below?

Lance Lekander

Lexie: At my new job, I have my own microscope

Lexie: Studying viruses and other microbes is fascinating. 

Lexie: Now my computer’s powerful microchip will help me make sense of my experiment’s results.

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.

Grey suggested this issue's word root.

Contest Winner!

This issue’s word root was suggested by

Grey Tharp

Candy’s Creek Cherokee Elementary School

Cleveland, TN

This article was originally published in the March/April 2025 issue.

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