B. Foundations of Language · Foundations: Speaking, Listening, Words and Fluency

Words for Every Subject: Academic Words and Same Word, Different Meaning

B2.2 A3.1 A1.2About 45 minutes

Learning goals

I can tell everyday words, academic words and subject-specific words apart.
I can understand and use Grade 7 academic words like evaluate, justify, interpret and significant.
I can explain how the same word changes meaning in math, science, geography and history.
I can learn new subject words with a word map and use them flexibly when I talk and write.

Words to know

academic word
A word used in many school subjects to describe thinking and tasks, like evaluate or significant.

subject-specific word
A word that belongs mostly to one subject, like solute (science) or variable (math).

evaluate
To judge how good, useful or important something is, using criteria.

justify
To give reasons and evidence that support an answer or decision.

interpret
To explain what something means, such as a graph, a poem or a map.

significant
Important enough to matter or make a difference.

criteria
The standards you use to judge something (singular: criterion).

Remember from earlier grades

In Grade 5 you learned academic words like compare, contrast, explain, analyze, summarize and evidence, and that some words have multiple meanings. In Grade 6 you built subject vocabulary like biodiversity, ratio, integer and treaty, and kept a vocabulary journal. Grade 7 textbooks and assignments use harder academic words, and many everyday words take on special meanings in each subject. That's what this lesson is about.

Let's start with a puzzle

What does solution mean?

Your friend says, "I found a solution to our locker problem." (a way to fix a problem)
Your math teacher says, "Check your solution by substituting it back into the equation." (the value that makes the equation true)
Your science teacher says, "Salt water is a solution." (a mixture where one substance dissolves evenly in another)

Same word, three meanings. If you bring the everyday meaning into science class, the science text won't make sense. Strong readers ask: **What does this word mean in this subject?**

One word, three meanings. Bring the subject's meaning to that subject's class, or the text won't make sense.

Kind of word	What it is	Examples
Everyday	Words you use at home and with friends	snack, jacket, happy, run
Academic	Words used across many subjects for thinking and tasks	evaluate, justify, interpret, significant, criteria, factor, impact, perspective
Subject-specific	Words that belong mostly to one subject	solute, convection, variable, inequality, alliance, natural resource

Academic words show up in instructions and questions in every subject, so they're worth learning really well.

Three kinds of words. Everyday words are the base; academic words appear in every subject; subject-specific words belong mostly to one subject.

Academic word	What it asks you to do	Example task
evaluate	Judge value or quality using criteria, and give a verdict	Evaluate which of two water filters works better, based on cost and how clear the water is.
justify	Give reasons and evidence for your answer	Justify your choice of graph.
interpret	Explain what something means	Interpret the climate graph for Iqaluit.
significant	Decide what is important and why	Explain the most significant cause of the change.
criteria	Use the standards for judging	What criteria will you use to choose the best design?
infer	Use clues plus what you know to figure out what isn't stated	What can you infer about life in the community from this photo?

Grade 7 academic words. When a question uses one, it tells you what kind of answer to give.

Word	In one subject	In another	Everyday
current	Science: a flow of electricity or water	History: current events (happening now)	"What's the current score?"
revolution	Science: one full trip around something (Earth's revolution around the Sun takes about a year)	History: a big, often sudden change, or the overthrow of a government	"This app is a revolution in homework!"
product	Math: the answer to a multiplication	Science: a new substance formed in a chemical change	Something made to be sold
volume	Math and science: the amount of space something takes up	Media: one book in a series	How loud a sound is
mass	Science: the amount of matter in an object (measured in g or kg)	Geography: a large land mass	A large amount or crowd
load	Science (structures): a force acting on a structure	Technology: to load a program	Something carried; a load of laundry
scale	Geography: the ratio between distance on a map and real distance	Science: a tool for measuring mass	Music scales; fish scales
relief	Geography: the differences in height of the land (a relief map shows hills and valleys)	History: help given to people in need (disaster relief)	The feeling when a worry ends
range	Math: greatest value minus least value	Geography: a line of mountains	A kitchen stove; how far something can reach
interest	Math (finance): money paid for borrowing or earned on savings	History: a group's interests (what it wants to gain or protect)	Curiosity

Same word, different meaning. Always check the subject.

Grade 7 subject words with built-in clues

Many subject words carry clues from word parts you know:

Science: a solute dissolves in a solvent (both from solv/solu = loosen, dissolve) to make a solution. Abiotic (a- = not, bio = life) parts of an ecosystem are non-living, like water, rocks and sunlight. Heat moves by conduction (through touching), convection (moving currents in liquids and gases) and radiation (spreading out as waves). Structures face forces like compression (press = squeeze) and tension (tens = stretch).
Math: a variable is a letter that stands for a number that can vary. An inequality compares amounts that are not equal (in- = not), like x > 5.
Geography and history: a natural resource is something from nature that people use, like water, forests or minerals. A primary source was made at the time being studied (a letter, a photo, a map); a secondary source was made later by someone looking back.

Worked example

Let's build a word map for a subject word

You read in a science text: "Sugar is very soluble in water; it disappears quickly when you stir it in." Build a word map for soluble.

Word parts: solu (dissolve, loosen) + -ble (able to be). So soluble = able to be dissolved.
Context clue: it disappears quickly when you stir it in tells us what dissolving looks like.
Definition in my own words: Soluble means a substance can dissolve in a liquid, like water.
Example and non-example: Sugar and salt are soluble in water. Sand is not soluble in water (it settles at the bottom). The opposite word is insoluble.
Related words: solution, solute, solvent, dissolve, solubility.
Use it flexibly: Is hot chocolate powder soluble in cold milk, or only in hot milk? Let's test it.

Soluble = able to dissolve in a liquid. A word map links the parts, the context, a definition in your own words, examples, related words and a new sentence.

Just for fun

Fun fact: Earth makes one revolution around the Sun about every year. So on your birthday, you've completed one more science revolution, and no history revolution was needed!

Learn it, then use it

A word isn't really yours until you've used it in talk and writing several times. Try to use one new subject word in conversation each day this week.

Hands-on activity

Same-word scavenger hunt and word maps

You need: paper, coloured pencils (optional), and two school textbooks or library books from different subjects (for example science and geography).

Fold a sheet into four squares. Choose one word from the 'same word, different meaning' table (such as scale or range).
In each square, write a sentence and draw a small picture for a different meaning of the word.
Now flip through your two books. Find two subject-specific words you don't know well.
Make a word map for each: word parts, context clue, your own definition, an example and non-example, related words, and a new sentence.
Teach one word to a family member, then ask them to use it in a sentence.

What to look for: meanings that match the subject (not just the everyday meaning), definitions in your child's own words, and a correct new sentence.

Your turn

Sort into everyday, academic or subject-specific: justify, convection, sandwich.

What does a question that says evaluate want you to do?

What is the range of this data set: 4, 9, 2, 7?

What does revolution mean in science? In history?

What is the product of 6 and 8? Which meaning of product did you use?

Name one abiotic part of a forest ecosystem.

Explain the difference between a primary and a secondary source.

More practice: warm-up

What does justify mean?

In math, what does volume measure?

What is a variable in math?

Is significant an academic word or an everyday word?

What is the singular of criteria?

More practice: on your own

A map says 1 cm = 10 km. What is the map's scale telling you, and how far apart are two towns that are 4 cm apart on the map?

Use relief in two sentences with different meanings.

Explain why bringing the everyday meaning of load into a structures lesson could confuse you.

Use word parts to explain why a solvent and a solute are related.

Rewrite this question in your own words: Interpret the graph and justify your conclusion.

Challenge

Write one sentence that uses current with its science meaning and one with its history meaning.

A task says: Evaluate two plans for reducing waste at school. What criteria might you use? Give three.

Explain how interest connects its everyday meaning (curiosity) to its money meaning, or explain why they seem different. Use your own reasoning.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which is an academic word?

In science, a solution is...

A question says justify your answer. What should you add?

In geography, relief describes...

What is the range of 12, 3, 8, 15?

Which is a primary source about life in the 1800s?

For parents and teachers

Big idea (B2.2, A3.1, A1.2): Grade 7 students demonstrate an understanding of a wide variety of words, learn and use explicitly taught vocabulary flexibly in other subject areas, and use morphology to analyze new words in context. This lesson focuses on academic words used in instructions (evaluate, justify, interpret) and words whose meanings change by subject.

How to help at home:

Look at your child's assignments together and circle the instruction word (evaluate, justify, interpret). Ask, "What does that ask you to do?"
Play "same word, different meaning" with words like scale, range, current, interest, volume.
Encourage a vocabulary journal or word maps for each subject.

Common difficulties:

Using the everyday meaning in a subject context. Ask, "What does this word mean in science (or math)?"
Answering 'evaluate' or 'justify' questions with only an opinion. Remind them to include criteria, reasons and evidence.
Learning a word but never using it. Use new words in conversation at home.