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Word of the Day: venerate

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Word of the Day: venerate

: regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted or be in awe of

_________

The word venerate has appeared in 12 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on July 20 in “In Search of the California Barbecue Tradition” by Tejal Rao:

On a recent weekend, Ms. Yee-Lakhani put her smoked char siu and brisket into puffy baos, and seared homemade sausages seasoned with galangal and lemongrass. Though she takes inspiration from the magnificent, black-barked briskets of Central Texas, she also thinks of her style as her own.

“I’ve never even been to Texas,” she said. “I can’t say I’m selling Texas barbecue.”

Barbecue styles in other parts of the country, from Texas to the Carolinas, are so well codified, it’s no wonder there are pitmasters across California who venerate them. But even among those who carefully study and recreate regional pleasures that belong to other places, the food tends to be more playful than prescriptive.

Can you correctly use the word venerate in a sentence?

Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.

Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.

If you want a better idea of how venerate can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try one of our monthly vocabulary challenges.

Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.

What Students Said About Vaccine Mandates, Nostalgia And Beachside Bliss

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What Students Said About Vaccine Mandates, Nostalgia And Beachside Bliss

As a Californian, the Los Angeles vaccine mandate comes as no surprise; my own school district has followed rigorous mask and social distancing policies that don’t look to be letting up soon. There is no question to me that increased practices of public health safety are crucial in tamping down the coronavirus. I worry, however, about the absence of a government-approved vaccine for many of the students who now have to abide by the vaccine mandate. I don’t think that the district’s 12-to-15-year-olds should have to choose between attending school or receiving a shot that isn’t yet officially approved.

— Charlotte, Design Tech High School, CA

Having such a mandate would not only lower the risk of bringing the virus home to loved ones, but also create a more comfortable, save environment for all students. A student’s mind should be on learning, rather than what door handles not to touch. Without context, I would believe this is unfair, however, if for example the measles vaccine is required, why not in this case? School systems have had no problems with requiring other immunizations, many of which that are no longer a widespread threat to kids. This must be done urgently; this can’t go on for much longer and change is needed. It’s not just lives that are at stake, but also futures.

— Jon, New York

While many argue that the decision should utterly belong to the guardians of each student, the resistance when it comes to the vaccine reflects ignorance toward the health of not only the people around the unvaccinated student, but the families that students go home to at the end of the day. I do not believe that the vaccine mandate is excessive. At the end of the day, Los Angeles is striving to keep each student and their community safe through the vaccine— an FDA approved medication.

— Clare, Glenbard West High School

I agree with the decision to mandate vaccines for schools. Mandates for other, less prevalent diseases, such as chickenpox, measles, mumps and polio are commonplace in America. I see no reason why Covid-19, a dangerous and widespread virus that has killed over 600,000 Americans, should be the exception to the rule. Vaccination is a no-brainer that will help keep students and faculty safe, inhibit the spread of Covid-19, and prevent future school shut-downs (which have had a negative effect on students academically, especially low-income students and students of color).

— Kaleia, VSN

For the most part, I agree, I think it’s for the best to keep students and staff safe. Requiring vaccines is not crazy because like it says in the article “‘All 50 states mandate vaccines for school attendance, such as those that protect against polio, measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox.’”. These mandated vaccines prove that getting to a herd immunity works, and as always those who are anti-vaccination or don’t want to get the vaccine will find loopholes or ways to get around the mandate. So in the end I think mandating the vaccine is fine and the controversy surrounding it will slowly fade as it becomes more and more normal.

— Kyle, Connecticut

As someone who is fully vaccinated, I think it is important for everyone to get the vaccine. Although, I feel it should definitely be on your own terms. If you aren’t comfortable getting the vaccine because it hasn’t been government approved for your age group, then that is understandable. However, if it has been approved for your age group, then you should highly consider getting it. The vaccine helps put you at less of a risk of getting covid and spreading covid to other people. While I think getting the vaccine is the right choice, making the vaccine mandatory for schools could potentially be forcing someone to do something to their body that they’re uncomfortable with, and that is not ok.

— Krista, Valley Stream North High School

Although our country is currently struggling right now during the pandemic, I do not think it should be mandatory for students to receive the coronavirus vaccination and it should be an option. As someone who isn’t fully vaccinated yet I understand both sides of the argument. Even though a vaccine might help, no one is one hundred percent sure of the outcome yet. In the article, it states that “no coronavirus vaccine for children ages 12 to 15 has received full government approval.” This is something that many parents’ are worried about when thinking about giving their child the vaccine. This is why I think that the schools should not require vaccines for students.

— Brecken, Illinois

Lesson of the Day: ‘How Language Classes Are Moving Past the Gender Binary’

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Lesson of the Day: ‘How Language Classes Are Moving Past the Gender Binary’

Featured Article: “How Language Classes Are Moving Past the Gender Binary” by Molly Lipson

Many languages, including Hebrew, French, Spanish, Italian and Arabic, use binary pronouns, such as he/she and male/female, which means that other gender identities are not formally acknowledged in those languages.

In this lesson, you will learn about teachers who are finding ways to make expressing gender identity across languages more inclusive. Then, you will see what gender-neutral pronouns and vocabulary are available in a language you are learning.

Do you speak, or have you ever studied, a romance language like Spanish, French or Italian? How about Hindi, Arabic or Hebrew?

If so, you know that all of them use gender as the basis of their nouns — and the masculine form is the standard.

So, for example, the masculine “todos,” which means “everybody,” is used in Spanish to address people in a group regardless of their genders at events like conferences or in official speeches. And the presence of even one man in an otherwise female group tends to consign the gender of that group to the masculine.

Have you ever noticed this? Does it bother you? It is just one issue you will read about in this article.

In the language, or languages, you speak, what pronouns exist? In your opinion, how inclusive is that language to people who identify both within and beyond the gender binary? Why?

Before you read the article, if you would like to better understand some of the terms you’ll find there, have a look at this list of “The ABCs of L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+” about the language used to discuss gender identity and sexuality.

Then read the article, and answer the following questions:

1. How does Tal Janner-Klausner address the fact that Hebrew is a language with binary pronouns? How do they bring this conversation into their classroom?

2. “As societies that speak gendered languages have become more open to nonconforming identities, native speakers have crafted mechanisms for removing or avoiding the gendered element of words,” the author of this piece writes. But the curriculum of language classes often lag behind. Why might that be? Have you ever encountered issues like this in the language classes you have taken?

3. What is the history of the pronouns they and them referring to in the third-person singular in English? Do you, or do others you know, use they/them pronouns? Do the communities you are a part of generally accept these pronouns?

4. How does masculinity dominate many languages? What is your reaction to masculine being the default in many languages when addressing groups of people, even when there is only one male in the group?

5. How did Louis Moffa’s understanding of his gender identity evolve while learning Italian? How does Mx. Moffa approach this in a language-learning environment?

6. What are some of the linguistic developments Kris Knisely has introduced to his French students, and what effects have those teachings had on them?

7. What is your reaction to Agnes M.’s experience in Spanish class? What do you think their Spanish teacher could do to ensure they’re fully able to express themself in the classroom?

8. Finally, now that you have read this piece, what do you think? How important is it for teachers to introduce their students to gender-neutral or gender-inclusive vocabulary in language-learning classes? What examples from the article do you think offer the best ways to do this?

Have you always felt you’ve easily been able to express your gender identity in all of the languages you speak or are learning? How well have your language teachers navigated gender-neutral or inclusive vocabulary?

If this article is right and the curriculum of language classes is lagging behind the way native speakers are navigating gendered words and phrases, maybe, with a little research, you can help.

First, choose a language, whether one you are studying in school or one you are speaking at home. Then, research its use of gendered language, as well as learning about any new developments that native speakers have made in using gender-neutral pronouns or other kinds of inclusive language. (To start, you might check out these guides and videos in French, Hebrew and Spanish. To find more languages, you can search online for “gender neutral pronouns” in a specific language, or do a keyword search on TikTok or Instagram. If possible, you might also consider interviewing native speakers of that language.)

Then, make a list of several suggested ways of updating the curriculum to include more gender-inclusive language. If you are doing this as part of a language class, you might then share your findings with your fellow students and your teacher, and decide together which to adopt for your classroom.

Learn more about Lesson of the Day here and find all of our daily lessons in this column.

How Have You Experienced Extreme Weather?

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How Have You Experienced Extreme Weather?

It was “a summer of disasters.”

As the planet warms, extreme weather events such as wildfires, heat waves, hurricanes, droughts and floods are becoming more common. What extreme weather did you hear about during the summer? Did you experience any yourself?

How do you feel about the dangerous weather occurring around the world? What do these events tell you about where we are in the fight against climate change — and how we should move forward?

In “Overlapping Disasters Expose Harsh Climate Reality: The U.S. Is Not Ready,” Christopher Flavelle, Anne Barnard, Brad Plumer and Michael Kimmelman write:

In Louisiana and Mississippi, nearly one million people lack electricity and drinking water after a hurricane obliterated power lines. In California, wildfire menaces Lake Tahoe, forcing tens of thousands to flee. In Tennessee, flash floods killed at least 20; hundreds more perished in a heat wave in the Northwest. And in New York City, 7 inches of rain fell in just hours Wednesday, drowning people in their basements.

Disasters cascading across the country this summer have exposed a harsh reality: The United States is not ready for the extreme weather that is now becoming frequent as a result of a warming planet.

“These events tell us we’re not prepared,” said Alice Hill, who oversaw planning for climate risks on the National Security Council during the Obama administration. “We have built our cities, our communities, to a climate that no longer exists.”

In remarks Thursday, President Biden acknowledged the challenge ahead.

“And to the country, the past few days of Hurricane Ida and the wildfires in the West and the unprecedented flash floods in New York and New Jersey is yet another reminder that these extreme storms and the climate crisis are here,” said Mr. Biden, who noted that a $1 trillion infrastructure bill pending in Congress includes some money to gird communities against disasters. “We need to do — be better prepared. We need to act.”

The article continues:

Damage from extreme weather, and threats to human life, will only increase as the planet warms. For every 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit of global warming, the atmosphere holds about 7 percent more moisture, scientists have found. That means much heavier rainfall when storms do occur.

Across the continental United States, the heaviest downpours have become more frequent and severe, according to the federal government’s National Climate Assessment. The Northeast has seen 50 percent more rainfall during the heaviest storms compared with the first half of the 20th century.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

  • Have you experienced extreme weather where you live? If so, what was it like? How has it affected your life and the lives of those in your community?

  • How do you feel about the increase in frequency of extreme weather around the world, and the intensifying effects of climate change? Is it something you discuss with your peers or parents? Why or why not?

  • What do you know about how climate change affects your area? You can answer based on your observations, or consult this map of climate risks around the world, or this map of precipitation in the United States. What questions do you still have?

  • What do you think of President Biden’s response, which is summarized in the article? If you do not live in the United States, how have your country’s leaders responded to extreme weather? Do you think that these events will encourage global leaders to take more drastic action? What kind of actions would you most like to see?

  • What do you know about how climate disasters affect communities that are already marginalized? Have you witnessed this firsthand?

  • “Young people like us have been sounding this alarm for years,” write four young climate activists in this guest essay. Do you feel like you and your generation are more concerned about climate change than older generations? Have members of older generations been receptive to your concerns?

  • Have you engaged in climate activism? If so, how? What changes are you pushing for?

The Important of Design Thinking

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The Important of Design Thinking

Everyone wants their brand identity to be memorable and effective. However, with so many advertising channels now available, it can be a struggle to make your brand stand out among the noise.

And with so much consumer data available to businesses these days, tailored advertising means it’s harder than ever to get your share of potential clients’ attention.

To effectively capture an audience and build a successful brand, it’s vital that your visual identity and your design strategy are coherent and client-focused. When it comes to achieving this, the key to success is the consistent understanding and application of Design Thinking. 

 

Design Thinking – Putting People First

Design Thinking is a visual strategy founded on two vital ideas:

  • Putting design at the heart of everything you do as a brand.
  • Putting your customers at the heart of everything you design.

Design Thinking is about implementing People-Centred Design and it’s crucial to cultivating an effective visual identity. It’s about keeping the client at the centre of your design efforts from the conception of your product to your marketing of it, and everything in between.

With an increasing number of consumers looking for an “experience” when they purchase goods and services, more and more brands are upskilling in Design Thinking. This holistic approach to marketing teaches that you shouldn’t just design your visual identity with a view of simply leading customers to your product. Rather your visual identity should be a client-centric focus in-and-of-itself. Your visual identity needs to be something that potential clients can identify with immediately. It’s no longer enough to build a visual identity for your product that highlights its positives or showcases how it is superior to market rivals. You need to design an identity that focuses on the customer’s wants and needs.

Research Your Market

Design Thinking teaches that in all your design efforts, your focus should be on the potential client as much as it should be on the product, if not more. This school of design requires in-depth design research into your potential consumer base. The successful implementation of People-Centred Design must begin with rigorous analysis, testing and research into your brand’s would-be clients. You should be asking:

  • What kind of visual story will your target audience want to be told about themselves?
  • How does your target audience see your product in their life?
  • What is the visual identity of your target audience?

 

Learn from Your Target Audience

This final question is key and one that often goes overlooked. When a brand is trying to forge a successful design strategy, it always has a plan readily available to it in the form of the visual identity of its target audience. This is why Design Thinking places such an emphasis on customer research and analysis. Once you’ve established your target audience, you’ve basically got the blueprint for your visual identity!

What’s Going On in This Graph? | Sept. 29, 2021

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What’s Going On in This Graph? | Sept. 29, 2021

3. Below the response box, there is an option to click on “Email me when my comment is published.” This sends the link to your response which you can share with your teacher.

4. After you have posted, read what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting a comment. Use the “Reply” button to address that student directly.

On Wednesday, Sept. 29, teachers from our collaborator, the American Statistical Association, will facilitate this discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time.

5. By Friday morning, Oct. 1, we will reveal more information about the graph, including a free link to the article that includes this graph, at the bottom of this post. We encourage you to post additional comments based on the article, possibly using statistical terms defined in the Stat Nuggets.

We’ll post more information here on Thursday afternoon. Stay tuned!

More?

• See all graphs in this series or collections of 60 of our favorite graphs, 28 graphs that teach about inequality and 24 graphs about climate change.

• View our archives that link to all past releases, organized by topic, graph type and Stat Nugget.

• Learn more about the notice and wonder teaching strategy from this 5-minute video and how and why other teachers are using this strategy from our on-demand webinar.

• Sign up for our free weekly Learning Network newsletter so you never miss a graph. Graphs are always released by the Friday before the Wednesday live-moderation to give teachers time to plan ahead.

• Go to the American Statistical Association K-12 website, which includes teacher statistics resources, Census in the Schools student-generated data, professional development opportunities, and more.

Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Vocabulary in Context: When Sharks and Humans Meet

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Vocabulary in Context: When Sharks and Humans Meet

On the beaches of Western Australia, by California’s crashing waves and in sight of Hawaii’s blue depths, “shark attacks” are slowly disappearing, at least as a phrase used by researchers and officials who have been rethinking how to describe the moments when sharks and humans meet.

Last week, two Australian states drew mockery when The Sydney Morning Herald reported that they were moving away from the phrase in favor of terms like “bites,” “incidents” and “encounters.”

Memorial

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Memorial

A new installation covers 20 acres of federal park land near the Washington Monument with hundreds of thousands of white flags, and visitors have come from all over to walk among them, reflect and mourn.

Do you know what this piece memorializes? If so, what do you think of the installation and its message? How else might the United States, or other nations, memorialize this crisis?

Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.

Learn more about Picture Prompts here and find all of our prompts in this column.

Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Word of the Day: salvo

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Word of the Day: salvo

1. a vigorous act or acts done quickly

2. rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms

3. an outburst resembling the discharge of firearms or the release of bombs

_________

The word salvo has appeared in 57 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on April 16 in “Is Fashion Hacking the Future? Gucci Says Yes.” by Vanessa Friedman:

Gucci is singing a brand-new tune. (Emphasis on “brand.” Or maybe “branded.”)

The designer Alessandro Michele called his newest show “Aria” — he rejected the whole spring-summer, fall-winter groupings as false seasonal equivalencies at the start of the pandemic — but a more appropriate name for the first salvo of the company’s centenary year might have been “Mash-up.” Because it turned out he was sampling notes not just from the house’s own archive but from its stablemate Balenciaga — another powerhouse brand owned by Kering, Gucci’s corporate parent.

Can you correctly use the word salvo in a sentence?

Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.

Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.

If you want a better idea of how salvo can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try one of our monthly vocabulary challenges.

Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.

Writing About Your Life With ‘Sunday Routine’

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Writing About Your Life With ‘Sunday Routine’

Featured Column: Sunday Routine

Sunday Routine is a weekly series that profiles “newsworthy New Yorkers” and how they spend a typical Sunday. These routines — which can include going to church and spending time with family or meeting up with friends and binge-watching TV — are as diverse as the people who have them.

In this lesson, we invite you to use this column as a model for writing about your own life. What do you do on a typical Sunday? What do these activities say about you? You’ll read the routines of several New Yorkers, then you’ll write one of your own — tracing your day from when you wake up to when you go to bed.

Ideas for Teachers: Use this writing activity to get to know your students at the beginning of the school year. Or, use it to introduce a unit on personal or narrative writing. See our full narrative writing unit here.

Start by responding to our writing prompt, “What’s Your Sunday Routine?”

What do you do on a typical Sunday? Where do you go? Who do you spend time with?

3. Look closely at the introductory paragraphs to each Sunday Routine. What is the purpose of this section? From whose point of view is it written? What kind of information is included?

4. Now look at the routine itself. How is it formatted? From whose point of view is it written? About how many activities are included? What kind of information does each description include?

5. What themes do the writers write about in their routines? Name at least four. (For example, in “How an Artisanal Doughnut Maker Spends Her Sundays,” Kimberly Camara writes that she spends time with her mother and brother on Sundays. So the theme would be “family.”)

6. Choose one activity from each routine that intrigued you. What did you find interesting, entertaining or memorable about this activity and the writer’s description of it?

7. Finally, consider the language and style the writers use. How would you describe the tone of each routine you read? How would you describe the tone of this column overall?

Now, it’s your turn. Create your own Sunday Routine based on a typical Sunday in your life. (Your Sundays might have changed during the pandemic and that’s OK. As the writers do in many of the profiles you read, feel free to also write about things you did before Covid and how those activities have changed.)

Your Sunday Routine should be formatted like the columns you read and include:

  • A headline, written in the style of the column.

  • A few introductory paragraphs that give your reader an idea of who you are.

  • A routine that starts from when you wake up in the morning until you go to bed at night. Aim for eight to 10 activities.

  • Go further by adding photographs or illustrations of your Sunday.

Once you’ve finished, reflect on the assignment: What was it like to write about your own life? How did your style of writing change with this genre? What did you learn about yourself? What might others learn about you from reading your Sunday Routine?

Learn more about Lesson of the Day here and find all of our daily lessons in this column.

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