accurate /ˈæk yər ɪt ˈæk yər ɪt/
adjective
If something is accurate, it is correct or true, or matches what something is really like or what really happened. A weather forecast was accurate if it said, “Clear skies and sunny on Saturday,” and on Saturday it is clear and sunny. What if it’s warm enough for swimming but the thermometer says it’s 40 degrees, which is almost freezing? That is not an accurate thermometer! An accurate drawing of a horse would look just like a horse. If you decide to draw a lion’s head and tail on a horse’s body, your drawing would be amazing—but not accurate.
available
adjective
Something that is available is right there for you to use or easy for you to get. People with vegetable gardens have fresh cucumbers and tomatoes available to them all summer long—right in their backyards! If you only have blue and red paint left, you’ll have to make a picture with the colors you have available —maybe a blue house with a red roof, or a funny blue monkey with red ears and a long red tail. If you get to the school concert late, the only available seats might be at the back because the best seats have already been taken.
average /ˈæv ər ɪdʒ/
adjective
When a thing is average, it is typical, and not special or different. If your height is average, you aren’t shorter than most kids your age, and you’re not taller; you’re about the same height. Average can also mean that something is like it usually is. On an average day, maybe your mom and dad go to work and you go to school. Then everyone comes home and you eat supper, play games or watch TV, and then go to bed. But an average day for a fox cub is very different from yours. Do your parents ever bring you a mouse to eat in the middle of the night? It would not be an average day if they did!
brilliant /ˈbrɪl yənt/
adjective
If something is very bright and shines or sparkles, we say it is brilliant. The sun’s light is always bright, but when it’s so bright that it sparkles on the water, we would say the sunlight is brilliant. Stars are brilliant on a clear, dark night. Colors can also be brilliant. You would hardly notice a little brown bird next to a parrot with brilliant feathers of bright red, green, and yellow.
cautious
adjective
If you are cautious, you are careful when there’s danger or when something could go wrong. Someone who looks both ways twice before crossing the street is being cautious. A friendly dog will become more cautious around strange cats after having its nose clawed by a mean one. When you’re wearing new shoes, you might be cautious and step over or go around any mud puddles you meet.
classify
verb
When you classify things, you sort them into groups. You could classify building blocks by their shape so you have three piles—squares, triangles, and circles (the round ones). Once you have classified them by shape, you could start classifying the pile of squares into red, blue, and yellow squares, and do the same thing with the circles and triangles. If there’s only one block in the shape of a star, and it’s purple, how will you classify it? It’s one of a kind and will have to be classified all by itself!
clever /ˈklɛv ər/
adjective
1. When you do something clever, you think of a new or different way to do it, and it works! If you’re drawing a picture of a house that shows smoke coming out of the chimney, it would be a clever idea to make the smoke with cotton balls instead of using a crayon. No one else thought of that! Do you know a clever place to hide your favorite superhero cards? If you do, it will be hard for anyone to guess where they are.
2. We call someone clever if they’re smart and learn things quickly. A dog who can do lots of tricks is clever. Not all dogs can do a flip in the air or bring you a box of juice from the refrigerator, but the cleverest dogs can, especially if they have a clever teacher like you.
emerge /ɪˈmɜrdʒ/
verb
When something emerges, it comes out, or appears, so now you can see it. When the sun is hidden by clouds and then comes out, we say the sun has emerged from behind the clouds. Now that the sun is out, you might see the front door open across the street and then see your friend emerge from her house. Time to play basketball!