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Common Core State Standard
LS.CCS.4/5/6 Grades 3-12: Students are asked to determine the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words through multiple choice vocabulary quizzes. Quizzes are designed to help students demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in words, acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words, and gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. Students are then asked to find the words within the newspaper and copy the sentence for context to its overall meaning or function in a sentence.
This Week's Word In The News 

SUREFIRE

DEFINITION:
Certain or likely, especially to succeed.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Kirby taught himself how to count cards, a surefire way to get barred from gambling at a casino, “raking in money on trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas,” the article stated.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal, 05/04/2026

Words in the News Quiz
5 Middle School Words

Click on the correct answer in the quiz below.
Then see if you can find the word in your newspaper -- the print edition, the website or the digital edition and copy the sentence for context. NOTE: High School words are much harder to find!


1. Phloem

A treeless area between the icecap and the tree line of Arctic regions, having a permanently frozen subsoil and supporting low-growing vegetation

The food-conducting tissue of vascular plants, consisting of sieve tubes, fibers, parenchyma, and sclereids.

An unstable, poisonous allotrope of oxygen.

An intricate structure of interconnecting passages through which it is difficult to find one’s way; a maze.


2. Metaphor

Any of various nonplacental mammals, including kangaroos, opossums, bandicoots, and wombats, found principally in Australia and the Americas.

Relating to a system of writing, such as that of ancient Egypt, in which pictorial symbols are used to represent meaning or sounds or a combination of meaning and sound.

One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

An embankment built to prevent flooding


3. Participle

A movement or procedure involving skill and dexterity.

Not subject to an obligation imposed on others; exempt.

A form of a verb that in some languages, such as English, can function independently as an adjective.

A dense evergreen forest occupying a tropical region with an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches.


4. Quota

To move in waves or with a smooth, wavelike motion.

The main character in a drama or other literary work.

A proportional part or share.

Marked by hearty conviviality and good cheer.


5. Wretched

A picture or decorative design made by setting small colored pieces, as of stone or tile, into a surface.

Self-examination.

In a deplorable state of distress or misfortune; miserable.

Sharing the same opinions or views; being in complete harmony or accord.


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