Instructions

• As you read, circle the words you don’t completely know the meanings of.

• Circle any cultural references you don’t understand – for example, if a writer mentions “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” Polyanna, or secularism.

• If the word can be looked up in the dictionary, use it as a word entry; if it’s more complicated, you can turn the reference into a cultural knowledge entry.

	For each Word Entry (3 points each):	For each Cultural Knowledge Entry (5 points each):
Step 1	Type out the sentence with the unfamiliar word or reference in it. (Underline the word or idea you don’t understand, and use parentheses to tell your peers which page the sentence came from.)	Type out the sentence with the unfamiliar reference you need to investigate. Include the page number where you saw the reference.
Step 2	Take a guess at what the word means, and explain your guess to me and your peers.	Take a guess at what you think the term is referring to, and explain your guess to me and your peers.
Step 3	Look the word up in an appropriate place, and type out the best definition for this particular text.	Look up the reference – on the web, in an encyclopedia, or in any other reliable source. Find an explanation that makes sense, and share it with us in just a few lines, in your own words. Tell us where you got your info: name your source in parentheses.
Step 4	Now, show us your “Aha!” moment: Now that you know the meaning, tell us in your own words what the original sentence means.	Then show us your "Aha!" moment: Write a few sentences explaining how understanding this reference helps you better understand the reading overall.