Weather Watch

Eight weather words, one rainy day, and the exact words to name it.

Meet each word one at a time, then take the quiz to lock them in.

1. 1 puddle noun
2. 2 breeze noun
3. 3 drizzle verb
4. 4 shiver verb
5. 5 soggy adjective
6. 6 chilly adjective
7. 7 brightly adverb
8. 8 softly adverb

Nelson's word

noun

Puddle. A noun. I file it under a small pool of rainwater, the little pool that gathers on the ground after the rain. You find one in a low spot on the sidewalk, in a dip in the road, at the bottom of the yard. Step in it, and your shoe gets wet. Splash in it, and everyone gets wet. It is small, and it is there because the rain had nowhere else to go. State it precisely: a puddle is rainwater resting on the ground.

A wide puddle sat in the middle of the road after the storm.

Nelson's word

noun

Breeze. A noun, and a pleasant one to file. I keep it under a light, gentle wind, the kind that lifts a kite a little and stirs the leaves without knocking them down. A breeze is not a gust and it is not a storm; it is soft, easy, and cool. You feel it on a warm day and you are glad it came. When a report says a breeze off the water, picture the air moving gently, nothing more. A breeze is wind at its kindest.

A soft breeze moved the leaves and cooled her face.

Vinny's word

verb

Drizzle! To rain in tiny, tiny drops, so small you can barely feel them land! When the clouds drizzle, they do not pour and they do not storm; they send down a soft, fine mist, drop by little drop. That is the verb, and it is mine, a gentle kind of hero. But watch close, because this word has a secret. Say a light drizzle fell all morning, and now drizzle is a thing, a naming word, Nelson's kind. Same word, different job. We sort those hats in Practice!

The clouds drizzle a fine mist over the sleepy town.

Vinny's word

verb

Shiver! To shake, to tremble, to quiver all over when the cold gets into you! When the wet campers shiver by the fire, their arms and shoulders shake on their own, because the body is trying to warm itself back up. That is the verb, and it is mine. You shiver in a cold wind, you shiver in a wet shirt, you shiver when you jump into a chilly lake. It is a shake you did not choose, and the moment you warm up, it stops.

The wet campers shiver by the fire until they warm up.

Jake's word

adjective

Soggy. Oh, you can almost feel this one, and it is mine. As an adjective, soggy describes a thing that is soaked and heavy with water, so wet it starts to droop: soggy socks, soggy leaves, soggy cereal that has sat too long in the milk. Its Frown is dry, the thing with no water in it at all. Could we be more specific than saying the ground was wet? We could say it was soggy, and now the reader feels their shoes sinking in. Same picture, sharper edges. Magnifique.

The soggy cereal drooped in the bowl of cold milk.

Jake's word

adjective

Chilly. An adjective, and mine, describing air or water that is a little bit cold, cold enough to notice but not enough to freeze. A chilly morning, a chilly breeze, a chilly pool: each one makes you want a sweater, not a coat. Look at how it is built, from chill plus a little -y on the end, which means full of chill. Could we be more specific than saying it felt cold? We could say chilly, and mean just a touch of cold, the kind that gives you goosebumps and sends you looking for a sweater.

The chilly morning air made her reach for a sweater.

Benny's word

adverb

Brightly. An adverb, and it belongs to me the way a noun belongs to Nelson. An adverb tells you how something happens, and brightly tells you a thing happens in a shining, glowing way. The sun shines brightly, a lamp burns brightly, a star twinkles brightly. Here is your coach's tip: do not just tell me the sun came out, tell me how it shone. Make it sharper. Say it shone brightly, and now I can see the whole yard light up. You can do better than plain, and brightly is how.

The sun shines brightly after the last cloud drifts away.

Benny's word

adverb

Softly. Another adverb of mine, and a quiet one. It tells you how a thing happens, in a quiet, gentle way. The rain falls softly, a mother speaks softly, a breeze whispers softly through the trees. Here is the coaching, and it is worth keeping: an adverb is how you show the reader the feeling of a moment. Do not just say the rain fell. Say it fell softly, and now the whole night feels calm and hushed. Make it sharper, every time, and softly is one of your best tools.

The rain falls softly on the roof all night long.