Vocabulary "At The Head of Her Class, and Homeless"

The shelter houses up to 300 adults and 500 children and has come under scrutiny for its poor conditions.

What context clues help you figure out the meaning of scrutiny?

• The shelter houses

• Up to 300 adults and 500 children

• and has come under

• for its poor conditions

The shelter houses up to 300 adults and 500 children and has come under scrutiny for its poor conditions.

What is the definition of scrutiny?

• to look at briefly

• a careful looking over

• under interrogation

• being upset with an individual

Melson, 18, tells NPR’s Audie Cornish that after school, a typical night involves reluctantly heading back to the shelter around 9:30 p.m.

“I try to stay out as late as possible,” she says. “I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite place.”

What are the context clues that help you understand what the word reluctantly means?

• a typical night involves

• after school

• heading back to the shelter

• “I try to stay out as late as possible,” she says. “I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite place.”

Melson, 18, tells NPR’s Audie Cornish that after school, a typical night involves reluctantly heading back to the shelter around 9:30 p.m.

What is the definition of the word reluctantly?

• unenthusiastically

• surprisingly

• patiently

• angrily

Even Melson isn’t sure how she’s managed to successfully juggle school (a 4.0 GPA), athletics (cross-country, track, volleyball) and homelessness.

How is juggle used in the sentence above?

• a clown throwing bowling pins

• balancing different activities at once

• balancing different objects at once

• having fun during class

“I don’t like sharing with kids because they start to pity you or they start to look at you in a different way,” she says. “And I feel like, ‘Hey, I’m just like the rest of you. I come in to get an education.’”

What context clues help you understand what pity means in the sentence above?

• I don't like sharing with kids

• they start to look at your in a different way

• Hey, I'm just like the rest of you.

• I come in to get an education.

“I don’t like sharing with kids because they start to pity you or they start to look at you in a different way,” she says.

What does pity mean?

• To feel good about

• To be sad

• To have fun

• To feel sorry for

When those struggles began, she considered quitting sports and getting a job. But her coaches and teachers convinced her otherwise.

“They were just like, ‘Don’t worry, you’re doing the best you can — keep it up, just do what you have to do,’” she says. “They were always there for me. They took a lot of stress from my mind.”

But she says she still worries about what will happen to her family after she heads off to college in the fall, even if the campus is just a few miles away. She’s hopeful her younger brother, who’s 14 years old and a talented athlete, will continue to find a haven in sports.

What context clues help you understand what haven means in the sentence above?

• But her coaches and teachers convinced her otherwise.

• They were just like, Don't worry, you're doing the best you can

• They were always there for me. They took a lot of stress from my mind.

• She’s hopeful her younger brother, who’s 14 years old and a talented athlete

She’s hopeful her younger brother, who’s 14 years old and a talented athlete, will continue to find a haven in sports.

What does haven mean?

• Harbor or port

• A place of safety; refuge

• A place offering favorable opportunities or conditions for artist

• A place to have fun

Don’t become ashamed and don’t be embarrassed. And just know who you are inside. Just because you live in a shelter — that’s not who you are, that’s just where you reside at for the moment.”

What context clues help you figure out what reside means in the sentence above?

• Don't become ashamed and don't be embarrassed.

• And just know who you are inside.

• Just because you live in a shelter

• that's not who you are