"Parents Share Son's Fatal Text Message"

The rest of the online article's title gives the reason: "to Warn Against Texting & Driving." The unimportant and now tragically ironic content of the unfinished text drives home the message.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 8 Unit 2's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: Grant and Lee, Harrison Bergeron, The Giver, Banned Books Week, Fatal Text Message, Distracted Driving, How the Brain Reacts, Cellphones and driving
10 words 15 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. drift
    wander from a direct course or at random
    Before he could send it, police say the 22-year-old University of Northern Colorado student drifted into oncoming traffic
  2. steer
    determine the direction of traveling
    jerked the steering wheel and went off the road, rolling his car
  3. mundane
    found in the ordinary course of events
    Heit died shortly after the April 3 crash, but his parents and police are hoping the photo of the mundane text on his iPhone
  4. stark
    devoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment
    will serve as a stark reminder to drivers
  5. crash
    collide and undergo damage or destruction on impact
    The photo, published Wednesday in The Greeley Tribune, shows Heit was responding to a friend by typing "Sounds good my man, seeya soon, ill tw" before he crashed.
  6. outskirts
    area relatively far from the center, as of a city or town
    Witnesses told police that Heit appeared to have his head down when he began drifting into the oncoming lane in the outskirts of Greeley
  7. according
    as reported or stated by
    According to police, an oncoming driver slowed and moved over just before Heit looked up and jerked the steering wheel.
  8. native
    a person born in a particular place or country
    Police say Heit, a Colorado native who loved hiking and snowboarding, had a spotless driving record and wasn't speeding.
  9. release
    make information available
    In a statement released through police, Heit's mother said she doesn't want anyone else to lose someone to texting while driving.
  10. injure
    cause bodily harm to
    "In a split second you could ruin your future, injure or kill others, and tear a hole in the heart of everyone who loves you"
Created on Mon Dec 15 12:03:49 EST 2014 (updated Mon Dec 15 14:28:24 EST 2014)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.