Skateboarding

Getting Back Up Again: Skateboarding

Getting Back Up Again: Skateboarding by Caitlyn Meagher

This ia photo of a skateboarder doing a trick.

Have you ever seen someone skateboarding? Skateboards are boards, called "decks," with wheels on them. Decks are often made of wood, but sometimes other materials are used. People can ride on skateboards to get from place to place, but they can also do much more than ride. With practice, they can do tricks, such as jumps, skateboard flips, and other exciting moves!

Learning to skateboard is all about getting up when you fall down. When a person learns to skateboard, he or she has to be willing to make mistakes. Skateboarding requires balance and practice. Even famous skateboarders like Karl Watson talk about how much practice it takes to be a great skateboarder.

Karl Watson believes people can get creative while skateboarding. There are always new ways to combine different tricks. Two tricks many skateboarders learn are the kickflip and the ollie. The kickflip is a vertical jump where you kick the skateboard to spin it in the air. Ollies are jumps in the air with the skateboard. Have you seen a skateboarder do an ollie or a kickflip?

Most skateparks have ramps where people can practice different tricks. One of these ramps is called the half-pipe. A half-pipe is flat in the middle and curves up at both ends. Skateboarders can travel from the top of one side to the top of the other, doing tricks as they switch directions at the top. In the flat section of the half-pipe, skateboarders can regain their balance to prepare for their next trick.

One great part about skateboarding is that it doesn't This is a photo of a skatepark. require competition. Many people go to skateparks just to get better at skateboarding. They find a community of people who all love the same activity. Many cities have free skateparks open to the public. Of course, professional skateboarders compete against each other, but a lot of skateboarders learn from one another and create friendships.

Would you ever try skateboarding?

Definition verb 1. to try to win or get something that others are also trying to get.

The two friends competed for the highest grade in the class.

Those two companies have always competed against each other.

Advanced Definition intransitive verb 1. to contend against others to win a desired goal or achieve a desired result.

Our team will compete against four others for the championship.

She felt she was always competing with her sister for her parents' attention.

2. to take part in organized contests or games.

Do you think she will compete in the next Olympic games?

Spanish cognate competir: The Spanish word competir means compete.

These are some examples of how the word or forms of the word are used:

1. Thank you for daring to compete against us. 2. It couldn't possibly compete with the Williker's catalog car. 3. Tennis is one of the sports athletes will compete in. 4. It seemed like she had a very good shot at competing in the Olympics. 5. At age 14, she became the youngest player to compete in a Professional Golfers' Association tour event. 6. From July 6 through 11, athletes will compete in tennis, soccer, track and field, swimming, and table tennis. 7. This July [2005], he plans to compete for a medal in the International Children's Games, also known as the Children's Olympics. 8. Once everyone found out that the Williker triplets were going to compete in the Derby, no one else bothered to enter. ReadWorks.org · © 2020 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved. Definitions and sample sentences within definitions are provided by Wordsmyth. © 2015 Wordsmyth. All rights reserved. ReadWorks Vocabulary - mistake mistake mis·take

Definition noun 1. a thought or action that is not correct.

I made a mistake when I called her Eileen instead of Elaine.

The teacher noticed a few mistakes on the test.

verb 1. to confuse someone or something with another.

I mistook him for his brother.

Advanced Definition noun 1. an incorrect thought, action, or judgment; error.

2. a misconception or misinterpretation.

transitive verb 1. to understand incorrectly.

He has mistaken what I said.

2. to take (one) for another; confuse (one) with another.

I mistook him for his brother.

intransitive verb 1. to be incorrect; err.

These are some examples of how the word or forms of the word are used:

1. Bella picked up her dad's coffee by mistake. "Yuck!" 2. Everyone makes mistakes. Would you like to let go of your mistakes? 3. He said it could help us avoid repeating past mistakes. One organization, StoryCorps, encourages everyone to become an oral historian. 4. He discovered a huge inland sea, which he mistook for the Pacific Ocean. Today that

ReadWorks.org · © 2020 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved. Definitions and sample sentences within definitions are provided by Wordsmyth. © 2015 Wordsmyth. All rights reserved. ReadWorks Vocabulary - mistake

Canadian body of water is called Hudson Bay. 5. She was about to rinse her finger in the sink when she realized she'd made another mistake. She hadn't turned off the water! 6. Animals can mistake litter for food and choke on it. In 2014, volunteers for the Great American Cleanup collected more than 37 million pounds of litter and debris. 7. But whenever they had made the mistake of playing Monopoly, the same thing always had happened. It always started with an argument over who got to be which piece. 8. In baseball, when a player makes a mistake, he's charged with an "error." It's pretty bad if a player makes more than one error in a game, but on that play, Phil Weintraub made three! 9. Just in time for Dr. Slater to let her in, her face had fallen into a frown the adults mistook for a surly scowl. Really, she was just disappointed to have lost her first piece of makeup, brand- new-plus, she hadn't finished painting her right hand.

Definition noun 1. the repeating of some activity many times in order to become good at it.

Claude spends two hours a day at football practice.

"Practice makes perfect" is an old saying.

2. the work of an occupation or profession.

Three of my cousins are in the practice of accounting.

verb 1. To repeat something in order to do it better.

She practices piano every day.

2. to work at a particular job.

This doctor practices internal medicine.

Advanced Definition noun 1. an activity that is habitual or customary.

It was never my practice to get up early in the mornings.

Giving store credit but no refunds is their usual business practice.

You shouldn't make a practice of borrowing money.

2. repeated performance in order to become skillful.

With a little more practice, you'll be able to play it perfectly.

3. the act or process of carrying out a thing.

Changing the school lunch program hadn't seemed too difficult in theory, but in practice, many problems arose.

4. the pursuit of an occupation or profession.

She decided early on to enter the practice of medicine.

Tired of the practice of law, he decided to change careers.

5. the business of a professional who serves clients or patients, or the office where the business is conducted.

She's a lawyer with a successful practice.

Their doctor has a busy practice on Fifth Avenue.

transitive verb 1. to do or observe habitually or customarily.

All of her family members practice yoga.

2. to repeatedly do or perform (something) to become skillful.

The band practiced the song until they could play it well.

If you practice your serve, your tennis game will improve.

You should practice parking the car a few more times before you take the driver's test.

Another actor helped him practice saying his lines for the play.

3. to pursue (an occupation or activity).

She practices law, and her sister practices medicine.

4. to drill or give repeated lessons to.

His music teacher practiced him in piano as well as in violin.

intransitive verb 1. to follow a profession.

He has a law degree but he never practiced.

2. to work systematically at acquiring a skill.

If you don't practice, you'll never succeed at this.

Spanish cognate práctica: The Spanish word práctica means practice. ReadWorks.org · © 2020 ReadWorks®, Inc. All rights reserved. Definitions and sample sentences within definitions are provided by Wordsmyth. © 2015 Wordsmyth. All rights reserved. ReadWorks Vocabulary - practice These are some examples of how the word or forms of the word are used:

1. Every night after dinner, Andreas went outside and practiced his shots. 2. Morgan says it takes a lot of practice to become good at soccer. 3. Practice an escape plan with your family. Choose an outside place for everyone to meet. 4. In practice, Zakat means that all Muslims must give 2.5% of everything they make to people in need. 5. It was the second time that week she had skipped swim practice to visit her father after school. 6. Farm practices that are unregulated or dangerous and cause harm to the public- contamination of water supplies, for example- are definitely taken seriously in court. 7. "Next, we'll practice a word problem," says Miss Mastiff, later that afternoon. She passes out a photocopied sheet of paper. "Lolly, would you please read it aloud?" 8. MIT is very well known and people from all over the world go to study there. It is one of the best colleges to learn and practice science. 9. He's practicing hunting. Cats use their paws to catch birds and mice and fish to eat. Sometimes they get excited and forget it's only practice. That's when they can scratch you. 10. She tip-toed down the dark corridor, fearful that her piano teacher might burst out at any moment and bellow, "You! Come here and practice 'Ring Around the Rosie!'" But the door did not open. Mr. Poliakoff did not catch her. Angela was free.

Name: ______Date: ______1. What is a meaning of the word practice?

A. materials used in experiments B. a soft, white, shiny metal C. skilful or artful management

2. What is another meaning of the word practice?

A. systematic training by multiple repetitions B. a community of people smaller than a town C. the part of the day between noon and evening

Please use each answer choice only once. Choose the one word that best completes the sentence.

3. Best of all, at the ranch we get to _____ roping on horseback.