N, O, P Versability

By Roger J. Maderia

The fifth book in the Versability series that takes the enjoyment of verse that you may have had with nursery rhymes, jingles, and songs and puts it into a dictionary of common nouns. Then it takes these common nouns and groups them into categories rather than alphabetical order and defines them in the context of verse. Finally a rhyme time challenge is added on each page to encourage repetition and a family or friendly game.

Enjoy!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514421727

Roger J. Maderia

Roger Maderia was a teacher for 35 years in the town of Wilmington, MA. He always enjoyed poetry and tried to incorporate some of this enjoyment into his teaching. In his retirement, he has tried to use verse in advertisements and cards, along with song writing, label making, and story telling. He considers VERSABILITY as the ability to put any written work into verse and works at it diligently. As the father of five and the grandfather of fourteen, he now has a new audience for his verse. With his Books of Versability, he hopes to make that audience much larger.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Roger J. Maderia.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-5144-2173-4

                eBook          978-1-5144-2172-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 11/09/2015

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Dedication

To a most fantastic family

I give this dedication,

extended by students and friends

who have been my inspiration.

Introduction

Roger Maderia was raised in Cambridge, MA near Longfellow’s spreading chestnut trees. Maybe this is why he has always enjoyed poetry. Now he is a retired teacher, having 35 years of experience in Wilmington, MA. He has always tried to incorporate this enjoyment into his teaching of Reading and Language Arts.

In his retirement, he has finally had the time to use this poetry in a new and innovative way which he calls Versability : the ability to enrich vocabulary and put other writing into verse. It has been used in ads, cards, labels, invitations and songs.

This is a dictionary of common nouns, but meanings are in the context of verse, so it is far more enjoyable to read and hear over and over again. This repetition can build a vocabulary of new words and enhance vocabulary that is already known. The added RHYME TIME challenge just makes retention better. It encourages rereading and adds a challenge and some fun to learning.

Blue Ink Reviews calls Versability "a delightful device to remind adults and students alike that stretching one’s vocabulary can be a noble - and surprisingly challenging - pursuit. Think Dr. Seuss meets Wheel of Fortune.

FOREWORD

Versatility is the ability to do many things competently. We have created the word versability which is the ability to put many things competently into verse.

Because simple phrases and rhymes are often remembered much more easily than dictionary meanings, these books are created to give the reader a brief meaning of a word, in the context of verse. They also focus on only common nouns to be less confusing and to enrich the vocabulary through the knowledge of things.

This book consists of about 110 pages of verse to include almost 2300 common nouns beginning with the letters N, O, and P. More than half of the book is for P. Naturally, some books will consist of more letters until we get to the final one which will be the UVWXYZ Book of Versability.

In the versability dictionary words will not occur in alphabetical order because these books will attempt to group things by categories to assist with meaning retention. Therefore, when the reader is trying to remember the meaning of the word auk, he may remember that it rhymed with hawk, which is a bird. That’s versability.

Each page will also contain a challenge called RHYME TIME. It uses one of the underlined words to fill in one blank and the reader has to think of a rhyming word for the second blank. A navy foot covering is a _____ _____. (blue shoe). Sometimes the challenge will be PRIME RHYME TIME: A recently purchased navy foot covering is a

____ _____ _____. (new blue shoe). In each full book there will be a PRIME RHYME TIME SUBLIME to figure out four rhyming words from the clues. Answers always appear two pages away from the puzzle.

Each page is designed to be read three times. Once for the meter and rhyme. Again for learning new words and lastly to solve the RHYME TIME puzzle.

An index, in alphabetical order, of all words with pages on which the words appear, is provided at the end of each book so the reader can easily refer back to each word, its verse, and its versability.

Book N

We’ll start our Ns with people

but we won’t do a namesake or name.

Versability lists just common nouns

but they’re people just the same.

Our neighbors live near to us

within our close neighborhood.

Visits from nana or grandma

with nephews and nieces are good.

A nanny may care for a newborn.

She’s a nursemaid for the nursery room.

Newcomers may move into town.

Newlyweds are a bride and a groom.

Newsmongers are known to spread gossip.

Newsmen broadcast the news.

Nomads wander from place to place.

Naysayers say no when they choose.

A novice is a student or beginner.

A novitiate is the time that’s begun.

A nunnery is another name for convent,

a home for worship by a nun.

A noble is a titled aristocrat.

It may be a noblewoman or nobleman.

Nobility is social class or position.

A nullipara has no children in her plan.

RHYME TIME

The brother’s daughter’s slices of cake

are the ________ _________.

A novelist writes books called novels.

Novelettes and novellas are shorter.

A naturalist is an advocate of naturalism

and a natural history recorder.

A navigator is in charge of navigation,

guiding a ship or a plane.

A nymph is a spirit of nature.

In myths their stories remain.

A naiad is a Greek water nymph.

A nabob is someone who’s wealthy.

A nutritionist is an expert in nutrition

and foods that keep people healthy.

Nominees are suggested for positions.

They receive a nomination from the crowd.

A noncom is a noncommissioned officer.

The army or