What in the world could this word mean?

I really enjoyed reading the articles. It brought to light a concept that I hadn't really taken the time to notice. In the article by Yopp and Yopp they stated that, "printed texts-including children's books- contained more rare words than language used in adult and children's television programs and adult conversations." I always thought that children would learn more by listening to people talk, but I realized that is not always the case. In fact, just from reading these articles every week I have added new words to my vocabulary. It is so important for children to read because they are actively learning new words. If there is a word they are unsure of they can use context clues to help figure it out. I thought the idea of 10 important words interesting. I remember when I was in middle school and my teacher would have us read selections about a particular topic. She would then have us pick out the most important words and discuss the meaning of the text. She taught us this method to help us in the reading comprehension part of our TCAP tests. I still use the idea to a certain extent today.