STUDENTS ADD ESTRAORDINARY WORDS TO SPELLING LISTS

KENNETT -- "One day an altercation was on the playground," Heather Estes said in a story assigned by her teacher, Sande Crunk.

"Mrs. Crunk, I broke a resolution because I didn't keep my desk neat."

"We're being too loquacious today, aren't we Mrs. Crunk?"

These are some of the sentences one may hear and see written in assignments in Crunk's second-grade class at Masterson Elementary School.

Each week of school this year, Crunk sent a note home, to her students' parents, with 10 to 15 spelling words and one extraordinary word. If they spelled the "extra" word for the week correctly on their spelling test, they would receive one bonus point.

As the school year progressed, the students were held liable for the spelling of any previously assigned "extra" words that might show up on a weekly spelling test.

"They liked the way some words sounded...discombobulate, trepidation, altercation," Crunk said.

When Crunk told members of the community about the class project, they also contributed words to the list. Dr. Donald Butcher, a dentist in Campbell, Mo. submitted 'deleterious' and many other members of the community joined in as well.

A partial list of the words: resolution, discombobulate, auspicious, peregrination, consequences, evaporation, distraction, abrasion, punctilious, egregious, monarchy and conundrum.

According to Crunk, at the end of the school year, high school seniors were being tested on the second-graders' "extra" words.

In advance, Crunk promised her students a pizza/ice cream party if the entire class earned a "B" or higher on the spelling test.

The 24-member class achieved their goal. Tevin Hampton and Hope Sparks, who received perfect scores of 335/335 points received trophies.

Adult members of the community who contributed to the vocabulary list attended the party to celebrate with the students.

To wrap up the year, Crunk assigned her students to use the "extra" words to each write a story.

"My Dad started me on this idea when I was in third grade," Crunk remembered. Everyday, she would get a new word that she would have to know before saying prayers at bedtime.

"When you challenge them to do this, and they master it, you know that...if you give them enough guidance, they will be readers," Crunk said.