Dana smiled, but then she made her face return to just plain normal. She didn’t want her smile to get stuck. Even that could be unpleasant. As long as they were under the Cloud of Doom, she would have to be very careful with her facial expressions.
Mr. Kidswatter walked quickly back to his office. He shut the door behind him.
He was sticking out his tongue. His left eye was shut tight, his right eyebrow was raised, and his left cheek was all puffed out.
11
What’s the Point?
In some classrooms, teachers choose the weekly spelling words. Not so in Mrs. Jewls’s class. She lets her students pick.
Nearly everyone had a hand raised. Mrs. Jewls called on Rondi.
“Pistachios,” said Rondi.
This is why other teachers don’t let their students choose the words. Mrs. Jewls couldn’t spell pistachios.
So she did what every teacher everywhere does in such situations. “That’s an excellent word, Rondi,” she said. “Would you like to come up and write it on the board?”
Rondi came to the front of the room. Mrs. Jewls paid close attention as Rondi wrote pistachios on the blackboard.
“I love pistachios,” said Kathy when Rondi returned to her seat.
“Me too,” said Allison. “They’re my third-favorite nut.”
Mrs. Jewls called on D.J.
“Grumple,” he said.
“I don’t think ‘grumple’ is a word,” Mrs. Jewls pointed out.
“So?” asked D.J. “We should still know how to spell it.”
“It might become a word someday,” Kathy agreed.
Mrs. Jewls wrote grumple under pistachios.
Joy raised her hand. “A,” she suggested.
“A what?” asked Mrs. Jewls.
“Just a,” said Joy.
“Don’t you think that’s a little too easy?” said Mrs. Jewls.
“It’s a very common word,” said Kathy. “It’s important that we all know how to spell it.”
Mrs. Jewls couldn’t argue with that. She added a to the list.
Myron had his hand raised.
“Yes, Myron,” said Mrs. Jewls.
“What’s the point?” Myron asked.
“That’s thr
ee words,” said Mrs. Jewls.