Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom (Wayside School 4)
Page 43
Mrs. Jewls closed her dictionary. “Well, that’s all the dictionary words,” she announced. “I guess I’ll have to use words that aren’t in the dictionary.”
It was Ron’s turn.
“Thruppledub,” said Mrs. Jewls.
Ron had memorized the entire dictionary. How was he supposed to spell un-dictionary words? “May I have the definition?” he asked.
“It’s when you count to three, and fall asleep in the middle,” said Mrs. Jewls.
“Oh, that’s easy,” Ron said, then correctly spelled the nonword.
“Fudge-squiggle,” said Mrs. Jewls.
Maurecia spelled it perfectly. She even included the hyphen, having learned from Todd’s earlier mistake.
“Whummph,” said Mrs. Jewls.
Again Ron asked for the definition.
“It’s the sound made by a jump rope as it brushes against the ground,” explained Mrs. Jewls.
Ron gave it his best shot. “W-h-u-m-p-h.”
“I’m sorry, Ron,” said Mrs. Jewls. “There are two m’s in whummph.”
“I win!” Maurecia exclaimed.
The class cheered.
Ron felt cheated. If it’s a made-up word, who gets to decide the number of m’s?
Maurecia’s smile was big and bright.
Ron was not smiling.
25
Jump Rope Arithmetic
On day two, the Major Event was Jump Rope Arithmetic. It is just what you’d expect from the name. The children had to answer arithmetic problems while jumping rope.
They earned one point for each jump of a rope. They could choose either to use one rope, or two at a time. Two ropes were harder, but the points added up more quickly.
If they answered a problem wrong, or tripped over a rope, they were done.
Joy, of course, chose two ropes. This was her special talent, like Joe’s upside-down “Jingle Bells,” or Dana’s funny faces.
“Four plus seven?” asked Mrs. Jewls.
Whummph. “Eleven,” replied Joy. Whummph.
Two points, and she’d only had to answer one question.
Whummph. “Three times nine?” Whummph.
“Twenty”—whummph—“seven.” Whummph.
She continued with ease, skipping lightly over the ropes while rattling off answers. Louis and Miss Nogard turned the ropes for her.