News : Dictionary Day: 3rd-graders receive books from Kiwanis

Addy Ingham reacts as she reads an interesting page in the dictionary presented by the Vinton Kiwanis Club. Thursday was one of the most highly-anticipated days of the school year for Tilford and Shellsburg Elementary 3rd-graders. Lexa Speidel presented each student a dictionary on behalf of the Vinton Kiwanis Club. The students spent some time discovering the unique and entertaining things in the books, including the "World's Longest Word. In math, the students had been working on multiplication; the dictionary includes a "times table." Several tried to read the 1,909-letter word that represents the a protein with hundreds of amino acids. Some of the students with older siblings recalled how their older brothers or sisters brought home the dictionary, and tried to pronounce that word. "It took my sister a long time," said one girl. "But she didn't finish." Addy Ingham was among the 3rd-graders who found the information in the books both interesting and entertaining. "She came home with her dictionary informing, me of all kinds of things I never knew," says Addy's mom, Becca. "She was very excited about this dictionary." The Vinton Kiwanis Club has been distributing dictionaries to local 3rd-graders for the past several years, as part of the non-profit Dictionary Project. "The goal of this program is to assist all students in becoming good writers, active readers, creative thinkers, and resourceful learners by providing them with their own personal dictionary. The dictionaries are a gift to each student to use at school and at home for years to come. Educators see third grade as the dividing line between learning to read and reading to learn, so we encourage our sponsors to give dictionaries each year to children in the third grade," according to the Dictionary Project mission statement. Pancake Day Speidel told the students that the dictionaries were a gift from the Kiwanis, and invited them to the pancake breakfast this Saturday at the Vinton Skate Center. Fake injury day It was also Fake Injury Day. Students wore bandages, splints, and other items designed to show injuries, and added scars and other special effects. They also had the opportunity to make up a story about what caused their pain. Several 0f the 3rd-graders found creative ways to look hurt, and to explain their injuries -- one said she was involved in an accident involving a car and a kangaroo. See more photos HERE.