BILLINGS — Ben Steele Middle School in Billings secured a victory in the recent Vocabulary.com Vocabulary Bowl.
More than 300,000 learners and 30,000 teachers across 109 countries joined the action. Ben Steele mastered 6,568 words to win in the Montana contest, which ended at the end of March.
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Eighth-grade English teacher Mariko Trudell said Monday she is proud of her students and their achievements.
“It just makes me proud to be a teacher,” Trudell said.
Trudell emphasized that the bi-annual competition, while a contest, ultimately sets the students up for success in multiple subject areas.
“It's great for any content area, because vocabulary is going to be part of any type of class, whether it's math, health, P.E., science. You're going to have vocabulary for everything,” Trudell added.
Teachers have been selecting words that may be challenging. The words are selected from novels that students are reading in the classroom.
“That kind of just morphed into the kids being able to be part of this competition where they can compete against people across the nation for vocabulary words,” Trudell said.
Trudell highlighted the importance of vocabulary knowledge.
“It helps them conversationally. It helps them in their writing,” Trudell said.
Christopher Omichinski, an eighth-grade student, appreciated how Vocabulary.com provides context beyond just a search on the internet.
“It tells you when it was used, where it was used, how it was used, how it was changed over the years,” Omichinski said.
Omichinski added that mastering vocabulary involves more than just memorizing words. He says you can learn a word, but using it in a sentence makes all the difference.
“Since sixth grade, I've mastered 1,300 plus words,” Omichinski said.
Another eighth-grade student, Colton Tolman, is also enthusiastic about his vocabulary growth and being able to use new words around his friends.
“It was 'red herring' from a book we read. I said that, and they were really confused on what it was. It was kind of cool,” Tolman said.
Students have the freedom to create their own vocabulary lists based on their independent reading.
