The bonus word

I just wanted to share a quick anecdote about the bonus words... The kids have been really excited about them. It cracks me up how much they've really gotten into this! They were asking me all week last week to tell them what the bonus word would be, and a few have started up already this week. They also would actually talk about it with each other too, at recess and such. I overheard a few students saying, "I wonder what the bonus word will be," and "I hope I can spell the bonus word," and "It's cool that we get an extra point for the bonus word." I wasn't really sure they'd quite understand the concept, but many of them not only understood it, but have really been interested and motivated by it! I was just hoping for extra practice of some of their "reading" words, but this exceeds my expectations! It's really exciting to see them getting so involved with and excited about their learning process!