Word game helps jump-start students' thinking

Quick! Seven, six (letters), two syllables. To purloin a backpack-like carrying case.

Geneva High School senior Rod Nelson was quick -- incredibly quick -- with the answer: a swindle bindle.

Nine/seven, two syllables. An argumentative, contentious brother or sister. Answer: (I got this one fairly quickly, but not nearly as quickly as the kids in the class) a quibbling sibling.

Welcome to Paul Thill's Structure class at Geneva High School. With a focus on the English language, Thill begins class every day with a word puzzle known as "Wordy Gurdy."

He found the puzzles originally in the Chicago Tribune, which eventually discontinued the game. Thill then began making up his own and now has a collection of about 1,500.

The game is simple: The answer is two words and rhymes. He provides the students with the number of letters in each of the answer words, then the number of syllables in each and, finally, the clue. Then the students race each other to come up with the winning rhyme.

After having two kids in Thill's class, we've played the game before at our dinner table.

But, good grief, we're mere tortoises to the hares in the classroom. These students would have come up with the answer while we remain at the starting line, still trying to count letters in our heads. They're way beyond any of us.

"We are hardly splitting the atom here," Thill said.

But he has three main objectives with the game that isn't really one.

• Wordy Gurdy serves as a transitional activity. "It gets class started immediately and it gets their minds working in an 'English' way," Thill said. He begins right after the bell rings, "so we waste no time in getting them in this English mode."

• The game aims to help build vocabulary. Thill tries to reframe the clues using different vocabulary. "Whether consciously or subconsciously, I hope something is seeping into their crania."

• Wordy Gurdy contributes to "classroom vibe," something about which Thill feels strongly. "It provides a sort of daily structure and expectation, not to mention some healthy mini-rivalries between students."

Heidi Butler, Rod Nelson and Brendan Kane agreed Wordy Gurdy gets their brains working and on track for the class ahead. All three have Structure as their second class of the day.

"It's early in the morning and your mind is still not at the top of its game," Kane said. "It's nice for a warm-up. It's entertaining and it gets your mind going at the same time."

"I like starting class out with them," Butler agreed.

Are they fun, as well?

"Oh yeah," she said.

Butler had earned a point that day, coming up with "punnery nunnery" for "wordplay at a convent."

She gave credit where credit was due, saying she'd received a little help from classmate Anna Warner, who's "nun pun" answer was missing a syllable for each word, but had definitely started Butler on the winning path.

Nelson was on a streak that day, winning half of the 10 points available. He, too, enjoys the daily challenge of the game, plus the rivalry amongst his classmates. Thill keeps track of daily point totals, Nelson said, adding, "Brendan is really good."

Kane was on a field trip that day and missed the daily round. He said he's not the most competitive at the game, he just likes, and is good with, words.

"It takes a certain mindset," he said. "But it's not just words. Mr. Thill incorporates a lot of cultural references in them as well."

Thill recently presented a puzzle involving the name of an ice skater, plus another related to a holiday.

"It's cultural literacy, too. It's completely relevant to the class," Kane said.

On the day I visited, one of the Wordy Gurdies referred to a character in "Of Mice and Men," a novel the students read years ago.

That's not new, Kane said. Thill more than once has included novels read in past English classes in his Wordy Gurdies.

"He's had days where five Wordy Gurdies in a row involved characters from a specific novel," Kane said.

Thill recently welcomed student teacher Sean McCurtain, a 2001 GHS grad who is one of Thill's former students and, thus, a Wordy Gurdy alum himself.

"It's a great starter," McCurtain said. "It gets everyone's brains started."

It's not necessarily hard to figure the word puzzles out, he said. "But it's hard to beat everyone else."

McCurtain said he had had "every intention of stealing the Wordy Gurdy game" and using it wherever he ended up for student teaching. "And here I am doing it anyway," he said with a grin.

Want to play at home? I've included several, in the accompanying box.

And here's a Wordy Gurdy just for today.

• Five and five (letters), two syllables: an amusing and entertaining long-eared animal.

That's right. A "funny bunny." Happy Easter to all who mark the day.

Here are a few Wordy Gurdy puzzles for you to try:

1. Five/six (letters), two syllables: exceedingly punctual "Of Mice and Men" character

2. Five/six, two syllables: an insolent famous collie

3. Three/three, one syllable: to litigate a yak-like animal

4. Five/five, two syllables: slightly inebriated nomad

5. Six/six, two syllables: a more timid Muppets scientist

6. Six/four, one syllable: scolds Caesar's fateful day

7. Seven/five, two syllables: toast spread for "Frankenstein" author

Answers: 1) early Curley; 2) sassy Lassie; 3) sue gnu; 4) tipsy gypsy; 5) meeker Beaker; 6) chides Ides; 7) Shelley jelly.