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A walking dictionary
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Times photo: Brenda Steurer Meagan Leach, left, Jonathon Ferry, Olivia ODea and Brok Bertalot become the vocabulary words they chose to represent. Students from Abraham Lincoln Accelerated Learning Academy paraded through Monroe High School on Friday afternoon showing off their understanding of enough words to fill a dictionary.
MONROE - It was like watching a dictionary on parade.

The students of Abraham Lincoln Accelerated Learning Academy took their vocabulary words "on the road" Friday afternoon. They went across the road and into the Monroe High School dressed as their favorite words.

From "Arizona" to "wicked," a 15-minute parade of words passed by, despite the threat of the wind blowing them away, and filled the high school library.

Words included cool, rubbish, smog, pigeon, John Deere, equidae and attitude.

The students were dressed in costumes of their words, and had made signs with the definitions to teach all who saw them.

Fifth-grader Cody Faust was "unhitched," which means unmarried. But Faust said he is not interested in remaining unhitched.

Gavin Klokce was "pops." He got his word from the teacher and said the teacher found his definition.

"Then I had to make my sign," he said.

"Suddenly bursting sound" his sign said.

Klokce said although he chose pop, his teacher added the "s." Klokce said he already knew the definition.

"I have pop corn," he said to demonstrate he could used the word in a sentence.

David Keegan wanted to be a word that described himself.

He chose "carnivorous" because, "I like meat," he said. The second-grader found the definition in a dictionary.

Keegan said tigers, lions, snakes and sharks are carnivorous.

"Not everything with sharp teeth are carnivorous," he explained.

Nathan Kindschi chose to be "funny," because "I like to act funny," he said. Kindschi sported a long black wig and hat to express his word. His second-grade word means absurd or strange.

Not all the words are cute and funny.

Third-grader Edward Segner chose "battered," which he found while reading. He wore bandages to show the meaning.

"It's a great word," he said.

Anyone who thinks they're at least as smart as a fifth-grader may not have been ready for Abby Rielly's word.

"Onomatopoeia" are words that imitate the sound it is describing. Rielly wore a string of sounds around her waist, including hiss, peep, oink, boink, boom, quack and wham.

"I like saying it, and not many people know the word," she said for why she chose the word. "I did know it before, but I had to look up the spelling."