#2: Addition
It’s not always about having great letters—sometimes the best way to score is to add onto a word that’s already there. Turning CHILD into CHILDISH or WRITE into COWRITE can boost your score with just a few letters.
#3: Blocking
To be really good at Scrabble, you can’t just look out for yourself. You need to keep an eye on your opponent, too. So even if it sounds mean, you have to make sure that he (or she) can’t score off any really big squares. If you can’t use that triple-word square for yourself, block it with a word that can’t be added onto!
#4: Support
It definitely doesn’t hurt to have awesome friends who will find semiregional tournaments for you to compete in (thanks, Winnie!) and who come to the Junior National Finals to cheer you on, screaming as loud as they can when all you have is six vowels and a B. (Treehouse Ten Forever!!!)
TRANSCRIPT
The following is what was said on the Channel 10 Action News special report that aired on the evening of Tuesday, June 6th, just before the end of the school year:
Amanda Howard, Channel 10 Action News Correspondent: This is Amanda Howard, live with local celebrity Gwenyth Mahadi-Magage, otherwise known as the Girl from the Treehouse. Hi, Gwinnie, thanks for joining us today.
Winnie: Um, my name’s Winnie, actually.
Frank Quijata, Channel 10 Action News Cameraman: [voice heard off camera] I told you, Amanda.
Amanda Howard: Oh, Frankie, hush. You don’t know everything. [smiles at Winnie] We’re here to do a follow-up piece with you, now that your treehouse has been officially declared part of the United States. Were you so sad to leave?
Winnie: I guess a little. It was nice to live there for a while, but getting back to normal is good, too.
Amanda Howard: And do you ever go back to the treehouse these days?
Winnie: Sure. Even if I don’t live there, it’s a great place to hang out. I spend afternoons with my friends there sometimes or with my uncle Huck or sometimes even one of my parents will come, and we do art projects or whatever. Some days I go up with just my cat, Buttons. He’s the greatest cat in the whole—
Amanda Howard: Sounds delightful. I love dogs, too. But in more important news, I hear you and your classmates are writing a memoir about your time in the treehouse?
Winnie: Yeah, we’re submitting it for the “Your Class Writes!” competition. We’ve been working really hard. It’s due tomorrow, so we’re almost done. Our teacher told us we had to do a really good job on it or he wouldn’t let us graduate, since we missed so much school. But I think he’ll pass us. I don’t want to brag, but I think it turned out pretty nice.
Amanda Howard: Well, I do hope you all don’t fail miserably. But back to the treehouse. What’s this I hear about a museum?
Winnie: [surprised] Oh. Well, it’s just an idea I had. Nothing’s final yet. But I was thinking, since we all had so much fun in the treehouse, it might be cool to let other kids hang out there, too, sometimes. My friends and I are still working on the details, and my uncle Huck’s going to help with the design, but our basic idea is to turn the treehouse into a fun zone, where any kid can come visit. Like, there will be a reading space in the loft, and you can read any books you find there or bring books for other kids to find. That was Squizzy’s idea. Or you can work on food experiments in the kitchen. Aayush has all sorts of plans for that. There’s going to be a comic-book-making area and a craft space and a board-game zone, and some days there will be water balloon fights. You’ll know when those are scheduled so you’ll only get drenched if you want. And, for those kids out there who are super into teeth, my friend Lyle is going to host a series on dental hygiene. He’s working on a PowerPoint and everything.
Amanda Howard: It sounds lovely, except for that last part, about the teeth.
Frank Quijata: [voice heard off camera] Be nice, Amanda. I think it all sounds wonderful, Winnie!
Amanda Howard: Please ignore Frankie, Gwindovere. He never knows what he’s talking about. Anyway, before we turn back to the studio, can you tell us when this treehouse fun zone will be open to the public?
Winnie: Sure. We’re hoping to open it by the beginning of next school year. We’re all going to be pretty busy, obviously, with middle school and everything—well, I hope!—so it won’t be an everyday thing. But once it’s open, any kid can drop by and visit, and it’ll only cost two dollars to enter. [smiles at camera] The treehouse will be open every Wednesday.
Dear Winnie, Lyle, Squizzy, Tabitha, Aayush, Jolee, Logan, Greta, Joey, and Brogan,
Well, I really wish you hadn’t missed all that school back in April, but I have to admit this memoir is very well done. Excellent work, everyone! I enjoyed getting to know all of you better, and I hope the folks at the publishing contest will, too. (I’m no judge, but I think they’d be crazy to pick anyone else’s entry over yours!)
I will very much miss you all when you head off to middle school next year. Please do stay in touch and let me know what fabulous things you get up to. It’s been a real pleasure teaching you all this year (and learning a lot from you, too!).
Yours truly,
Mr. Hector Benetto
P.S. In case it wasn’t clear, you all passed. A-pluses for everyone! That includes you, Winnie—I can tell you worked very hard on this!
P.P.S. Please remember to remove all of the Post-it notes throughout before you submit this to the contest!
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Lisa Graff, The Great Treehouse War
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