I think as a parent of two (older) 7 yr olds (but new 3rd graders), my girls would like the list. 2 or 3 words would be fairly difficult to wrap their life experience and interest in, 2 or 3 they know and would use (we use abhor and affinity in conversation as plays on words) and the rest would be new.
Our school (not GT) blends vocab and spelling for all kids. Kiddos that have mastered grade level spelling words get challenge words...last year in 2nd vocab challenge: they had words like determination, exhaustion (core list of words ending in -tion) or patience, perchance (-ence and -ance) . They had to spell them and use them in a sentence. They also did various vocab building activities (word search, story writing, word puzzles, etc). It was a challenge at times, but it should have been and they enjoyed the blend of new words and relevance (often they were connected in some way to something they were doing).
The two words on the challenge list were double bonus. Often they were words that did not fit in the pattern/rule and/or was exceptionally unusual or a word that is tough, but kids showed an interest in.
That is fine with me.
The process of where and the WHY of using that list would bother me though. I would see if as the school year grows, if the lists get more applicable and relevant to theme or topic.
