Friday, March 19, 2010
"Teacher Said a Cuss Word!"
Well, that's what he thought. Every time I said the word "hail" during our weather lesson yesterday, one of my little gems pointed to me and accused, "Awwww! Teacher said a cuss word!" I cued the video segment to the hailstorm and indicated that it was "hail"- frozen precipitation. I wrote it on the dry erase board.
After yesterday, I thought we were clear. But the bad word police was back on the job today. I had to write "h-e-[double hockey sticks]" on a sticky note and on a contrasting post-it write "hail." (Can you guess which sticky note he wanted to take home?)
Although the student is an early reader, he was able to visually discern between the two words. He was very pleased to have a new word he could read by sight. With help, he was able to derive other words from that word (pail, mail, and sail) and play a game of matching and then reading the words. This student normally struggles with wanting to engage in reading tasks. But he stuck with this activity and remained enthusiastic throughout.
Readers Respond
What do you think motivated my student the most? Do you think he was motivated because he thought "teacher said a cuss word?" Or was he motivated because the lesson followed his lead? How would you have handled his accusation differently? Post a comment to respond.
Posts
