Now It All Makes Sense!

The other day I finished reading Inkheart aloud to my class, and was ready to begin a new book. I wanted to read them the book called Alabama Moon, which I had bought because of the intriguing title. I read it to myself first, and thought it was a terrific book. So, to peak my kids' interest in the book, I built it up. I began by talking about the old addage: Don't judge a book by it's cover. We discussed the meaning of that saying, and I followed that up with the fact that not only do I judge books by their cover, but also by their unique titles, which was why I bought the book Alabama Moon. I then began to read the first couple of chapters, and when I finished, the kids actually applauded.

Anyway, soon it was time to go to pe. As the kids were lining up, I noticed that Nhu was wearing her favorite shirt with the saying that she didn't understand. As she went out the door, she said, "Look, Mrs. Teacher!"

I said, "I noticed that you are wearing your favorite shirt that you metioned in your last essay."

And she replied, "Yes, and now I understand what it means!" She was so happy.

On Being Persuasive

My students have been writing persuasive essays of late. The last persuasive essay I had assigned was about whether or not we should have to wear school uniforms. Many of the papers were actually quite good-I was pleased!

Nhu, my English Language Learner, wrote a paper with nice examples to back up her reasons, which was my goal of this paper. And her paper made me laugh! One of her reasons for not wanting to wear school uniforms was that students wouldn't be able to express their own individuality by wearing their favorite clothes. Her example cited that fact that she wouldn't be able to wear her "favorite t-shirt that says Don't judge a girl by her t-shirt (although I still don't know what that means...)."

Too funny!