Today I sat down with some bright kindergarten girls for guided reading. We were about to dive into a book about one of our favorite characters- a golden retriever named Danny. In this particular book Danny and his dog friend Abby play tag in the grass after Dad mows the lawn. I know, riveting, right? (Don't mock it, we DIE for Danny books in kindergarten).
Since none of the girls live in houses with yards I wasn't sure that they'd have the schema to know what the man in the picture was doing with the grass. Suspecting this could interfere with their reading I showed them the picture of the character mowing the lawn and asked them what he was doing.
Crickets.
Finally one girl said, "Wait, I know this, he's, he's...." she gestured frantically... "breaking the grass!"
I adore listening to kids learning English find ways to describe what their thinking. I think "breaking the grass" is extremely accurate.
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During snack I plopped down beside some kindergarten boys to try to work on answering questions on topic.
"What do you celebrate at your house?" I asked.
"Santa Claus!" one answered, proudly. "My family doesn't celebrate Christmas, we celebrate Santa."
This reminds me of my son when he first saw me shaving.
ReplyDeleteMum asked "Where's Dad?" He said "He's just mowing his face."
☺☺☺