humpty revisited

I could show you the same photographs of Humpty Dumpty that were on my last post...but I won't. 

Today I had the pleasure of teaching Mrs. Roger's third grade class in writing narratives.  I looked at a couple of stories and thought, "Oh, my word!  This kid is all over the place.  Not doing this one!" 

Then I read over a girl's story . . . and by now, you may know that I think girl stories are pretty dull compared to boy stories.  I'm not sexist.  Really.  I'm not.  But the girl story took place in the classroom . . . and where do I want the stories to take place????  You are absolutely right!  OUTSIDE!   I cannot preach enough to the children..."Go outside so ACTION can take place!"

So I had no choice but to choose the boy's narrative.  But, I will tell you now.  This child is brilliant!  How do I know this?  Because his story was all over the place.  A story line was presented and the next thing I knew he was catching fireflies!  This story had great ideas, but they were totally disconnected. 

"Wait a minute!  What has that got to do with Humpty tripping over a gigantic (kid's edited word) root.  Anyway, as I delved into this boy's story, he had great images... but he reminded me of my son, Clay.  Here today...gone tomorrow!  FOCUS BOY!

This story was a challenge indeed.  The kid and his friend tried to put Humpty together with mud . . . but you know that did not work.  Then they ran to the campsite and scooped up chocolate.

"Hold it!  Chocolate?  Liquid chocolate?  Why in the world would there be liquid chocolate at the camp site? " 

Poor little eight and nine year old faces!  I really hated to burst their bubble; but they must understand that things have to make sense to an old...really old FCAT scorer.

Well, one young lady suggested they put Humpty together with chocolate and MARSHMELLOWS!  Brilliant idea!  Of course, you know the boys ate the s'mores, once again.  So the final attempt at putting Humpty together was gum.  The paper said, "So I got gum and put Humpty back together."

Great idea, but we had to be specific.  Hubba Bubba Gum?  Bazooka Bubble Gum?

The kids voted and Bazooka Bubble Gum ruled.

 Then I elicited responses from eight and nine year old brains about what you have to do with the gum first.  And we all agreed!  WE HAD TO CHEW IT!    Which they did until their jaws hurt; and eventually Humpty was restored to a perfect eggshell with Bazooka Bubble Gum glued to his shell.

Whew! 

That took a lot of effort on my part, as a retired teacher! 

But, I loved every second of it!  Thank you third grade team!

PS.  I'm so proud of the girl's idea about the marshmallows!  (Girls really do rule!)

 

 

Comments

[Barbara]

I loved reading your experience and the magic you have in eliciting response from the children. Oh how we miss you!