Maybe next time

Today, in my 8th grade class, I decided to try something different. It was the last class before a weeklong break, and I knew we were at least three weeks in front of the other class, so I loaded up all the children’s English books my family had sent me over the past 20 months and brought my English library to school. 

I divided the class into groups and each group had 30 minutes to read their book together and then write a summary. I walked around answering mainly vocabulary questions, but a few general questions, like why is this dog sleeping in a bad? (Go Dog Go), Who is this furry, blue creature? (Grover) and Why does this pigeon driving a bus? (Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus)

On one of my last laps, I passed Suzane, one of my smartest students. She stopped me. 

“Madam, this book,” she said shaking her head. “In this book, it’s only animals who talk. And everyone knows animals can’t talk.”

I was just glad she understood the English of the Little Red Hen. The imagination? Maybe next week.