Mispronounced Words
from The Diary of a First Grade Teacher
Mispronounced words CAN BE a clue that your child has a hearing loss. If you're truly concerned, be sure to have your child checked by a professional.
But often, it's simply a matter of mispronunciations only.
Whenever this is this case, then, get ready for some humor ... freely provided by the first graders.
A Beautiful Thing
At recess, Ema ran over to where I stood. “Teacher, DID YOU NOTICE? Today, I’m PRETTY!”
“Yes, you are!” I said, admiring her frilly, pink, pageant-styled dress.
Suddenly, she began spinning. Faster and faster she spun, watching her skirt tail fly.
At last, she slowed down enough to shout … “See, that's cause I went to the BOOTY SHOP!”
My Favorite Sandwich
Long before students are expected to WRITE an informative paragraph, I have them practice informing us by telling us how they create, build, or do something.
With the Firsties, I start off slowly. Today, for example, the topic was “My Favorite Sandwich.” They were to complete the following sentence starter…
The sandwich I like to make is _________.
Then, using three steps, they tell the class how they make it. To help others understand how it’s done, they are instructed to use the following three clue words: first, next, last.
Martin jumped up and volunteered to speak first. “Mmmm Mmmm,” he said. “My bestest sam-mich is ham. And it gots lotsa man-a-maze!
FIRST, I build it.
THEN, I gobble it up. I mean, DOWN.”
He laughed nervously and continued...
"And LAST, I git to sit down.”
What's in a Word?
We were discussing how the lack of rain was a problem for the farmers in our part of the USA, the Deep South... In addition to them identifying the reasons why rain was needed, I had two more goals in mind for the discussion:
1. To practice speaking one-at-a-time in a group setting
2. To practice staying on the topic we were discussing
Weesie couldn’t stop fidgeting… No doubt, she was anxious to speak because suddenly, she jumped up and blurted an announcement: “Hey, my momma had a baby, and now she can’t have any more babies --CAUSE she got her boobs tied!”
Got the WHAT?
Tommy was slouched over in the corner on a beanbag ... He was supposed to be reading.
“Tommy, do you like the story you’re reading?” I asked, as if he had actually been reading.
He was honest. “I don’t know,” he said. “I ain’t reading.”
“No?” I raised my eyebrows. “What’s going on?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know … My ol' man SAZ I got the WHINE flu!”
My Favorite Movie
Each child was making a list of his/her favorite things ...
Weesie could hardly wait to tell me … “My favorite MOVIE is Booty and the Beast!"
Jumping High
At recess, Clarissa - my little tomboy - said, “Teacher, I can run and jump turtles!”
Mispronounced Words
“Turtles?” I said.
“Uh-huh, HIGH-UP turtles … over by my house.”
I remembered that she lived over behind the high school stadium. “Oh, you mean hurdles.”
She glanced at me sideways. “That’s what I said. Turtles!”
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