Kid Funnies, Episode 1

I tell myself every year that I need to write down the hilarious things kids say from day to day, but I always forget, or don't have paper, or am too busy doing something else to write it down.  Like two years ago when my students would shout "LET'S PLAY MEXICANS" on the playground and chase each other while speaking, I kid you not, fake Spanish. (That somehow really sounded like legitimate Spanish but was not at all Spanish.)

So today I was really pleased that I remembered the following interaction.

We read a lot of the Scaredy Squirrel books last week for S week. As a result, one of my students worked on his very own Scaredy Squirrel book at home.  He did a really good job on the presentation, but the thing I noticed as I read it to myself was that all of the pages said the same sentence, and that sentence wasn't exactly a full thought. Of course, at this point in the year, any writing (let alone legitimate words) is impressive for these children. So correctly spelled words in any capacity is a genuine achievement.

I appreciated his effort and creativity and asked him to share his story with the class. What I was not expecting was the response from the class.  I kind of anticipated everyone would be a little bit confused, like I was, and ask questions about what happened in the story. That wasn't the case.


He sat in the rocking chair, held up his book and began reading.
(cover): "Scaredy Squirrel at the Park."
(page 1): "The park is wow."
(page 2): "The park is wow."
(page 3): "To the park is wow."
(page 4): "The park is wow."

As one little girl has her finger up her nose, she opens her eyes in wonder and says "WOW, he sure can read!" At which point everyone else chimes in, "Yeah!" "I really like this story!"

What. Out of all the stories I've read so far this year, this little boy's story has gotten the best response by far. He pretty much got a standing ovation as he said 'The End.'

Because when you're five, that's the kind of story that genuinely impresses and pleases. I love it.