Wednesday, February 4, 2009

No Offense to the Blondes Out There

I finished up with my reading group a few minutes early. I could have sent them back to their regular classrooms, but opted to keep them and have some fun.

I got out the Brain Quest cards. For those of you who are not familiar with Brain Quest cards, they are leveled by grade and have simple questions in several categories (math, grammar, science, literature, and entertainment). Since my reading group consisted of three 3rd graders and three 4th graders, it was only fitting that I got out the card set for 3rd and 4th grade.

Usually I ask a question and give a child several seconds to answer it. They know that they can always say "I don't know" as their answer, but if they do that, they must endure the wrath of the look. Then I go on to the next child. If answered incorrectly, we continue until everyone in the group has had a chance with that particular question.

After about 5 questions, we came upon a real winner.

Me: Which continent is the largest?

Emily: West Virginia

Me: Emily, West Virginia is a state, not a continent. (Thinking to myself...oh never mind. It just wouldn't be appropriate for me to share that.)

Amber: North America

Me: No, but at least you named a continent!

Jessica: Europe

Me: No, not Europe.

Marie: Africa

Me: Not Africa

Clay: Antarctica

Me: Not Antarctica

Jamie: Saturn

Me: Jamie (trying to hold back my laughter and tears), Saturn is a planet.

Jamie (tipping her head back and shaking her blonde hair, then giggling): oh yeah

Not only is Jamie's hair blonde, but so is her brain. She's a very sweet, kind, loving child, and will look great on her husband's arm someday.

And for the record, Emily is also a blonde, sigh.

By the way, the largest continent is Asia.

3 comments:

HereWeGoAJen said...

That is wonderful! I have a notebook full of the funny things my students said.

PERBS said...

I hope you changed the names of the innocent. . .

PERBS said...

I'm sorry to even suggest that maybe you didn't.