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Saturday, December 5, 2009

Lessons from a fifth grader

The scene: 9:00 p.m. Wednesday night at the Thomas house, at the end of a very busy day. Kids are eating spaghetti made by dad. Dance is finally over for the evening and the homework begins......

Cali: (pulls out a fresh piece of lined paper from her notebook.)

Me: I thought you were done with your homework before dance.

Cali: I was...I am...but I have to rewrite Chapter 25 from Sign of the Beaver for my teacher.

Me: I thought you did that last night...you sat at the table while I was working....I remember....?(am I experiencing deja vu?)

Cali: I have to do it again.

Me: Wha?? (Okay, it's bad enough to have to rewrite Chapter 25 from Sign of the Beaver in a new way ONCE....but twice??)

Cali: Apparently, it can't be funny.

Me: (a knowing look appears on my face, I'm certain)

Cali: Mr. S is not a fan of rubber chickens, I guess.

So there you have it....there is a time for rubber chickens in writing and a time for NO rubber chickens in writing. It is a good thing to learn the difference.

hrh

P.S. Poor Cali....the little apple is maybe too close to the tree sometimes.....

10 comments:

Catherine Denton said...

Ohhh, poor Cali. It's a shame Mr. S wouldn't accept her rubber chicken story. (I rather think he should've.) I give her an A+ for creativity!

Joshua McCune said...

When I was in fifth grade, all my stories involved blood, guts, and war. My mother was quite worried. She would have gladly welcomed nothing but rubber chickens.

Yat-Yee said...

C'mon! No rubber chicken?

storyqueen said...

Catherine-I mean, it would have been different if he'd had a no-rubber-chicken policy from the get-go.

Bane-Ah, the writing of the fifth grade boy! Gotta love it!

Yat-Yee-my point exactly.

lisa and laura said...

Seriously? Mr. S sounds like a dream crusher who seriously needs to consider having a sense of humor transplant.

L. T. Host said...

Mr. S. is a grumbly pants who needs some cheer.

She should turn in the funny version again and tell him he needs a laugh. Or not, because, well, grades, and all.

Anne Spollen said...

Lol -- yes, I think the apple has not fallen far from the tree in this case.

No rubber chicken clause in the assignment, so rubber chicken stories he might get. Sounds like he could use one.

Katie Anderson said...

Silly teacher!

Clementine said...

This teacher is the reason kids grow up thinking that they can't write! Agh! What's wrong with a rubber chicken?

Myrna Foster said...

I have a fifth grader too. I don't think her teacher would object to rubber chickens, but that's one she hasn't tried.