Today, I cracked my students up with the following math problem (names have been changed to protect the compulsive):
Amelio observed a squirrel outside his house. The squirrel buried 82 acorns to prepare for winter. The squirrel forgot where he buried half of the acorns. Then, other squirrels stole 10 of what he had left. Amelio felt sorry for the squirrel and gave him 15 acorns. How many acorns does the squirrel have now?
Amelio, easily the tallest and most mature looking kid in the bunch, tried gamely to read the problem out loud, but just couldn't make it through. He got to "observed a squirrel," and started snorting. It was all downhill from there. The class collapsed in collective giggles.
I think it's great that, here at the end of the year - with middle school looming on the horizon and everyone trying hard to look their coolest - they are unable to maintain their preteen cool in the face of a hapless squirrel.
It may not have helped so much that the math problems we were doing today were being pulled ceremoniously from the floppy felt top-hat that I wore when I played the mime last year in "The Fantasticks". Ah well...I pretend I disapprove of the laughing, happy children (I've even been heard to say, "You know I don't approve of laughing, happy children!"), but actually...
I do kinda like'em that way.
5 comments:
it is obvious that this particular subset of juvenile scholars were never afforded the opportunity to partake of midday viands or improve the acuity of their writing implements.
well...sadly...no.
but why do you say that?
I don't know.
Angelo observed a squirrel.
Angleo saw a squirrel.
Which one sounds funnier
observed...sure...
but i wanted them to know that he'd been watching very carefully.
Of course you would use the most precise verb, you had Mr Daly.
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