This Week in First Grade

I have taught middle school for the last 6 years. This year, I am teaching 1st grade for the first time. I LOVE it! These kids crack me up. Even when they are naughty, it's hard to stay mad; they're just too darn cute! :) Here are a few funnies from this week.

As the bell was ringing signaling the end of the day, one little boy started complaining that he thought he was going to throw up. Since he had been fine only moments earlier, and had complained only once at the beginning of the day that he thought he was going to throw up, I knew he was going to be A-OK. I just needed to convince him that he was fine and get him off to the bus. I tried the "positive talk" approach. He wasn't buying it. So I thought I'd remind him of this morning when he thought he was going to throw up but didn't. I said, "I think you're going to be alright. Remember this morning when you said you were almost going to throw up but you didn't?" He replied, "Well....that's what almost means!"

A little girl was telling me about the "mices" she found while waiting at her bus stop. She couldn't wait until she got home that afternoon so she could catch some of them and bring them home for pets "like hamsters." A couple of days later, I asked her if she got to have the mice as pets. She said, "No. They were bunnies. They left. I don't know where they went."

We've been taking a HUGE 30 page reading test all week. Some of the questions are really difficult for first grade. Following a lengthy reading passage was this short response question: What is the main idea of this passage? In perfect complete sentence form, one of my students wrote, "I don't know." I think that's worth at least one point for a complete sentence and honesty...what do you think???