Haphazard hodgepodge

I've been meaning to write for months. As is evident by my notes piling up. Literally.

I don't even know what some of my own jotted notes mean. So this is going to be a haphazard hodgepodge of stories. Bear with me.

We'll start with some writing samples.

One girl wrote that her grandma makes malicious cookies. Eventually, I convinced her that the word she was looking for was delicious. But now when I see the word malicious, I'll always think cookies.

When writing sentences with vocabulary words, I always remind my students to make sure that I can tell they understand what the word means. One girl wrote: I hate molasses, that thick, sweet, dark thing. 

In March, I had them write in their journals about spring.

- I do not like spring since you need to wear shoes. 
- I'm looking forward to being in the woods with my dog. 
- I like spring because it's the perfect weather to have some lemonade and just chill.


On a reading worksheet, they wrote about sounds.

Sounds that might make you feel sleepy or content:
- Mom and Dad talking politics. 
- a donkey neighing 

Sounds that make you feel happy or excited:
- gun shots 


And this is possibly my favorite journal entry ever.

Imagine you had a hundred dollars, but you could not keep it. You had to give it away to a person or charity. Who would you give it to? What would you want them to do with it?  

If I had to give a hundred dollars to someone, I would give it to my mom and dad when they are old and in a house for old people. I would give it to them and tell them to go buy a house, job, car, and a camper so they could live in a house not a house for old people. The end. 

And  now the things they say.

• "Adam is eventually sick."
• Girl who is acting grumpy: "I fell out of my bed! So I had to wake up." 
• Boy, upon hearing the year 1999: "I think my dad was alive then!" 
• To me, the day after a substitute teacher was in for me: "I feel a little bit better acting bad for my mom than for a teacher. Especially a substitute teacher." 
• In the morning, before beginning achievement tests: "Can I get my pillow from my backpack, for when I'm finished with the tests?" 
• Listening in as I re-explained directions on a spelling page to another student: "I don't think he tried real hard." 
• And today, as a reminder for how they should be standing on the risers for the spring program, I asked, "Where are your toes?"  Without missing a beat: "They're on my feet!"