. Regurgitated Alpha Bits: January 2011

Monday, January 17, 2011

You Called it What?


Sorry, sorry, sorry. You know how regular life can get in the way of the life you really enjoy? Well, that's me right now. So, let me take a break from regular life and share with you a story from the life I really enjoy.

But before I do that, I have some bad news. Lou moved! You remember him? The kid who did this and this. I was so sad to see him go. He's a great kid and hope great things happen for him.

But on to funnier news. (At least, I hope you find it funny.) Well, if you don't find it funny, you'll at least find it inappropriately racy.

In my science classes, I have been teaching about ecosystems and how living things have adaptations to survive in their environments.

After studying the desert ecosystem, I began the "Build a Better Human" project in which students designed a "new" human that incorporates adaptations for desert organisms so that we might better survive in the desert.

One sweet little girl gave her human a long, hollow tongue so that he could capture ants that might seek shelter under rocks.

She called it, "The Suck Job."

Another student created a tortoise-like shell on his human's back and explained that it was defense against any toads and lizards that might jump on the human.

He called it, "The Horny Shield."

And our final entry in the "Don't hang THAT up at Open House" competition comes from Zeke.

Zeke was writing a summary of a story we'd read and here is an excerpt:

Marven was happy he met Jean Louis. He was lonely at the logging camp and Jean Louis played with him. Marven didn't have to play with himself anymore.

 
When we met to edit his summary, I made a few suggestions…

Me: Zeke, let's be more specific in this sentence. What did Jean Louis play with Marven?

Zeke: Lumberjack games and songs.

Me: Then let's add that. Now, let's also change this other sentence about Marven playing WITH himself to say, "Marven didn't have to play BY himself."

Zeke: Why? What's the difference?

Me: Ummm…