We Mess With Them!

Setting up long trains of toppling dominoes, building assorted machines out of plastic Zoobs, and pretending to know how to play Mancala are all popular options for how to spend indoor recess or Earned Free Time in the third grade.  The way that Earned Free Time works is that the class can save some time by being particularly quick to clean up or by finishing our bathroom break in under the time allotted.  That time gets deposited into our Earned Free Time amount.  On Fridays, we take a few minutes to "spend" that time with the dominoes, the Zoobs, and fake Mancala.

Another option for how to make use of this free time is to make grand plans for total domination over the boys.

Keisha and Deja are big planners.  First, they had their Girl Calendar, outlining all of their various recess activities, including one spot on Tuesdays reserved for simply, "Girls are better than boys."  I wasn't clear, exactly, on what that activity would entail, but now I've seen their accompanying plan which seems to flesh out the calendar more fully.  And with more dollar signs.

The wording of this plan is really less an outline of proposed activities than it is a rallying cry or call to action.  I assume that there is an appropriate way to read the plan, and that is as follows:

1. Gather crowd of loyal supporters of your cause.


2. Stand on improvised platform in front of a podium if possible.

3. Loudly and passionately proclaim your intentions: "We MESS with the boys!"

4. Clench fist and raise it in the air.

5. Shake fist while repeating the plan for more emphasis: "We MESS WITH THEM!" [Note: Draw out 
the vowels for yet more emphasis.]

6. Crowd of loyal supporters echoes your rallying cry back to you.

7. Proceed, en masse, towards the Four Square game to carry out plan.