Hyperbolize Much?

I will admit, "Special Snack" is pretty cool.  This weekly incentive for one of my students, Kelvin, involves getting to pick one friend to join him for snack down the hall from our classroom.  We chat (mostly about Pokemon phrases I don't even understand).  We eat snack.  It's special.  3 times out of 4, the lucky friend Kelvin picks to join him is David. 


However....


Last week I found Kelvin by the cubbies, writing this note to David.  Not his usual energetic self, Kelvin was almost near tears.

Sad.  I mean--never?  Never again?  Why the harsh treatment? (And another question I have--why close such a note with, "Your Friend?") (And yes, I did copy and paste the note so that the names are changed).

When I saw his note, I asked Kelvin if he was mad at David for some reason.  Indeed, he was.  I don't even remember what the reason was, but we solved it in about two minutes by talking to David.  Done and done, and you'll be happy to know that they're back on speaking and Pokemon-ing terms in time for this week's special snack.  We'll see what happens with it comes time to choose this week!

Best Friend Telepathy

Summer is well underway--no school, no homework, lots of time to play with your friends. One thing about friendships I noticed this past year was how important it is to call on your friends during a share.

In our classroom, two kids sign up each day to share during morning meeting. Topics this year ranged from a trip to Baltimore to watch football and eat nachos to a little league trophy to the possibility of maybe hopefully going on a cruise. The actual share itself is only half the fun, though. The other is the ultimate power that comes with being able to call on 5 of your classmates to ask questions. This decision must be made judiciously, especially when there are many more hands than remaining questions. A few times this year I witnessed an interesting phenomenon during the Q&A portion of our morning meetings-the "I am going to call on you, don't worry" look of reassurance. I watched as Malik held out his five fingers to tick down the remaining questions but didn't call on his best friend, Tyson. As Malik got down to two questions to go, he stared at Tyson across the morning meeting circle long enough and intently enough to do a little telepathic exchange. "We are best friends. I am definitely going to call on you, buddy. I will take one more question from some other non-special kid, but the last one I'm saving for you and only you."

Breanna also employed telepathic friend powers at morning meeting this year, staring across at Alexis as the number of remaining share questions dwindled. "I will take your question, friend. I will not leave you hanging" she mentally communicated to Alexis. Breanna then solemnly nodded to confirm the promise, before calling on some other non-Alexis kid.

Sure, I've done a fair bit of breaking up of favoritism during various games this year, but I did particularly appreciate how both Malik and Breanna navigated the best friend dynamic--calling on other classmates while still saving one of the coveted question spots for a very special friend.

Image: sneakerradio.com

What I Like About You

We're just days away from the big end of year goodbye--somewhat anticlimactic, though, as almost everyone will be back again in a couple of short months for part two of this second/third grade loop. Same classroom. Same teacher. Same homework passes, which may be redeemed in grade 3 after having been earned in grade 2. One student figured out that this was actually a remarkable return on investment. Earn a free night's worth of second grade homework and cash it in for the inflated value of a free night of third grade homework!

But a goodbye nonetheless. My end of year tradition is to have all of the students write compliments about each other and to compile them to present to each kid on the last day. When gearing up to write, we do a minilesson on what makes a good compliment--it's always positive and specific compliments are best.

On year, Shay received this compliment:

You are my friend and I like that and you can do the Robot.

When we presented the typed list on fancy scroll paper to Shay, she did the Robot.

Friends in the class are a piece of cake. "You're my best friend" always appears on the list of compliments between a few buddies. Less-than-friends, though, can be a stretch. Much though I try to help the kids brainstorm possible areas for compliments, model some examples, and review the two features of a good compliment, some compliments always turn out to be not particularly specific. Still others turn out to be not particularly positive. This year I haven't even looked through them all yet, but already I came across one that is rather amazing in its backhanded-ness and will definitely not be included on the scroll.

You're mean to people but not to me.

Image: wikimedia.org

So Which Is It?

On Friday I found a "circle yes or no" note floating around the classroom, though unlike most such notes I've found, it did not center around liking or not liking someone. The intended recipient had apparently not had a chance to get the note or to form an opinion, but I'll just assume the circle would have gone to "yes," or possibly a third, write-in option: "Actually I LOVE school because my teacher is amazing."

  Elementary school students spend much of their energy on opinions. They form opinions. They ask other kids their opinions. Then they either confirm their own opinions, change their minds, or try to get the other person to change their mind. All parties being agreed on a single opinion, though, is highly valued. Seven year olds in my classes over the years have been known to devote entire lunch periods to the following game:

1. Sit around lunch table.
2. Someone calls out, "Raise your hand if you like...."
3. That same person fills in the name of a movie, food, or birthday party location.
4. All who like said movie, food, or birthday party location raise their hands.
5. All who don't like the thing in question but who like being part of the crowd raise their hands.
6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 until lunch time is over.

  The circling of yes or no on a note, though, is a standby favorite for expressing an opinion. Although the circling will not always fall in your favor, It is very important to pin down a yes or a no. Sometimes hints are even included so that the right choice is made. Listing these two options works for a variety of situations, from obtaining a boyfriend, to asking the teacher for a class pet, and from determining the truth to forming friendships when you're the new girl.

The Lightsaber Bond

I am very much NOT a fan of Star Wars, but Jerome in the other second grade class and I have bonded on the playground over lightsabers. Jerome struck me as the kind of guy who might make a good friend for Sam in my class, so I staged a very manufactured coincidence one day to get them to hang out on the playground. After noticing that Sam was playing some sort of lightsaber....well, whatever it is one does with lightsabers, I sidled up to Jerome and asked if by some pure coincidence, he might possibly like Star Wars. Well, sure enough, he did, and my grand plan was well underway. Next step--"happen upon" Sam and his zzwooshing saber of light, introduce the boys to each other, and point out their shared love of lightsabers. As Sam stood there zzwooshing away, I offered Jerome the imaginary lightsaber that I keep in my back pocket at all times. He accepted and off they went.
  A few days later at recess, Jerome came up to me with a wide grin and displayed the loaned lightsaber that he still had with him. Today on the playground, he rushed over to tell me that he has now purchased his own lightsaber. I asked if he had gotten a good deal on it, and indeed he had. If the goal of my plan was to strike up a friendship, I think it has succeeded. I wonder what Jerome and I will talk about tomorrow!

It's Jerome!

It’s important to know where your friends are at all times in elementary school—especially at recess. Should you misplace a friend at this crucial time of building and chasing and roaring, it will be very hard to build a sufficiently tall structure out of blocks, nearly impossible to chase, and everyone knows that the best roars are duets. Our playground is smaller than a classroom, but even in a compact area, a recess friend could be just out of sight behind the twisty slide or under the bridge.

The other day, Jerome came outside a few minutes after the rest of the class—but an important few minutes. While Jerome was depositing his eyeglasses safely at the front office, his friend LeRoy had managed to blend in with the recess landscape, and was nowhere to be found. The building! The chasing! Roars! Jerome needed to find LeRoy—and fast. He stood at one end of the playground, cupped his hands around his mouth, took a deep breath and tilted his head towards either the sky or the playground gods. “LE-ROY!” he bellowed, and looked around to see if his buddy had come out of hiding. No luck. Perhaps LeRoy had heard his name being shouted from over by the slide, but hadn’t recognized the source of the calls. “LE-ROY!” Jerome bellowed again into the playground air. “It’s Juh-ROME!!”

Compliments

Well, it's getting to be that time. Our final performance is over, we're doing the end of year tests, recess is getting very sweaty.

At this magical time we call the end of the year, I ask students to share what they value about each other. Many children believe that one’s net worth as a friend is determined by some combination of how tall you are and how fast you can snap your fingers. They write compliments about their classmates, which I then compile and type up for each person to keep.

Knowledge of math facts is universally acknowledged among third graders to be quite admirable. Bravery with regard to ferocious animals, while less common, also appears to be a trait worth having. Some of the compliments are extremely specific and remarkably accurate. You know, Da’Von is quite skilled at unjamming the stapler, now that you mention it.

He is brave. He is not scared of dangerous animals.

What’s great about Melvin is that when you ask him to scoot his desk over, he does it nicely.

She is gentle. She never push when she is trying to go somewhere.

He is very smart and cool because he helped me with riddles.

She is a very good dancer. I seen her dance at recess

He can snap really fast.

He has great information about Dragon Ball Z.


Some compliments are a bit of a stretch.

She is very athletic for a girl.

She is the tallest girl of girls and boys in the class.

He is short but still smart.

For a Clue

Dear Becky,
I don’t like when you sing a song about me. I well be nice to you if you be nice to me.

Well you be nice to me

yes no

for a clue
you could pick yes