Cody and the Elves
Mar. 24th, 2011 08:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thisnewdayYesterday, we gave my grandson's second grade class the first part of a unit exam in their English language arts program. I'm not a big fan of this program because it's another of those one-size-fits-all, scripted teaching schemes that schools have increasingly adopted in the process of abdicating their responsibilities to children in the name of No Child Left Behind. (Whew! Watch out for them run-on sentences, kids, they'll wear ya out!)
Anyway, one section of the exam tests the student's understanding of a specific literary concept and yesterday it was fantasy vs. reality. Typically, this involves reading a brief passage, answering several multiple choice questions on content, and then writing a short answer with supporting details from the reading.
Yesterday, it was a re-telling of "The Elves and the Poor Shoemaker" in which an impoverished shoemaker cuts a pair of shoes out of his last piece of leather and goes to bed unsure of how he and his wife are going to survive.
During the night, a pair of elves enter the shop and stitch together an exquisite pair of shoes which the shoemaker is astonished to find when he opens for business in the morning. He sells the shoes that day, at a handsome profit, buys more leather, and the process is repeated over the course of the next several nights.
By this time, the elves have been discovered and the shoemaker's wife decides to make a set of new clothes for each of the tiny, ragged creatures. The following night, the elves don the new clothes and, in the whimsical way of such creatures, they dance out the door and are never seen again.
As I said, the question was something like, "Is this story fantasy or reality? Support your answer with details from the story." At this point in the test, Ms. S. and I are circulating around the classroom, answering allowable questions and offering opinions on whether students should consider their tests complete or not.
After a few minutes of this, I glance up to see Ms. S. walking towards me looking like she might burst out laughing at any second. When she gets to me, she leans forward and uses her test booklet to shield what she's about to say from our would-be audience of second graders.
Cody, she tells me, has concluded his test with the statement that "The Elves and the Poor Shoemaker" is OF COURSE a fantasy and has supported his conclusion with the statement that, "Everone noes that elves dont mak shos. Thay mak TOYS!"
Some people have asked me why I do this every day without pay. I tell them that our public schools, and the children they serve, will soon be operating in crisis mode and will need all the help that our communities can give them. And besides, where else could you possibly hear stuff like this, paid or not?
LPK
LiveJournal
4.24.2011
Anyway, one section of the exam tests the student's understanding of a specific literary concept and yesterday it was fantasy vs. reality. Typically, this involves reading a brief passage, answering several multiple choice questions on content, and then writing a short answer with supporting details from the reading.
Yesterday, it was a re-telling of "The Elves and the Poor Shoemaker" in which an impoverished shoemaker cuts a pair of shoes out of his last piece of leather and goes to bed unsure of how he and his wife are going to survive.
During the night, a pair of elves enter the shop and stitch together an exquisite pair of shoes which the shoemaker is astonished to find when he opens for business in the morning. He sells the shoes that day, at a handsome profit, buys more leather, and the process is repeated over the course of the next several nights.
By this time, the elves have been discovered and the shoemaker's wife decides to make a set of new clothes for each of the tiny, ragged creatures. The following night, the elves don the new clothes and, in the whimsical way of such creatures, they dance out the door and are never seen again.
As I said, the question was something like, "Is this story fantasy or reality? Support your answer with details from the story." At this point in the test, Ms. S. and I are circulating around the classroom, answering allowable questions and offering opinions on whether students should consider their tests complete or not.
After a few minutes of this, I glance up to see Ms. S. walking towards me looking like she might burst out laughing at any second. When she gets to me, she leans forward and uses her test booklet to shield what she's about to say from our would-be audience of second graders.
Cody, she tells me, has concluded his test with the statement that "The Elves and the Poor Shoemaker" is OF COURSE a fantasy and has supported his conclusion with the statement that, "Everone noes that elves dont mak shos. Thay mak TOYS!"
Some people have asked me why I do this every day without pay. I tell them that our public schools, and the children they serve, will soon be operating in crisis mode and will need all the help that our communities can give them. And besides, where else could you possibly hear stuff like this, paid or not?
LPK
LiveJournal
4.24.2011
