Q is for... Quickie Mart Clerk?

One of our daily activities is drilling all the letters and sounds… in an effort to spice up this monotonous routine, I found some occupation cards to use. Each card has the letter of the alphabet prominently displayed and a picture of a corresponding profession. We say the letter, the sound, and finally the name of the occupation. “A, /a/, astronaut, B, /b/, baker, C, /k/, construction worker," etc.

In an effort to engage my sprouts, I have them sign ‘me too’ when we get to a job they think they might like when they grow up. I’m always amused at which jobs are most popular.

After explaining what an E, /e/, engineer was, many fancied that line of work. I have quite a few girls who thought nothing would be more fulfilling than H, /h/, hairdresser. I’m always happy that R, /r/ rock star isn’t all the rage… the media hasn’t influenced my kindergartners yet. Only one girl wanted to be a Q, /q/, queen… after the activity one day, she came up and whispered in my ear, “a princess gets to become a queen someday…”

When we get to T, /t/, teacher, they all point to me smiling. Naturally, most of them want to be a T, /t/ teacher and that is the greatest reward I could wish for. Who wouldn’t want to spend their day singing, be showered in hugs, practice magic, help children learn to zip their coats, or wear paper hats at work. Teaching kindergarten has made me a better man… I can’t think of anything I’d rather be… not even a K, /k/, karate instructor.

Cheeseburger and a coke

Does anybody remember that old Sesame Street skit where a clueless Grover would be at a restaraunt, and the waiter would ask for his order, whereupon Grover would say, "I'll have a cheeseburger and a coke!"

When the waiter informed Grover that they didn't have any cheeseburgers, Grover would reply, "Well in that case, I'll have a cheeseburger and a pepsi!"

And so on, and so on.

I had a moment where I felt like the waiter today.

We were discussing the short /u/ sound, saying, repeating, and blending several words like cup, jump, run, bug.

I reminded the kids that once you know a word that has a short u sound, like bug, then you know most of the rhyming words also have a short u sound.

So I asked for words that rhyme with bug.

"Mud!"

"Run!"

"Jog!"

"January!"

Each time, I tried to stop and remind the class what RHYMING means. I told them I wasn't looking for just any word that has a u in it, even if it IS a short u sound. I wanted a word that RHYMED with bug.

Next kid -- "Astronaut?"

You know what has a short u? UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!

And for those of you with a devious mind (like me), yes I have already forseen a few mishaps later this week with a certain word in the "truck" word family. Or maybe I'm ok since my kids won't be able to rhyme anything with truck.

On a completely different topic, whoever is reading this from Raleigh, NC -- I don't mean to sound like a stalker, but my stat counter shows me that you've been working your way backwards through all my blog posts. Sign my guest book, let me know who you are! :)