Miss Nut and the Ice Cream Lasagna

Miss Nut is a cutie! She LOVES to talk and gets lots of practice doing so.  A few weeks ago, we were talking about our International Feast. At the International Feast, students bring a dish that represents their culture or heritage and we share with one other. Miss Nut decided that she would bring her grandma's ice cream lasagna. Now, when I first heard this I thought she was talking about a dessert that looked like lasagna or at the very least, she was mixing up ricotta and ice cream. She proceeded to describe how her grandma made it. She said that she puts a noodle in the plate and then covers it with vanilla ice cream. Next, she puts carmel, candy sprinkles, and meat on it. When she gets to the top layer, she gets olives and stuffs them with frosting and then dips them in candy sprinkles. Miss Nut said that it was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten. She also said that she tried to make the olives at home, but that they tasted gross. She thought maybe the olives were spoiled.  I don't now for sure, but I really hope that this is untrue. If not, it will be an interesting feast.

Little Miss Strikes Again

In second grade, sharing time is coveted. My students really look forward to it. One thing that I stress is that they can only share if they can connect their sharing to our unit of study. During this week, we were studying kindness. Many of the kiddos brought toys and said that they got them as gifts and that was kind. Although this is a bit of a cop-out, they made the connection so all was good in my book. It was Little Miss' day to share. She brought this adorable little snow globe with a tiger in it. Of course, I thought that she would take this down the same path that all of the other students had gone down. Little Miss started by telling us that they had been to the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park and that her dad had bought it for her out of kindness. In an effort to move things along, I promptly asked her to choose a few students who have questions for her. She turned and looked at me and said that she was not finished yet. OK, I thought, maybe she is going to talk about the vacation being kind, but what happened next was definitely not expected. I told her to continue on...and she did. She began to talk about visiting the tiger encampment at the park. She, of course, described it with great detail. She then started to talk about a specific momma tiger. Apparently, momma tiger was in labor. With her back arched and grunts and moans, she attempted to mimic the tiger giving birth. I tried to squash it, but it was a bit late at this point. She then stopped and promptly said that the zoo helper had put a blanket in front of where the baby tiger was coming out. The zoo helper was showing kindness, because she helped the kids watching not get grossed out.  So, needless to say we got a jumpstart on our next unit, Life Cycles. Oi ve! So much for the stork! (BTW- according to mom, it never happened)

The Tale of the Skunk, the Raccoon, and the Edible Turkey

So, I recently took my class on a wonderful field trip to a nature preserve here on the central coast of California. The best part of this trip was that I got to ride with one of the greatest tale tellers of all time. I am sure that I will have countless stories from this student before the year end.
As we were driving, Little Miss (her fictitious title naturally) was talking about a problem her dog and cat had the night before. Apparently, they got into a bit of a skirmish with a local raccoon.   She said that the dog had, in the end, killed the raccoon and then brought it into the house through the doggy door. The cat, being his partner in crime, followed diligently.  Now, at this point in the story I didn't even bat an eyelid. This is something that could happen here as there are raccoons everywhere and her details were spot on. The doggy door was a bit far fetched, but could be possible.  Then she began talking about the time that the same thing happened with a skunk only this time she described how her mom picked it up and looked at it. According to Little Miss, after the skunk was drug through the doggy door, her mom bent down and picked it up. She said that she looked it over and decided that it should be thrown away. She described what it smelled like and how sad her dog was that they threw it away. OK, this is plausible. I doubt that her mom would pick it up, but some of it still seemed possible. Then the whopper was launched. After describing how they disposed of the skunk, she began talking about a turkey.  It sounded like the turkey was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The dog and cat, on their serial killing rampage, assassinated the turkey. They also drug it through the doggy door and this time dropped it right next to her mom. Her mom then picked it up and looked it over. Although this time she didn't think it should be thrown out.  Little Miss claimed that her mom decided that the dog and cat hadn't chewed on the entire turkey, so it would do. It was Valentine's day and her mom hadn't been to the store, so on this day they would be eating turkey. The student talked about plucking the turkey's feathers and even described how it tasted.  After storytelling for at least 30 minutes, the student finished her tale. She followed it up by saying "I don't know if it was a dream or real, but it seamed really real." It took everything that I had not to break out laughing. This student's mom is a girly girl. She is always perfectly dressed and definitely not the type to eat "pet-kill." After speaking to her mom, I can accurately tell you that this never happened and, moreover, they have never had a doggy door.

Welcome

As a second grade teacher, I am privy too some amazing stories. From a turkey being drug through the doggy door to the "Hope" diamond that was brought in for sharing time,  I have heard it all. Every year there are children who share about their lives, but there are also a few gems whose tales must be retold. My goal for this blog is simple. I want to record all of these "adventures" and maybe even make a few of you giggle.  I hope that you all enjoy this as I much a I am enjoying writing it!