Monday, February 14, 2011

cracking crackers

I asked my 8th grade students to respond in writing to the question “What did you do during Christmas vacation?” Here are a few of the unedited replies:

“I engoy the Christmas vecatian. And celebrate the Christmas. Many guest’s are come my house. And cut with cake. And arrange The Christmas tree And get The Christmas stars and LED bulbs. And 24th December night crackers are cracking That’s A big sound. And 25th night repeat the cracking. The Christmas was very good. And I go to the church and I pray and celebrate carol. And I celebrate The New year The New year is very good. My chistmas vecation is very good And I engoy with very happy. "

“I went friends house I was play fottball cricket cach and cach hide and see we fire firework then be a good boy then I lisent my class techer and my preance happy chrimas and happy new year for Madison techer thank you”

“I am go to my Christmas vacation in my mothers house. Mother’s house I play with my friends. And eat cake with my brothers and sisters. 23 and 24 my brothers and sister’s go to houses in the Christmas carol. This Christmas vacation was very beatiful and intresting. My mother’s house I crack the cracker’s at night. Very beatutiful and intresting ‘x’ mas vacation. “

“I am very happy. I am enjoy in the Christmas day. My relitives come my house. Make a Christmas tree. Make a cattle shed. My aunty give a gift. I enjoy in the Christmas day. My life is a best Christmas. “

As I was correcting piles of papers, I immediately knew the boy who wrote the second response you see above. He’s a total class clown and teacher suck up, but I would be lying if I said that after reading monotonous paper after paper that his didn’t make me laugh.

I have since handed these papers back, and I’m sure you can imagine that a long lesson on usage of the past and present tense followed. That’s something we’ll be working on for a while….!

“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery 

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