I discovered a game at Wal-mart last week that I thought would be great to take to school and play with my kids. It's called "In a Pickle."  The game consists of a bunch of cards with a single noun on each one.  Players put cards down in order of the size of the items.  For example, you might have seed--pickle--jar--box.  So I thought it sounded like a good game to teach sequencing and practice some less-familiar vocabulary.  What surprised me was the word one group of 2nd and 3rd graders struggled to define when we played the game today.

Student 1 (showing his card): "What is this word?"
Cara: "That says crib.  What is a crib?"
---A SHORT PAUSE---
Student 2:  "Ooh-I know-it's like a saying.  Like, 'Lets go hang out at the crib." 
Student 3: "Yeah, like rappers rap about-it's your house, isn't it?"
Cara (dumbfounded really, because I work in RURAL Arkansas): "Well, yes, I guess that's right.  But what else does crib mean?"
---A LONG PAUSE---
Student 1:  "Is it something for a baby?"
Cara: "Right!  Tell me more."
Student 1: "It's where a baby sleeps."

Well, I'm glad we got that settled.   The next challenge-is a crib bigger or smaller than a bed?  Yes, it took us a while to figure that out, too.

Cara