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