From the mouths of (slightly larger) babes...

Since midway through my student-teaching last year, I've been posting the most entertaining phrases and exchanges to come from my young elementary students to my Facebook page. While last year I had second graders for most of the year, this year I work with third through sixth grade. All the more opportunity for some golden language experiences. After posting another gem today, someone commented that I should write a book. It was then that I realized that by having posted only on Facebook, many of my best quotes had been lost. I decided it was time to blog.

I'll do my best to recall some of the lost classics, but these are from these past couple months. Enjoy!


3rd grader: "Mr. Prior, when I just drank that water, it hurt my temple."

Situation: Having just returned from a trip to Puerto Rico.
3rd grader: "Mr. Prior, did you see any GEICOs in Puerto Rico?"


Situation: Small group work in science on human body systems. I overhear a nearby group having the following conversation.
5th grade boy: "I feel bad for girls, having to go through pregnancy."
5th grade girl: "I'm not going to, I'm never getting married."
Boy: "You don't have to get married to be pregnant."
Girl: "Maybe not, but I could get fixed."
Boy: "You can't get fixed like a dog."
Girl: "Sure you can; my mom got fixed."
Girl 2: "Yeah, after your brother was born. No wonder."


Me: "What do you think you know about Christopher Columbus?"
3rd Grader: "He was the first president!"
3rd Grader: "If you find him he gives you gold!"


Situation: Math word problem worksheet. Students write their own word problem using information presented in a graph. 3rd grade students then read them out loud to share. This was my favorite:
"If three people voted tigers as their favorite animal, and six voted for sharks, how many sharks are there in Florida?"


Teacher: "What US state is located on a peninsula?"
3rd grader: "Ummm...true?"


Teacher: "What's the difference between mammals and birds?"
3rd grader: "Ummm an ostrich?"


Situation: Students walking in from recess on a chilly November day.
Me: "How did your shirt get all wet?"
3rd grader: "Water."


Situation: I just got a haircut for the first time of the year. I walk into the school, past students in the before-school program.
Isn't your hair supposed to be poofy?" - 4th grader, after my haircut.


And my all-time favorite:

Situation: Reading a book out loud. Cigars are mentioned.
2nd grader, very casual and matter-of-factly: "Oh cigars! They use those especially in Paris."