In photosynthesis, the sun helps plants "make rice"

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My two favorite classes are kindergarten math and 4th/5th grade science. The kindergarteners are just absolutely adorable and there are only 4 of them in that class, so I can give them my absolute attention. They pick up the language so quickly, it is fun to see. One day, I said to one of the little ones, “You GOT it! Good for you!” and he said, “Teacher, what is ‘you got it?’” I explained it to him and went on with the lesson. The next day and every day since, he says “I/he/she/you GOT it!” at every chance. Similarly, I am working (with ALL students) on different responses to the question “How are you?” because they all answer, “I’m fine, thank you. And you?” like trained monkeys. It’s a ‘fine’ response, of course, but I feel like they need some variations to keep it interesting and not so robotic. So when they inevitably ask me, “And you?” I always respond with something different, like “Great,” “Wonderful,” “OK,” or “Terrific.” A favorite of some students is “Super!” The same kinder that likes “You GOT it!” has also taken to answering “I’m super” every time I ask how he is.

The 4th graders are fun because they are actually funny, while still being respectful and obedient, and they have a very good level of English, enough to be able to understand the things we are talking about (a refreshing change from 1st and 2nd grades).

We have grown into our relationship with each other in the weeks we’ve been together. There is really only one boy who is very loud and acts up in the front of the room, but the other students are allied with me so that they help me keep him in line. And even the one who acts up is good-natured; he just requires a lot of redirecting. Today I taught them all, “Zip it, lock it, put it in your pocket,” though they are a little too old for it, but it WORKED! They really liked it and took it to the extreme. When they wanted to talk to a neighbor, I would see them “unlock” their lips and then when they were done, they would “lock” them back up.

We also took a side trip down Polite Manners Lane today since one of the boys (you guessed which one) burped loudly several times, obviously looking for a reaction. I asked him to say, “Excuse me,” but he looked at me like I had spoken to him in Martian. I realized his confusion was because he only knew “I’m sorry,” and not “Excuse me.” So I took some time to discuss with them how you can use either one in many cases, also explaining some of the nuances. It was a “teachable moment,” to be sure, and it wasn’t going to let it slide, even though it wasn’t science-related. After all, I’m still supposed to be modeling English, and many times I think that is more important than the science I am teaching.

The fourth graders are studying plants, and we were reviewing photosynthesis the other day. At the beginning of class, I asked who could help tell me what happens during photosynthesis. One of the shyer girls in class raised her hand, and said, “’Plant uses sun to make rice.” I caught myself from laughing, picturing a solar rice maker inside the leaves of the plant, and thanked her for her answer, rephrasing it gently for the other students. This is an interesting cultural point, and I don’t know enough Thai yet to know if her answer was a direct translation, but I do know that since rice is so important here, you can say to someone, “Have you eaten rice yet?”, which simply means “Have you eaten yet?” So I’m assuming that when you talk about making food it can probably be said the same way: “I am making rice.”

Also, today I was talking about pollen cells, and I know they studied cells last term with the last science teacher. But Grape stopped me and said, “Teacher, what is sell? For sale? 20 baht? 15 baht? How much?” Of course I had to laugh at this one, mostly because I think she was actually making a joke and was not actually confused. But just in case, I did a quick review of cells, if not for her, then for the benefit of some of the others in the class.

Fourth grade and kindergarten are a delight. If only I could say the same for 3rd grade . . .

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