Random Musings

Sign of the times....

The lesson was on inferring main idea; how to go about developing one when it isn't directly stated in the text. The subject was Thomas Jefferson, his home, Monticello, in Virginia, his having signed the Declaration of Independence, and a few other things for which he is lesser known.

During the course of the lesson, the kids found out that he invented a machine that was like a plow for which he won a prize for ingenuity. They found out that he played the violin in his spare time and that he collected art and had a gallery at Monticello. They practiced skimming and scanning for information within the text, as well how to use details to infer a main idea.

I took the opportunity to introduce some new vocabulary and to reinforce words with which they might have been familiar in a Social Studies setting, but might become abstract in a setting outside of that: patriot, politician, patrician, diplomat.

One of the lines we ran into in the selection said that Thomas Jefferson also "had a hand in foreign affairs". Something told me that I should check for understanding of what that meant. After all, I teach 8th grade Reading, so there is no guarantee that the confident look on my students' faces or the absence of questions on their part as we proceed through the lesson is indicative of understanding of what we're doing.

I asked, "What does it mean when it says that he had a hand in foreign affairs?"

An arm shot up in the air, and I acknowledged it.

The little fellow replied in absolute sincerity, "It means that Thomas Jefferson messed around with foriegn women."

I was stunned, to say the least, at his interpretation, but I've been at this a long time, so I played it off, gently redirecting the response.

"Well, that's not quite what it means he did, but does anybody else have an idea? Look back at what is going on around that sentence. Can you get a meaning for it from the context?" (Another vocabulary word)


A second hand went up, a girl, one I thought it might be safe to call upon. I was wrong.

"It means that he cheated on his wife in foreign countries, like Europe and stuff. Or it was his girlfriend if he didn't have a wife."

When I picked my head back up from the podium from where I had lay it for a moment to ride out the throbbing in my temple, the assorted pairs of eyes staring back at me were amused, but at the same time, confused at my reaction.

They didn't have a clue.

After I explained what it really meant, I got a collective, introspective, "Ohhhhhh."

Do not take for granted that kids know what you're talking about all the time or that they understand what they read simply because they are a certain age or in a certain grade. Reading has been replaced by video, TV, MP3, Myspace, etc., and thinking, making sense of print material, not to mention vocabulary development are suffering as a result.

However, the babies do seem to have a solid grip on reality.