Amanda Takes Off...

When I teach guided reading, I have to choose one book to use on a group of one to five students who mainly have their reading level (and often not much else) in common.

Well, I must have done a good job this time, because yesterday several students were reading their books while walking down the hallway. Score one for Teacher! (Of course they were going to love The Last Book in the Universe, with its mention of "sexbos" on the very first page.)

Today we were told we weren't allowed to go outside (no problem) and since I had expected it, I'd brought the Korean game yut nori. I introduced it as "a traditional Korean game where you get to throw sticks."

Eight students learned how to play and I sat there giving both sides advice and making them think. "Wait...if you go there, what happens if they throw a three next time?"

It soon became as rousing and as exciting as it was when Good Man and I played against Master. The kids were yelling and cheering for numbers, arguing over strategy, stopping each other from bad moves—it was neat to see them so excited about such a simple (no computers, nothing flashy) game.

Score another point for Teacher!