random English teacherly observations on the Friday before Spring Break

1. Break dancing and rockin' guitar and drum solos will liven up any assembly. (The less academic an assembly, the better.)

2. We've been crafting original children's stories in my sophomore classes. Between that and afterschool improv comedy practice, I've begun thinking in very strange ways. Example: last night, at a birthday party for a friend, I hung out for a while with the five-to-seven-year-olds. At the onset of the conversation, while looking out the window, about to remark on a forever unknown topic, one kid said, "I was expecting..." and paused.

I completed. "A flying giraffe?" Laughter. Then we spent the next six minutes discussing the ins-and-outs of constructing a flying giraffe. Aluminum and wood, hollow so people could hide in it, piloted rather than remote-controlled. Another kid piped up, "Are you guys really gonna do this?"

"If we can get federal funding," I replied.

3. This list of items is the best writing prompt ever. First, display the list without explanation. Ask students to theorize: what do all these items have in common? (Other than the obvious, "They're all on a list.") Then reveal the answer. The immediate questions will all be versions of "How in the world did ______________ get there? A pit bull chained to a tree? A bag of dead goats?"

Instant curiosity means instant imagination. Have students pick one item and tell the story of its arrival on the California coastline. Their creativity will astound you.