Just Like Prison

It amazes me what some of my students don't know. Things like the difference between city, state, and country. Or what Jell-O is! So, when I get the opportunity to throw in teachable facts, I do. Recently I have been using the new search engine, Bing, to help in this endeavor. When you go to the Bing website, there is a full page picture as the background. The pictures are always fantastic and there is a caption with some quick details. A couple of days ago, there was an incredible picture from Tuscany, Italy. So I put it up on the projector screen for the kids to see, and I showed them where Italy is on the map, and we talked about the fact that it is shaped like a boot, and even discussed what that "stuff was that looked like clouds" (fog).

Well, today one of my 4th graders asked when I was going to go to the place in the picture, and I told the class that I was not actually going to that place, but just wanted them to see it. And then, without much thought I told them that I was going to go to Romania this summer. I showed them where it was on the map, and then the questions began. When are you going? What are you going to do? Why? Who will you stay with? Are you coming back? What is an orphanage? Why did their parents leave them there? And so on... One boy in particular seemed to be really bothered by the fact that someone's parents would just leave them. "That's so sad," he kept saying. We talked a little more and I explained that sometimes parents know they cannot care for their children so they take them to a place where the kids will have food and clothes and a safe place to stay.

And then, in the midst of all this new knowledge and these sweet enquiring kids, the boy says, "Three meals a day- just like prison!" The whole class dissolved into giggles. I just put my face in my hands, shook my head, and had to laugh, too! It really was funny. He was not being mean-spirited, he has simply made a connection. Once we regained some composure I asked him if he eats three meals a day, to which he responded, "Yes." Then I asked if he was in prison, to which he responded, "No." The kids giggled again, and then we started music class.