Why can't I???? (Winging it!)

Isn’t it funny the things we, as teachers, come up with on the fly sometimes?  My kiddos were learning about changing the y to i and adding a suffix that starts with e.

So, I was suddenly inspired in the middle of the lesson and came up with a nifty little story (off the top of my head, of course).  I know students always love to hear stories about people they know, so I used my daughter Morgan and her cousin Jeffrey in this story.  Basically, Morgan (who is 4) went to Jeffrey’s bday party (who is 10 or 11) and couldn’t do the same things he was doing because she wasn’t old enough or big enough.  So, Morgan kept asking me “Why Can’t I?” (Hence…change the y to i).  Totally fabricated story (which I told the kids), and they cackled and giggled and loved it.  Then, they all performed perfectly on applying their new learning to some practice exercises.  They really got it, because they had something to connect it with.  I love making things concrete and the challenge I am faced to do so when we use a very old-fashioned curriculum that is basically seat-work based (A Beka).  Remember, I am at a Christian school, so we use a Christian curriculum.  We are switching to Bob Jones University Press next year (which I like much better!!)  I was so inspired by how well this worked that I am going to create a mini unit for it sometime this week.  I will share it when I do.  Have a great Tuesday, everybody!