I ADORE interacting with preschoolers. Topics zip around the room like hummingbirds. Here is an actual piece of dialogue from my most recent preschool visit in which we are reading A Warm Winter Tail and talking about adaptation to cold.
Me: What season is it outside right now?
Class: (silence)
Me: Is it a hot season or a cold season?
Class: COLD!!!!
Me: Right. It’s a cold season. It’s winter. And its very cold today, isn’t it?
Sweet Boy #1: I LIKE FROGS!!!!
Me: You like frogs? Um. Me, too. Do we see frogs in the winter?
Class: NO!!!!
Me: Right. We don’t see frogs in the winter because they can’t stay warm in the snow and cold weather. They have to “adapt” — change their bodies — to stay alive in the winter. Just before it gets cold in the winter, they make a home under some leaves where it is a little bit warmer.
Sweet Girl #1: I’M HAVING A SLEEPOVER WITH MY AUNT TONIGHT AND SHE’S SLEEPING ON THE PULL OUT COUCH BUT SHE TOLD MY MOM THAT IT ISN’T TOO SOFT FOR HER BUT SHE’S STILL SLEEPING OVER!!!!
Me: That sounds like fun. So…I bet you will give your aunt a blanket to keep her warm, right? Too bad animals don’t have blankets. Have you ever seen a wild animal with a blanket?
Class: (LAUGHTER)
Me: Or jackets?
Class: (MUCH LAUGHTER)
Me: Or mittens? (I’m loving the escalation of humor) Have you ever seen a whitetailed deer with mittens? He’d have to have four mittens right? One for each hoof?
Class: (SO MUCH LAUGHTER I’M WONDERING IF I’LL REEL THEM IN AGAIN. Oops. Maybe went a little too far with the escalation of humor thing)
Sweet Boy #2: DO YOU HAVE A DUMPTRUCK?
Me: (smiles) No, sadly I don’t. I’ve always wanted a dumptruck.
Me: What season is it outside right now?
Class: (silence)
Me: Is it a hot season or a cold season?
Class: COLD!!!!
Me: Right. It’s a cold season. It’s winter. And its very cold today, isn’t it?
Sweet Boy #1: I LIKE FROGS!!!!
Me: You like frogs? Um. Me, too. Do we see frogs in the winter?
Class: NO!!!!
Me: Right. We don’t see frogs in the winter because they can’t stay warm in the snow and cold weather. They have to “adapt” — change their bodies — to stay alive in the winter. Just before it gets cold in the winter, they make a home under some leaves where it is a little bit warmer.
Sweet Girl #1: I’M HAVING A SLEEPOVER WITH MY AUNT TONIGHT AND SHE’S SLEEPING ON THE PULL OUT COUCH BUT SHE TOLD MY MOM THAT IT ISN’T TOO SOFT FOR HER BUT SHE’S STILL SLEEPING OVER!!!!
Me: That sounds like fun. So…I bet you will give your aunt a blanket to keep her warm, right? Too bad animals don’t have blankets. Have you ever seen a wild animal with a blanket?
Class: (LAUGHTER)
Me: Or jackets?
Class: (MUCH LAUGHTER)
Me: Or mittens? (I’m loving the escalation of humor) Have you ever seen a whitetailed deer with mittens? He’d have to have four mittens right? One for each hoof?
Class: (SO MUCH LAUGHTER I’M WONDERING IF I’LL REEL THEM IN AGAIN. Oops. Maybe went a little too far with the escalation of humor thing)
Sweet Boy #2: DO YOU HAVE A DUMPTRUCK?
Me: (smiles) No, sadly I don’t. I’ve always wanted a dumptruck.
