May 21, 2009

Is this Harpya?

On Tuesday I gave my 5th/6th grade afterschool class a mad lib. The idea was for them see what a possible phone conversation might look like in English. I gave them the structure, and they were supposed to fill in various nouns, adjectives, and verbs. For example, A: I want to cook _________ tonight, but I don't have any _____________. B: Oh that's ok, I have a lot of ____________________. I think you get the picture.

I told the kids to be creative, and that they could literally put anything they wanted in the boxes, no matter how ridiculous. Making sense was not exactly the point. However, this type of brash creativity seemed to startle everyone. The looks on their faces screamed, "you mean, there no right or wrong answer?!?" That notion was completely alien to all of the students... except my man Taek-hyun. I've mentioned Taek-hyun before on this blog, mostly for his butt-poking proclivities. Regardless of his over-active ddooksheens, he is a very smart, creative boy. He's basically a joy to have in class. And unlike everyone else, he had no problem with the mad lib. In fact, he loved it.

Here's a snippet of said mad lib.

A: Hello? Is this "Harpya"?
B: Speaking.
A: Oh, how are you?
B: I'm "hungry". How is your son, "basilisk"?
A: He is "hungry". Thank you for asking.
B: Wow! The weather today is "yellow sand". I'm very "sad" about it.

These are the words of one of Korea's future leaders.

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