Last week I taught "ore" words in phonics. I'd give the kids a minute to think of as many "real" words in that word family as they could before they shared them, crossed out words their peers already listed, and I wrote them on the board.
When one minute was up, AJ* began to read her real words to me.
"Pore, shore, more, store..." she started, and I wrote them down.
"Pore, shore, more, store..." she started, and I wrote them down.
The next word out of her mouth was "whore" so I just waited for her to say the next one without writing it on the board.
She looked up, and seeing that I hadn't written her word down, said "WHORE!" again (much more emphatically).
I said firmly, "No, that's a nonsense word. What's your next word?"
She argued, "NO, it's a real word!"
"It's nonsense. What's your next word?"
"It's nonsense. What's your next word?"
AJ huffed. "But Miss Hodges, yes it IS A REAL WORD! You know, like 'YOU'RE A WHORE?'"
Droessler's inquiry after hearing this story: "How does it feel to be called a 'whore' by a first grader?" Thanks, Slide. You can go drive your bus now.
