The Tall Comma
My pre-kinder kids are learning about contractions in Phonics class (how old are kids in the US when they learn this??). I've never had an opinion - good or bad - about contractions before this week, but now I love them. I love them because I get to hear 11 little children try to say "apostrophe."
Apparently, this was a new word for my class. They just called it a "comma" and made gestures to show me that it belonged on the top part of the word. I can sympathize with my kids when it takes 10 seconds to sound out a new word. That's what happens when I try to read Hangul. And 98% of it still means nothing to me, even after I sound it out.
Some Hangul letters cover for a couple different English letter sounds. Korean also doesn't cram together as many consonant sounds as English does (like the "str" in "apostrophe"). So, for my little kids, "apostrophe" comes out more like "uhh-potrow-pee." And whenever one student stumbles through it, they all crack up and repeat the funny-sounding word. So of course I have them spell each word out loud.
"What is the contraction for 'she' and 'is'?"
"She's! S-H-E-uhhhhpotrowpee-S" ... and then comes the echo "uhhpotrowpee!" and a room full of giggles.
Apparently, this was a new word for my class. They just called it a "comma" and made gestures to show me that it belonged on the top part of the word. I can sympathize with my kids when it takes 10 seconds to sound out a new word. That's what happens when I try to read Hangul. And 98% of it still means nothing to me, even after I sound it out.
Some Hangul letters cover for a couple different English letter sounds. Korean also doesn't cram together as many consonant sounds as English does (like the "str" in "apostrophe"). So, for my little kids, "apostrophe" comes out more like "uhh-potrow-pee." And whenever one student stumbles through it, they all crack up and repeat the funny-sounding word. So of course I have them spell each word out loud.
"What is the contraction for 'she' and 'is'?"
"She's! S-H-E-uhhhhpotrowpee-S" ... and then comes the echo "uhhpotrowpee!" and a room full of giggles.
Cute :) My university students call it a "comma (hand-motion in the air)" too. Kids' accents are sooo cute!!! I miss that :) You should video them sometime...
ReplyDeletehaha, for some reason I was thinking of the other "contraction" and agree that is pretty young for kids to learn about... but I kept reading and figured it out. (=
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