Third Grade Discussion

Last week I invited a teacher to show the 2 books we have finished to her 3rd grade class and I thought their comments were cute. The teacher first read our upcoming book The Elephant Who Wanted to Be a Bee. This is how the discussion went:

Student Responses to The Elephant Who Wanted to Be a Bee

Teacher: Can an Elephant become a Bee?
Students: No!

Teacher: Where do you think the story is going?
Students:
I think the bee is going to do some tricking.
You can't predict a story.
Bee won't help the Elephant.

Teacher: What is the motivation?
Students:
The flowers.
Bees only last a few hours.

Teacher: What do you think will happen?
Students:
She will go in there and all the bees will come outside.
Her head will get stuck.
She will get in and the Bees will come out and sting her.
I think Lizzy's prediction is right. The Bee is tricking the elephant.
Bees don't have a long life so they can't learn a lot.
The Bee is helping the elephant.

Teacher: How are you feeling about the Elephant?
Students:
Not good.
That she should just be herself.
She is the best the way she is.
She will give up and go to sleep and get some rest
I feel bad for the elephant.

(They liked the "Ka-Poof " and had me show it over and over again!)

Teacher: What lesson does this teach?
Students:
If you want something really bad, keep trying.
Really put your effort into something that you want.
All of her trying transformed her.
This has a relationship to The Engine that Could.
Chasing your dreams.

Teacher: How do you feel about this book?
Students:
Good to teach children to try your best!
Keep trying till you get it right!
Good book to read to someone who has tried but haven't achieved a goal.
Could be a "Beefant" instead of an "Elabee."

Now that the students knew how the the books played out, the teacher was curious to see their reaction to the next book.

Student Responses to The Snake Who Wanted to Be a Horse

Teacher: What do you think will happen?
Students:
The Snake will turn into a Horse.
The tail will be the back of the Snake.
It will be hard to fit 4 legs out of the bottom of the Snake.

Teacher: What is his motivation?
Students:
Wants legs.
Doesn't like the ground.
Wants to become a Horse.

Student's comments at the end of the book:
A Snorse can start a new species!!!
The scales look grouse on the horse.
He didn't lose totally who he was.
It was great!
I like the patterns the illustrator used on the snake!
They should write more of these books!!!
They should write one that goes the other way around; a Bee turning into an Elephant.
They should make a Turtle wanting to be a Cheetah
A Rabbit wanting to become a Human!
The Turtle wants to become a Cheetah so he can be fast.
Rabbit wanting to be a Kangaroo.
A Snorse who wants to be an Elabee!!!