Bathroom Talk

I had a really fun activity planned for today's "Fun Day Friday" time (kids can only participate if they've turned in their homework!). Unfortunately, I had to cancel it because I was forced to spend that time lecturing my students on the importance of proper bathroom behavior instead. Apparently, two of my students were observed by another staff member to be rough-housing in the bathroom, as well as peeking under the doors, locking doors, etc. The culprits wouldn't admit it to the other staff member, even though they had been identified by said staff. Well, after a long lecture, two detention slips, and quite a few teary eyes as I packed away all of the ingredients for my "haystacks" recipe, I decided that I would at least read them a story.

So I pulled my "Haystacks" book which I borrowed from the public library. I hadn't read it yet, so I decided now would be a good time. Well.... the book is all about farms, and farmers and hay. Near the end, it had a drawing of all that was left after the cows and pigs ate the hay. So my kids learned a new word today: manure. They were all quite shocked and grossed out when the next picture showed the manure being spread all over the field and I explained how it helps to grow our food. One student was particularly expressive and I saw visible relief on his face when I explained that the manure wasn't actually on the corn, just that it helped it grow. He later put his head in his hands and said, (in what I think was a statement intended to communicate overwhelming shock): "This is really a new day for me!"