You may want to use this story script from Jim later this month. I’m going to start this one early, because each year I seem to remember this script the day of Halloween or after it:
Halloween
I want to be
you should be
this year
Two years ago, Hank wanted to be a dragon for Halloween. Hank said to his mom, “This year, I want to be a dragon for Halloween.” His mom said to him, “You shouldn’t be a dragon for Halloween, you should be Minnie Mouse.” (So Hank was Minnie Mouse for Halloween and was sad.)
One year ago, Hank wanted to be Indiana Jones for Halloween. Hank said to his dad, “This year, I want to be Indiana Jones for Halloween.” His Dad said to him, “You shouldn’t be Indiana Jones this year, you should be Barney.” (So, Hank was Minnie Mouse for Halloween and was sad.)
This year, Hank wants to be a clown for Halloween. Hank says to his parents, “This year, I want to be a clown for Halloween.” His parents say to him, “You shouldn’t be a clown for Halloween, you should be a cucumber wearing a hat for Halloween this year. (Hank yells while he falls down because he’s scared of cucumbers with hats.)
Jim notes:
I like this story because it has lots of flexibility with structures without taking anything away from the actual story. One could easily substitute the subjunctive of TO BE for SHOULD, instead saying “I don’t want you to be X for Halloween, I want you to be Y.” Or even have the command “BE X for Halloween!”.
Also, it sets itself up perfectly for some good PQA, or vice versa actually. I had the kids put their choice of Halloween costume for this year on a piece of paper and I collected them. I then drew them out of a hat and asked “Who wants to be X for Halloween?” and circled those for awhile before settling on one student. You could easily make this story about a couple different kids’ Halloween experience instead of only “Hank’s” experience.
The Problem with CI
Jeffrey Sachs was asked what the difference between people in Norway and in the U.S. was. He responded that people in Norway are happy and
1 thought on “Halloween Story”
Jim, great story. I didn’t use it because I already had some Halloween things planned, but I think I will use it sometime when we are talking about what students want to be when they “grow up” vs what parents say they “should be”.