The Wonderful Minds of First and Second Graders

I had the pleasure of teaching my first class with a great group of 1st and 2nd graders at Dawes Elementary this week. They are learning two Dance Around the World dances, so we began by talking about dance and why they think people dance.

I was amazed that they responded with, "To show other people our culture," or "To show everyone we're happy", and, my favorite, "To get better and better so we can dance at parties."

We talked about their first dance from the Philippines, the Pandango Sa Ilao, which they kept calling the "Fandango Sake Lao." They got the pronunciation in the end, and who can blame them for taking some time to get it? That's a mouthful for adults!

I told them to close their eyes and pretend they were on an island, but when I asked if they could smell the saltwater, one student said, "No. I smell hot dogs." (They were dancing in their lunch room.)

It was all I could do to keep from laughing. This is going to be a great session, I just know it.