(Why verbs? They pack more punch than even the sweetest adverb or adjective, and around about 7th grade kids are ready for synonym expansion, versus variations upon “He turned around guiltily. He turned around sadly. He turned around angrily,” blah blah blah.)

Differentiation up: kids listen and transcribe the dialogue first, THEN punctuate/add appropriate effective verbs.

Differentiation down: give basic verbs in the transcript, and have kids substitute. (or provide a bank of three for the same action, have them choose and defend their choice.)

BTW, don’t you all dare even imply that parenting ISN’T gross, people.

“C”

Ironically, one way that teaching helped me be a better parent is from seeing a lot of other parents — some having relationships I wanted to emulate, and others providing the opposite example. It also helped to listen to kids talk about things they care about — bot the actual things they cared about, but also the manner in which they talked about them.

But, even though I was a teacher who cared a lot about the kids I taught, being a parent brings a whole different level of intensity.

And, fwiw: a reaction of “Oh gross” is generally not a good jumping off point for pro-creative (or recreationally simulated pro-creative) behavior. Just thought you’d like to know.

Cheers,

Bill