Thursday, October 8, 2009

Choux de Bruxelles

So the kids are working on drafts of free verse poetry, and I stop to confer briefly with one student. She's composing a poem about how yucky brussel sprouts are. "Yes," I whisper, "I can tell that you don't like them, but what I'm missing is convincing details and a reason why you're taking the time to put these thoughts on paper. What do you want your audience to get from this?"

"That I hate brussel sprouts," she answered. "They're really gross."

"Yeah," I said, "but I like brussel sprouts. What's your message for me?"

She raised her eye brows in disbelief. "Ewww," she replied.

"That's it?" I asked. I thought for a moment. "Do you like bacon?"

"Everyone likes bacon," she said.

Now we had the attention of the girls sitting near her, too. They, too, nodded in support of bacon.

"Well," I told her, "I roast my brussel sprouts with bacon and potatoes. They're delicious that way."

She had the grace to admit that the dish didn't sound too bad. The other two girls asked for the recipe.

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