Fun with assignments!: A Traditional Dialogue

Written Thursday, September 09, 2010

This week I had my eighth graders write dialogues about Pohnpeian traditions, with spectacularly fun results. Here’s my personal favorite, written and performed with aplomb by two of my top students and my one IEP (Pohnpei DoE for Special Ed) student, all boys. [Brackets mine]

[Shakira and Peggy enter from left; Sinsohn enters from right]
Shakira: Hi, how are you?
Peggy: What’s your name?
Sinsohn: My name is Sinsohn. What is your name?
Peggy: [With hands on hips and feminine flair] This is my friend Shakira, and I am Peggy.
Shakira: What is an important tradition in Pohnpei?
Sinsohn: Planting yam.
Peggy: How do you plant the yam?
Sinsohn: We will dig a hole, put the yam in the hole, and bury it.
Shakira: And then what do you do?
Sinsohn: After one week, we will put a stick on the yam, and the vine will grow into the trees.
Peggy: How do you eat the yam?
Sinsohn: We will take it out of the hole, wash it, peel the yam, and cook it and eat it with our hands.
Shakira: Ewwww! Gross!
Peggy: Disgusting!
Sinsohn: I mean spoon.
Peggy: Oh, I’m sorry.
Shakira: Oh, spoon!
Sinsohn: Yes, I mean we will eat it with a spoon.
Peggy: That’s how you eat it?
Sinsohn: Yes.
Shakira: Okay, thank you.
Peggy: Goodbye, see you later.
Sinsohn: You’re welcome!