Mammals
by Sue Granzella
I was a
substitute teacher in a kindergarten class. For a
full week, I led the children through the wealth
of lesson plans left for me: math, language, and
science activities all dealing with “mammals.”
The children’s enthusiasm and grasp of the
subject matter impressed me.
Five months later, I returned to that same
classroom. The teacher had left a book called My
New Kitten, and with the mass of five-year-olds
at my feet, I began reading about the early weeks
of a kitten’s life. When I flipped to the
photo of a cat nursing her litter, children shot
their hands into the air, waving frantically for
my attention.
“She’s the mom!” exclaimed a boy.
“She’s giving milk to her babies!”
cried a girl.
“That cat is a mammal!” rang out a
voice.
Next, a voice in Spanish-accented English: “Because
mammals give milk to the babies!”
A girl at my feet exclaimed, “And all of us
are mammals, too!”
The class before me nodded their heads, all
except for one boy, whose eyes widened in horror.
He shook his head emphatically.
“I ain’t no mammal!” he cried.
“I ain’t NEVER drunk milk off a cat!”
|
