Friends list, I need your help.

[velvetpage]

I need scenarios where my students might reasonably infer what was happening, in language and theme that is fine for ten-year-olds. For example:

1) A young man arrives at his girlfriend's house, bearing a dozen red roses and a small jewelry box.

2) Sirens go off in the middle of the night; when you look out your window, you see an ambulance parked in front of the house of your elderly neighbours.

Give me more. I'm typing them onto inference cards and making a game of them for my kids.

Comments

[daednu.livejournal.com]

You hear screaming, and look out the window to see the neighbours are having rough sex again.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

APPROPRIATE FOR TEN-YEAR-OLDS, PLEASE.

But that was damn funny. :) Also, the kids have to infer what's happening from the clues - they can't see or be told it.

[daednu.livejournal.com]

Yeah see, I knew you'd be picky about that.

[daednu.livejournal.com]

Okay for real now:

It's 5:30pm and a mother puts her apron on, walks into the kitchen and takes a pot out.

A family packs their suitcases and pick up tickets and passports.

A boy puts his dirty clothes in a bin and takes them to the laundry room.

A man eats several tins of beans and repeatedly both hears horrid sounds and smells horrid smells. (okay, sorry about that one too)

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

My boys would love that one. :)

[perlandria.livejournal.com]

A adult is picking up a sheet cake with bright frosting and 'Happy Birthday Emily' written on it.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Perfect! Thank you!

[perlandria.livejournal.com]

:D Paka and I must have birthday on the brain. He is getting ready for gym as we were talking, so he hadn't read my reply. His fist thought was 'The table next to you in the restaurant has a cake and some balloons'

'You can't see the animal in the zoo enclosure but you can see X, Y and Z' (such as a tire swing, bananas and climbing ropes for monkeys)

'Someone has on running shoes, headphones and sweats and is doing warm up stretches'

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Great! Thanks!

[hannahmorgan.livejournal.com]

Given the date, I am very amused by this comment.

Gluten-free cake, of course! :)

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday! :)

[beetiger.livejournal.com]

A child is crying and there is an ice cream cone on the ground.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Perfect!

[pwned-kisa.livejournal.com]

A family comes home, bringing in a new crib?

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[jesshartley.livejournal.com]

A man in a mask is being taken away from a bank by police officers.

There is a screeching alarm sound and the smell of smoke in the room.

A boy is calling out "Here, Boy" while walking down the street with a leash in his hands.

Someone is standing on a street corner with a big map and looking up at the sign-post.

Someone runs towards a bus as it begins to pull away from the curb.

Someone taps their foot angrily and looks at their watch while looking up and down the sidewalk.

A child sits in the corner while other students can be seen out the window playing on a playground.

A lady in a white dress and veil and a man in a tuxedo walk out of a church.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Perfect! Thanks!

[lovmelovmycats.livejournal.com]

A baby who can't talk yet toddles over to the refridgerator, bangs on it, looks at you, and puts his hand to his mouth.

Two teams walk off the soccer field. The teammates in blue are loud, jumping, and smiling. The teammates in white are walking quietly, some with their heads down.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Great! Thanks!

[used_songs]

A person is walking out into the yard carrying a rake.

The wind chime hanging on the porch starts to make jingly sounds.

The cat sees the person taking out a can, a can opener, and the cat's bowl.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Perfect! Thanks!

[stress-kitten.livejournal.com]

You hear a cat yowl and look out the window to see a dog barking up a tree.


You open the door when you get home and smell fresh baked cookies.


You flick on the light switch, but the lamp doesn't turn on.


Then there's the kids' song on the tiny keyboard Rhys got for Christmas (sung to "Fly's in the buttermilk, shoo fly shoo)

Where's our gerbil, I haven't got a clue,
Where's our gerbil, I haven't got a clue,
Where's our gerbil, I haven't got a clue,
The big black cat was hungry.

No fish in the fish bowl, what'll I do?
No fish in the fish bowl, what'll I do?
No fish in the fish bowl, what'll I do?
Catch that cat before he's through.

Uh oh, there were birds too.
Uh oh, there were birds too.
Uh oh, there were birds too.
The big black cat is full now.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

That's great. I should print it out and give it to the primary teachers. :)

[stress-kitten.livejournal.com]

*giggles* I heard it and just couldn't believe it.

[melstra.livejournal.com]

Gee, you have a lot of great ones! Here are mine:

1) You're standing in line at the grocery store on June 30 behind a woman who is buying hot dogs, rolls, soda, chips, a large bag of charcoal briquets, and a box of sparklers.
2) You are in the library and someone checks out "A budget guide to Disney World," "Visiting Disney world with kids" and "Everything you need to know about planning a trip to Disney World." Their two little girls look very excited.
3) It's the day report cards were issued. Next to you on the bus is a boy holding his card and crying.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Fabulous! Thank you!

[melskunk.livejournal.com]

A car is going to a crosswalk, and the crosswalk lights start flashing.

The sky is dark and cloudy, and people start opening umbrellas.

A boy walks walks up to a pond full of ducks with some bread in his hand.

A man walks in the door with a suitcase. A woman and children run up and hug him.

Many people are watching TV and counting down. They all have party hats on and are waiting with confetti.

A man runs out of a store carrying a TV. Alarms start to go off and the owner starts chasing him.

You walk in to your bedroom and see your piggybank is lying on it's side, empty. Your sister walks by with a pile of candy.

A neighbour comes home with a big fish tank, some rocks, and some plants for it.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Those are great! Thanks!

[hannahmorgan.livejournal.com]

Not quite a direct answer, but I can't remember if you and I have talked about this. Have you done comic strips with them, where you white out the dialogue of comic strips and then have them infer what's going on? That's a lesson I'm preparing to do with my new batch of Grade 10s.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

No - I'm too lazy to dig up the comic strips and doctor them. :)

[hendrikboom.livejournal.com]

This one's true.

Some of Richard Feynman's friends, all nuclear physicists, have skipped town without saying where they were going,

Then Richard Feynman is offered a nuclear physics job at Los Alamos, goes to the library, gets out a book about Los Alamos, and when he's signing the card to borrow the book, he discovers that the friends who skipped town have borrowed the same book before him.

[grrl-next-door.livejournal.com]

A fully-clothed boy is in a swimming pool and looks angry. His friend is standing on the pool ledge, laughing.

[grrl-next-door.livejournal.com]

You are waiting in the doctor's office with your parent. A little girl sitting beside you has red spots on her arms and is scratching them.

[grrl-next-door.livejournal.com]

A boy is sitting alone in the principal's office and looks scared.