Amazing What They don't Know

After the students filed out of the classroom door at 12:35 this afternoon, I gathered my things -- textbook, handbook, attendance sheet, handouts, quiz, Scantrons, whiteboard markers, water bottle, pens, pencils, etc. -- I was about to erase the whiteboard and then thought maybe I could capture the moment. Today they divided into eight teams to put their findings on the board and discuss what they were learning from the articles I had assigned last week.

One of the articles is a chapter from Jim Trelease's Read Aloud Handbook. He writes, "The National Academy of Education and the National Institute of Education created a Commission on Reading . . . to separate the wheat from the chaff, to boil it down to what works, what might work, and what doesn't work." So this morning after the quiz, we turned our attention to the articles and I asked my students if they know what chaff is. They all look at me with blank stares. I asked several times and each time all 26 students just shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders.

So I explained that they are missing the imagery embedded in the article and said they'd be missing lots more imagery as they move further through their education if they didn't take the time to pause and search for the meaning. So I did my best to explain the concept. I think some of them thought I was crazy. So I did what they didn't do; I checked google and found this --

Threshing: "The term means 'to separate the seeds of grain from the husks and straw.' Some types of grains are wheat, oats, barley and rice. Early threshing was done by laying out a canvas tarp, breaking open a sheave of wheat and spreading it in an even, shallow way. Then beating the grain with a 'flail.' The flail is simply two pieces of wood tied together with leather, one piece being the handle and the other coming in brutal contact with the grain. After all of this work the kernels are off of the stalk so you would pick up the loose straw and move it off to the side. What remains on the canvas is a combination of grain and "chaff" or husks. To get rid of the useless chaff the material is tossed into the air, preferably on a windy day in a process called 'winnowing.' The wind blows the feather light chaff away and the heavier grain falls to the canvas."

So I'll email the link and that explanation to my students. I'm sure that will be just about the most exciting thing my students have read all day. And hey, I can go through life knowing that these people will never again have to wonder what is meant by "separating the wheat from the chaff." It's all in a day's work.

Good night from Southern California,
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol