From: Augustine, Kari <KARI_AUGUSTINE>
Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2007 19:40:31 -0600

As a fifth grade teacher who will be using the word scrotum in our upcoming Human Growth and Development unit, I couldn't resist weighing in on the current discussion from several perspectives.

I was initially taken aback by seeing the scrotum phrase quoted on Amazon.com's listing for the book with a "think about it" note from a reader. It made me think about reading <Bucking the Sarge> (Christopher Paul Curtis) and wishing that the condom wouldn't have been in (and subsequently been missing from) Luther T. Farrell's wallet. As much of a joy as it is to share the first reading of a book with students, I know that for my own comfort, I need to read the book myself first. I really enjoyed <Bucking the Sarge>, but many of the themes would have been a challenge for my fifth graders to put in perspective; the condom alone was not enough to condemn it.

I also remembered a novel unit for Shiloh that suggested teachers skip over the names Judd has for his dogs. I can't recall all of the names, but I believe one was "Damn It" and another "Git." To skip over or alter these names would negate Marty's deep passion for his mission of rescuing Shiloh. The exploration of what such names meant about the kind of person Judd was became central to understanding the story on a much deeper level.

I have only just gotten my copy of <The higher power of Lucky> so cannot comment too insightfully except to note, as other have, that Lucky is eavesdropping as Short Sammy tell this story about his dog, Roy and the rattlesnake ? still her favorite of all the rock-bottom stories she has heard. Hearing folks muse about words for ?private parts? reminds me of the pretending I did many years ago as a middle-schooler when all my friends seemed to have more on the ball than did I. I knew the vocabulary words, but the meanings were a mystery to me.

And, just one brief mom story about a conversation I had over a diaper change with my now college-age son. I?m swabbing, we?re chatting, and suddenly he says, ?my penis is happy,? and sure enough it was. My neighbor was horrified, and said that her son didn?t even know that word ? she called it his ?thingee? or something.

Words CAN hurt, but it?s the way we use them that is key.

Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful exchange of ideas this weekend.


================================================================ Kari Augustine 5th Grade Teacher Cottage Grove (WI) School kari_augustine at mononagrove.org
(608) 221-7679 X1174
================================================================
Received on Sun 18 Feb 2007 07:40:31 PM CST