Understanding

The eight-year-olds I help with reading had Star Tests (?) last week, so it has been a fortnight since I saw them. I find it all so fascinating, the ones who are making giant progress, the girl who is having a tough time, the bully whose influence is on the wane, the one who is seriously disassociated, and all the individuals in between. I have such empathy with the ones who simply can't sit still - I must have been a horrible child. One thing I notice, every last one of them loves to be acknowledged and to get it right. This does not happen often. They can read through a short passage without the faintest grasp of the subject.

English is the second language for all these children. I think this must be what is reflected in the following spelling exercise in which they had to incorporate each word into a sentence. This was on the top of the pile:

1. I refuse the tree
2. My bab wiro suit
3. I love fruit a lot
4. I spill some juice
5. I am in bruise
6. I like nuisance
7. I runi my short
8. I love like a fluid
9. I have a tuition
10. I am so cruise

Hasn't your inner world just expanded?