Take, take, take your test
This came to me secondhand from Ed Miller of the Alliance For Childhood, which recently published an eye-opening report called “Crisis in Kindergarten.” It’s a poem that was handed to a kindergarten teacher in an aftercare program in California. This little ditty says more about what we are requiring of our youngest children than anything I have ever seen. The teacher received it from a little girl, who said she and her peers were supposed to memorize the song in their public school kindergarten.
It’s sung to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Read it and weep.
Take, Take, Take Your Test
Take, take, take your test
Follow all the rules
Go to bed and get some rest
Eat some good brain food.Keep, keep, keep your desk
A neat and tidy spot
Wear smart clothes so you don’t feel
Too cold or too hot.Bub, bub, bubble in
Answers carefully
Do the easy problems first
And hard ones finally.Check, check, check your work
Read it all again
Fix mistakes before you’re done
Before you hand it in.If you do these things
You will surely be
A super-testing champion
For everyone to see!
I’m composing my response. It’s called “Break, Break, Break My Heart.”
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God, I hope this is apocryphal.
Sigh. It’s part of the current curriculum in a particular community. And indicative of the mindset that is pushing developmentally inappropriate practices into kindergarten and preschool. Every expert in early childhood education will tell you that what is happening in the classroom is wrong. And no one is listening.
In response to another comment. See in context »Might this be the theme song for No Child Left Behind?
Good idea. I thought the NCLB theme song was Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome,” at least the first verse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujhdf9_IO4w
In response to another comment. See in context »LOL! Agree completely.
In response to another comment. See in context »[...] are learning a test-prep version of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, writes Patti Hartigan, who got the lyrics from Ed Miller of the Alliance For [...]
[...] take, take your test . . . Posted in Uncategorized at June 1st, 2009 / // Kids are learning a test-prep version of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, writes Patti Hartigan, who got the lyrics from Ed Miller of the Alliance For [...]