Alfredo's smokin' ya!

So yesterday, when I was doing the previous entry's lesson with 4th grade, they were writing their positive and negative sentences and I saw the opportunity to teach another slang phrase.  I'm not sure that it's popular enough to teach, but I use it a lot, so I figured why not?  Also, I think these little extras are often more fun for them than the real lesson.

Alfredo is a fourth grader who either has a great interest in English or has lived in the US (though I don't think so), is always quick to volunteer and do homework and classwork.  He loves the practice.  He also loves to be the first to say, "I'n finished, Miss Laura."

Many Mexican students (at least mine) put off any work until you stand right by them, telling that one student specifically to get out a piece of paper and go over the instructions one MORE time specifically for him/her.  Alfredo is always one of the first to get started.  There's no telling him twice!

He was on his fifth sentence of eight (and all correct, mind you) while other students still needed to be told to get out a piece of paper and reminded what the instructions were.  Ugh!

In my mind, I was thinking, Alfredo is smoking every one of you!

So, I decided to teach them.  I told them that their new word of the day was "smoking" and told them the literal translation in Spanish.  They kinda looked at me like why are you teaching us about smoking?!

Then I said that Alfredo was smoking them.  Then I had to explain it in context: a race or classwork.  They all laughed at the mental picture of Alfredo smoking them like a cigarette.  Maybe they won't ever use it correctly, or even hear it used by a native, but I imagine they'll never forget thinking about Alfredo rolling them up and smoking them (and remembering that it can mean beating by a lot in English slang)!