so, more third grade grammar

[zats_clear]

This is going to be a looooong year!

complete these analogies
elephant:  enormous :: mouse: _____________

Thing One wrote "minute"

Teacher marked X and wrote "small" and told him not to use big words unless he knew their exact meaning.

Webster's Dictionary shows the following:

Main Entry: 3mi·nute 
Pronunciation: \mī-ˈnüt, mə-, -ˈnyüt\
Function: adjective

Comments

[gateruner]

I'm glad I'm not the only battling this sort of thing...

I don't understand half of my kid's homework (especially the way they do math now) and then he gets marked off on things that are right but not right?! Grrr

[zats_clear]

did you see my update?

upon looking up "enormous," I have determined that he actually had precisely the flavor of analogy...

[gateruner]

yes, I just saw that! I was thinking the same thing....

What is it with teachers these days?!

[ziparumpazoo]

You know, most teachers would be thrilled to have a kid like yours in their class...this teacher...I think is only in it for the summers off. Sad, really.

[pepper_field]

Wow, what a jerk. "Minute" is not only correct, but a much better analogy. How not to encourage interest in the language.

[zats_clear]

I am thinking this:

enormous: big :: minute: small

(ie both being exaggerations of realistic expectations)

[pepper_field]

Yes, absolutely. They're extremities of "big" and "small".

And if you really want to nitpick the teacher, they're also nicely alliterative (elephant: enormous / mouse: minute). *g*

[aurora_novarum]

That's what I was thinking too.

Seriously. And whatever happened to that other thing that was marked wrong but wasn't about the subject/predicate. This just isn't making sense.

[djfavorite]

I would sent the teacher your dictionary lookups and tell her/him what you commented below about 'minute' being a better analogy than 'small'.

I'd give you kid extra credit for knowing the word 'minute'. I was just having a discussion with my high schooler about how pronouncination can change a word's definition using the word minute. mi-nute vs min-ute.

[draco_somnians]

First of all, I'm laughing that she thinks "minute" is a big word when the kid has been given "enormous" and is expected to know what it means.

Second...yeah, I agree with what you said. "Small" would be the antonym for "big", "minute" is more more suitable as an antonym for "enormous".

How can the teacher mark that wrong? *is baffled*

[zats_clear]

*joins you in bafflement*