As some of you likely know, I teach ESL in a grade school. One class I work with has recently started a unit on Freedom Fighters. They’re getting an overview of the Civil Rights Movement right now, taking care of the big questions like, “When did MLK and Rosa Parks get married?” and “George Washington was the first president.” Today they looked at some images of signs from the Jim Crow Era, and for a moment we saw the sign above, which should have gotten this class’s attention in particular as it’s a Spanish/English immersion group and most of the kids are native Spanish speakers.
I must say that I really dropped the ball here. I wasn’t leading the lesson, so I chose to let the moment pass. I should have jumped in at this point and done my job.
“Class, can you tell me what’s wrong with this poster?” I might have said.
Likely answers would have included: “It says ‘no Mexicans’.” Or, “It isn’t very nice.” “It’s mean.” “It’s not fair.”
And here is where I could have seized the ‘teachable moment’ that is the hallmark of a seasoned teacher.
“No, class, no,” I could have said. “The problem here is that it says, ‘We serve White’s only.’ Simple plural is never marked with an apostrophe. Never! Clearly we need more work with apostrophes and plurals.”
I am an ESL teacher. I teach language, the glorious means by which we rose to become top dog of the animal kingdom. Is it even possible to have social justice without correct use of apostrophes? I seriously doubt it. Attend to apostrophe’s, and social ill’s will right themselves.
K-blog 