Mr. Alabama

So we were sitting around in a circle and Laura my student of the week was doing a show-and-tell in front of the class. She had brought a postcard that she had gotten when she visited Mt. Rushmore. I was trying my best to explain the concept of Mt. Rushmore to a bunch of kindergarteners but didn't think I was getting anywhere. I had told them that a man had decided that he would like to sculpt some giant statues of presidents in this huge rock for everyone to enjoy. One of my students asked if those presidents that he made were dead and I was amazed that she would pick up on that concept and I told her that she was correct. Then little Ryan spoke up and said, "Mr. Alabama isn't dead". Ummmmm . . . . . I sat there confused for a few seconds thinking of a way to respond to that statement when Jacob replied for me, "It's not Mr. Alabama, it's Mr. Arock Obama." I giggled to myself and told the students that Mr. Obama is not dead and he is our President right now. Of course then my kindergarteners were off topic and they began with an array of comments such as, "that's a weird name", "what's a President?", "my brother hates him", "oh yeah, he's in charge of our town", etc . . . Sometimes when they get off topic I have learned quickly that if I just sit and let them chat amongst themselves that it's quite entertaining.