Every month we have a birthday party for our kindergarteners. It involves a lot of singing and dancing and shouting, as well as being in the spotlight if you're one of the kids whose birthday was this month.
My class is age 5 Korean, which means they're about 3 years old by Western gauge. This is their first year at our kindergarten and the birthday party is still overwhelming and confusing for them.
Today one of my students had a birthday. He is very talkative in class and super bright. We just learned about the letter V and I taught them the word vampire. I hummed an eery tune with it and they all seemed to enjoy it (and some even tried to emulate me).
But at the birthday party D got very quiet and nervous. He loves to sing and dance in class, especially when I'm trying to teach and he should be sitting quietly, so I was worried that maybe he was sick, but that wasn't it.
When I was helping him stuff his present into his schoolbag, I asked him.
Me: Was the birthday party fun?
D: No! NOT fun.
Me: Why not?
D: ...
Me: Was it scary?
D: (quite gravely) Yes.
Me: Why? Were there...vampires?
I hummed the tune and he cracked up immediately: "YES!"
