Billy, The Hugger

Billy, a second-grade student at Vermillion Ship Academy, is so pumped about the letter he received from Mr. Rice, a teaching assistant. Billy knows his sight words well;  however, he needs help with big words, graphemes, and vocabulary. He happens to receive enrichment from Mrs. Creed and Mr. Rice at different times in the day. He returns home with the letter, hands it to his mom, and tells her.

"Mom, can you help me with the long words in this letter? I do not know how to break apart the big words and understand their meanings."

"Yes, Mr. Smarty Pants. Let's take a seat at the table and see how I can help you. Why don't I start reading the first sentence, and then you can stop me at the words that you don't understand?

"Sounds like a great idea!"

Billy's mom starts reading.

The words and phrases that you hear me say were thoughts and recollections meditated on Sunday.

"Well, mom in this sentence I do not understand the word "thoughts". It does not sound like it is written. How come I do not hear the "u", "g", and "h", in this word?"

"Well Billy, "thought" has a grapheme inside of it."

"Mom, what is a grapheme?

"Has Mrs. Creed not taught you this skill yet?

"No Mom."

I will make sure to send her an email. Well, a grapheme is a combination of letters that makes one sound. We both know that the "i", "g", and "h" make a long I sound; however, the "o", "u", "g" and "h" has a plethora of different sounds like the short "o" sound in the word "bought" and short u sound like in the word "tough".

"Sounds very confusing! How do I know when to use the short o sound and the short u sound?"

"Well, Billy, you will have to test the sound of the vowels and see which sound makes the most sense. Mrs. Creed, I know, will give you great resources to help you master this concept."

"You are right. Mrs. Creed always comes up with creative ways to master big words."

"Were there other words that gave you problems?"

"Well, Mom how about recollections and meditated?

"Well, recollections Billy has the word collect inside of it and has the prefix "re". The only difference is that the grapheme "tion" has the shun sound. Does that help a little bit?"

"Most definitely! What about the word "meditated? How can I break it apart?"

"Well, Billy each vowel represents a syllable. I see four vowels in the word "meditated" so there should be four syllables. I would also break the word apart using dashes, and then test out the sounds for the vowels and consonants."

"Yes, Mom, but what are the meanings of the words?"

"Well, Billy there is a dictionary in our home library and on your laptop. You must open it and find out the meaning for yourself."

"But mom!"

"No ifs, ands, and/or buts about it! You are a bright student, and you must learn to look up the words yourself. If you come across a word that you do not know, then you can come to me."

"Yes mam!"

"Shall we continue?"

"Yes, but mom, I want to read the next few phrases."

"Alright! I am going to do some dishes while you read out loud. If you happen to come around a word you are not for sure about, just let me know."

Billy starts reading.

"Billy, Billy what a joy it has been to mentor and teach you from beginning to end. You are a loving child who has a knack of giving hugs. You behaved your best when reading to self on the ABC rug. You are sweet, gentle, and amass, amazing..."

"Mom, I am stuck here. I don't know what to do with this word. It has an "ly" at the end"

"You are very close. The "ly" at the end of this word has the 'lee' sound. Now try that sentence once again."

"You are sweet, gentle, and amazingly kind.

"That's it! You got it! Please continue."

Please take these "cha....Char----character".

"Oh mom!"

"Oh, sweetie, that is a hard one. I am going to give it to you as a freebie. That word is the word 'characteristics. Why don't you go back and read the sentence again with the word, characteristics?"

Please take these characteristics with you and never linger them behind.

"Mom, I will look up the word linger, but why would Mr. Rice say that I have a knack of giving hugs? The popular boys in Mrs. Creed's class think that hugging is for softies."

"Billy don't be afraid to be yourself. Does not Mema Dorothy always tell you to be joyful, radiant, caring, and diligent."

"Yes!"

"Then listen to what Mr. Rice, Mema Dorothy, and I are telling you. You are a caring individual that likes to give hugs. Do you happen to give a hug to your past teachers and close friends?"

"Yeah!"

"Why?"

"Well, mom. My close friends and past teachers are family to me."

"Then those so-called popular boys are not your friends. Your friends will always be there to build you up and not tear you down."

"Thank you Mom for your advice. Can you please read the next few phrases? I need need to get a drink of water."

"Well certainly!"

"We rapped our ways in the hallway with cheer, asking you to review vocabulary words, which I believe the most popular was persevere."

"Persevere, persevere, persevere! Mom what does persevere mean?"

Billy's mom motions him to get the dictionary from the home library.

Billy comes back with the dictionary in his hand and opens up the to the word "persevere". He is shocked that it has the word " phrase being diligent" next to it.