Homophones

Why is six afraid of seven? Seven ate nine! This is how my phonics lesson started on Friday. We were learning about homophones.

The lesson went on to share several jokes with the class. We discussed the various homophones and their meanings. Some were easy or obvious, others not so much.

What does a the root vegetable say when it wins the race? Beat you! This was the joke to end our lesson. When I asked students for the definition of the 2 homophones a student quickly raised his hand.

“One is like beating someone in a race. The other is a cow testicle,” he said confidently but muffled behind his mask.

“Um, say that again,” I said confused, thinking I heard him wrong. “A beating someone in a race and what…?”

“A cow testicle!”

“Hmmm…..I’m not sure about that. For now, in this joke, we are talking about the vegetable and winning,” I said dumbfounded and quickly ended the lesson. Where did that come from?!