The Pineapple and the Hare. Simple reading comprehension question BAFFLES NY educators.

Quite a ridiculous question, even if it is simple. I do have a problem with not one of the teachers being able to figure it out. I don't believe that at all.

reply to post by alfa1


this is true only on a test and not in a real world situation (when you would know if you had been on a subway or had gone to a subway restaurant...you would label them in a way so as to differentiate if it was a real world problem)
if this was indeed the context of the question on the test thats being used as an example i would completely agree with you
however we do not know what the question was that this person is talking about and its a little silly to be issuing hypotheticals in defense
(though i really do appreciate the example as i had not considered that and it is always good to bring them forth if legitimate ...and yours definitely was)

Originally posted by sirhumperdink
reply to post by smyleegrl

 

because real world problems never involve stress
this is obviously the best method
and i do see the problem ....the problem is kids are associating a subway with a sandwich rather than an underground railway regardless of weather or not there are any in the area its absolutely ridiculous that they hadnt at least been exposed to the idea subways are a big deal in other areas of the world and instead jumped to fast food chain as the answer... and if you dont see the problem in THAT i dont know what im doing typing all this

Keep in mind that the area I teach in is high poverty. Studies show that children who come from high-poverty homes have a significantly smaller vocabulary and fewer life experiences. As teachers we do our best to introduce new content and vocabulary to all students, but the playing field isn't equal.

This is why it is so important to take your children to different places and let them experience different things. Learning occurs when we make connections (new idea to previous ideas). If a child has less information to connect to...well, you can see the problem.

I got all of them right except the question about who was the wisest. I thought it was the crow because of all the other animals agreed with what he said lol. Guess I didnt do to bad though. 5 out of 6...


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

c,c,a,a,d,c is my guess

reply to post by smyleegrl


just to be clear i have never personally seen or been on a subway
but by the age of 8 i was perfectly aware of what a subway was
so i dont exactly think your response is valid
please try to convince me a little more if possible (im going to sleep shortly but i will definitely check in the morning and pm responses if the thread gets too long)

Originally posted by Gseven
reply to post by antonia

 

We teach our children to make decisions not only based on facts and experience, but on empathy and morals that "we" have given them to the best of our own abilities based on our experiences. This is the basic premise for critical thinking.

THIS is the whole problem with mordern education: They have taught the kids to abandon facts and logic in favor of empathy and morals.

They want people to make decisions based on what they FEEL rather than on what the facts tell them. They want people to ignore the very reality that they face every day and replace it with a world of feelings and intuitions that may have nothing to do with the cold, hard facts of reality.

No wonder so many people fall for the lies that politicians tell us everyday.

reply to post by kaylaluv


i think this was a piss poor attempt to make kids use critical thinking, personally. if you wan't people to take questions seriously, maybe you should at least have a story that's not ridiculous. a realistic situation would've helped.

Originally posted by sirhumperdink
reply to post by smyleegrl

 

just to be clear i have never personally seen or been on a subway
but by the age of 8 i was perfectly aware of what a subway was
so i dont exactly think your response is valid
please try to convince me a little more if possible (im going to sleep shortly but i will definitely check in the morning and pm responses if the thread gets too long)

My guess about your childhood: did you read a lot? Where you considered middle class or higher? Did your parents read to you daily, take you to places, and generally be involved in your life?

All of these things work together to help a child learn. Research proves that the best indicator of a child's educational success is how well and how often they read.

When you read a lot, you are constantly exposed to new ideas and information. You make those connections, and that's learning.

A lot of the kids in my area come from single parent households, a couple are homeless and live in a car, about three-fourths have a family member in prison, most parents don't have a high school diploma or a ged. These children aren't going on subways. They aren't visiting towns where they might see a subway in action. And their parents probably aren't reading books to the children.

I don't know how else to convince you, but understand I have worked with children for more than a decade, I have advanced degrees in education and I'm currently pursuing my doctorate in developmental thinking. I don't state these things to brag, just to explain the relevance of my information.

Pleasant dreams!

Originally posted by antonia
I found an interview with the author of the passage
blogs.wsj.com...
He says that there are no answers.

lol, that's because THE QUESTION WAS COMPLETE NONSENSE.

Every single question was relative to the perspective and interpretations of each reader. This is why I freaking hated school. Some of the questions were so "open ended" that there was really no right answer. They expect you to discuss abstract open ended subjects as if you were talking about the laws of physics (I was better at physics and math at school because it was grounded in absolute logic). I tend to interpret things with a much "wider scope" than most people would, I see things where others might not see things. There's no possible way to quantify that story into such strict answers. I could take the so called "correct" answers to this question and then I could write an essay about why they weren't the right answers. It's WAY too open ended, these types of questions are completely ridiculous. These questions are also stupid because when students are told the correct answers they are forced to disregard their own interpretations and latch to the interpretations of other people, as if it's more correct. The questions they are asked should have absolute answers which don't rely on an array of different factors which are so abstract and undeterministic. It's absurd to believe any of the provided answers are actually more true than the others in this set of answers. I would have written "none/all of the above" under each question. Maybe that was the trick of the question. To understand how stupid it was.

edit: here's a quote from that article:

When kids are confronted with questions about the modified version of your passage, there seems to be no particular answer. Yet all answers can be correct. Does that actually fit your message?

That’s exactly right — and I must interject that I admire the job they did, because it makes even less sense than mine. If the test company, when you get around to them, can gather their wits together sufficiently to make a case for, “We don’t count that against the kid’s grade, we put that there as a sort of brain teaser to show them that not everything is quantifiable, and to let them have a little fun,” then I’ll retract all my aspersions about how they’re money-grubbing b——- and overcharge for this stuff and sell it over and over again and underpay the poor authors they buy it off of.

I think the test creators are wrong. The pineapple is the wisest, as he deceived the lot of them. In the original story he even influenced their financial decisions, fooling them into betting on him. They sat and watched a fruit, which they knew could not run, for two hours expecting the impossible. And he convinced the hare, his opponent, to leave. In the real world the pineapple would be a conquerer of nations. Or at least a powerful corporate executive.

But I also agree with a previous poster with my initial observation: what the hell is a pineapple doing in a forest? Pineapple is tropical, and using the animals, especially the moose, as a context clue one can conclude this is probably a forest in a temperate climate. Pineapple is out of place.

reply to post by sirhumperdink


I totally agree.

We need to be teaching children how to figure stuff out.
Games like D&D which encourage out of the box thinking. When they are old enough of course.

Shows like Busytown Mysteries. Which encourage problem solving skills.


Not just memorizing information but application too.

As much as I'm not a fan of NY. ....'no offense'.... I applaud the people for chucking this kind of junk authorship and material. So in the end who's laughing, how many individuals got sucked into this absurd event. And who got the royalties?

I've seen questions on test that aren't what they should be, such as something like
'a scrunched piece of paper and a peanut are dropped from a height of X feet. Which hits the ground first.' - where the answer is defined as 'they hit together as gravity is constant'. Now on the surface this may be true, but if we factor in things air resistance and drag we have inconsistency, which would make such questions fallacious.

This test here however, is for the large part pretty sound so far as logic goes.I can't see why they should strike it out other than acknowledging it's too difficult for the level the children are at (which makes me fear for the future).

reply to post by Plotus


Please, if you may, explain to me what part of it you consider to be junk. I'd like to understand the point of view you have

Originally posted by kaylaluv

Originally posted by antonia

Originally posted by shadow watcher
I chose the same answers as the op except I answered crow not owl.
If you go back, the crow had explained his thoughts better than the owl did.

I should let my 13 year old read it and see what he says.

edit on 23/4/12 by shadow watcher because: (no reason given)

The end moral is the clue as to who is the wisest.

I agree - the owl was the wisest. But, I think the animals ate the pineapple because they were annoyed. I know I was certainly annoyed. It's a goofy story, no matter how you look at it.

My question is - what the heck is a tropical fruit doing in a forest???

Maybe it was a tropical forest.

and the OWL was NOT the wisest or it would NOT have agreed with the other animals that they should cheer for the pineapple. Reading comprehension indeed

The wisest was the rabbit because it knew it would win over a pineapple. all the rest are obvious.

NOT participating in absurd challenges or dares says volumes more about character than letting one control your ego with these type of events. Embracing the boundaries of others negates your own boundaries and abilities, and demeans you to their level of thinking or awareness. All intelligence levels of people are not the same despite the Governments push to declare everyone equal. Clearly the dumbing down of America is in progress. Let the test subjects scamper too and fro in their search for recognition by their overlords, in the end, their acceptance of being manipulated will fit their abilities. That is why the powerful can dominate and manipulate the ones who prefer others make their choices. Refuse to participate or accept the 'game', and one choice will cost you more than the other, are you up to the task..

Nothing indicates the animals hold grudges, so for this the answer should be because they are hungry - simplest cause and effect; hunger = eat - Occam's razor.

Originally posted by FortAnthem

Originally posted by Gseven
reply to post by antonia

 

We teach our children to make decisions not only based on facts and experience, but on empathy and morals that "we" have given them to the best of our own abilities based on our experiences. This is the basic premise for critical thinking.

THIS is the whole problem with mordern education: They have taught the kids to abandon facts and logic in favor of empathy and morals.

They want people to make decisions based on what they FEEL rather than on what the facts tell them. They want people to ignore the very reality that they face every day and replace it with a world of feelings and intuitions that may have nothing to do with the cold, hard facts of reality.

No wonder so many people fall for the lies that politicians tell us everyday.

I wholly disagree with that sentiment, although I do understand your point. Everything in moderation and balance. Facts and decision making without acknowledging intuition can be dangerous, and on the flip side, making decisions purely on emotion is also dangerous. Second, the schools have not "taught the kids to abandon facts and logic in favor of empathy and morals". Quite the contrary, in my most humble opinion. I see LESS of this in schools these days than what should be. However, what I am seeing is a rise in children whose emotional intelligence is off the charts. They are not only logical thinkers, but keenly gifted in arts as well.

So, this is what I think:

B
A
A
A
D
C


Time to read the thread and see how I did.