Do You Like Green Eggs and Ham?

Would you like them
in a house?
Would you like them
with a mouse?

"Would you like to help cook green eggs and ham?" Leah asks me.

Leah is my friend.  I love visiting her room and taking part in her creative lessons.  The first week of March we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Suess-- a big deal in this kindergarten class.

Sometimes Leah reminds me of Sam-I-Am.  She has wonderfully crazy ideas that are a little out of my comfort zone, but she encourages me to try them anyway.

Would you eat them
in a box?
Would you eat them
with a fox?

Eggs.  Bacon.  Mixing bowls.  Green food coloring.  Spatula.  Spoons.  When I arrive in the classroom she has my supplies lined up along side a brand new electric griddle.   "Have at it," she says.  I have never used an electric griddle.  I have never cooked green eggs.  I have never fried bacon for 24.
"How do you think I should do this?" I ask.

Turns out Leah has never cooked eggs on a griddle before either.

Would you? Could you?
In a car?
Eat them! Eat them!
Here they are.

If I were doing this alone...wait, back up.  There's no "if" here because if I were alone there's no way I would be attempting this.  Leah has faith in me though, so I decide I can figure this out.  I pull the griddle from its protective wrapping and begin reading the directions.  How hard can this be?

Soon the smell of cooking bacon rises into the air.  Sizzling, crackling, steaming...or is that smoke? Hmmm, I really don't want to explain to the principal, "We evacuated the whole school when I triggered the sprinkler system by frying pork fat in the classroom."  We quickly open the door and windows to get a cross breeze and I stand over the greasy shriveling slabs fanning madly with multiple sheets of paper towels.  Crisis averted.  Bacon crispy.  Now I turn my attention to the eggs. 

You may like them.
You will see.
You may like them
in a tree?

practicing egg cracking techniques

The students come back one at a time to crack an egg into the bowl.  I wish I had a video camera at this point because words can not capture the sight of 24 different kindergarteners using 24 different egg cracking techniques.  For a few, this was their first attempt.  Some were too gentle.  Some got shells in the bowl.  Some missed the bowl completely.  One little boy simply grabbed the egg in his fist and squeezed.  That got the job done! (If you ever try this yourself, I recommend having an extra carton of eggs on hand.)  We added the a few drops of green food coloring whisked the eggs into a green frothy mixture.

Could you, would you,
with a goat?
Would you, could you,
on a boat?

At last the green eggs and ham are cooked and ready to serve.  We line them up on paper plates to distribute to the class.  I can't help but wonder how many kindergarteners will actually try them.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised when most of them do.  I'm not the only one who benefits from getting out of my comfort zone to challenge myself and try new things.  Leah has that affect on her students every single day. 

I do so like
green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Sam-I-am.