Why Is George Washington Smiling?

Washington is smiling!  He's really smiling!

And all my kids smile, too--when they see this--even the foreign kids who don't speak a word of English.

The joke is universal.  Nothing need be said.

Of course, we can launch a discussion about why George Washington might smile.  After all, he won the American Revolution, he became our First President, and Father of our Country.

We can mention that he really had no teeth.  He had fake teeth made of hippopotamus ivory.

We can talk about why things make us laugh--the unexpected twists, unusual images, and unnatural juxtapositions.

Or we can just look and laugh, which is one of the great delights of life.  Which is why I hang this on my classroom wall every February.

And why I took this picture of my kids in Lincoln and Washington masks:

 

 

...And then posted it on our Smartboard during our Morning Talk.  I love a good smile.