Old MacDonald had a farm: E-I-G-H-T

By Betty Oden Dolan Media Newswires PORTLAND, OR--Years ago I worked as a teaching assistant for a Portland elementary school. I taught small groups of K-5 students that were scoring low in reading and/or math. One group was having a particularly hard time passing a test that required them to spell the words for the numbers 1 through 10. As you know, the English language can be a serious challenge considering all of the different spellings for words that sound the same (example: to, too, two). My small group worked very hard and they learned to spell all of the number words except one - the word ''eight.'' I finally taught them to sing the song, ''Old MacDonald Had A Farm'' and instead of the usual phrase ''E-I-E-I-O,'' I taught them to sing, ''Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-G-H-T.'' Back in the classrooms and re-tested, all of my students passed the test! Several teachers came to me afterward and were very pleased with the progress of the students, but also commented that during the test my students started singing under their breath. They were curious about that. The reason that I mention this story is that I've noticed that more and more projects are requiring that bid figures be spelled out in words. A city of Portland project that is currently bidding states in the spec book, ''If the bidder's figures are not legible and the bidder fails to provide the bid amount in words, the bid will be considered NON-RESPONSIVE and shall not be considered for contract award.'' It also warns, ''Bid amounts in words shall prevail in cases of discrepancy between the amounts stated in words and the amounts stated in figures.'' Who knows, maybe one of my students is now a contractor. If you hear someone in your office humming ''Old MacDonald'' while preparing a bid, now you know why. Entire contents copyrighted © 2010 by Dolan Media Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is expressly forbidden. 222 S. 9th St., Suite 2300 | minneapolis, mn 55402 Published: Thu, Jun 17, 2010

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