Have You Heard About the Wii Bear?

Yesterday I read the "Three Bears" by Galdone to my third graders. This was a new story for about three quarters of my class. One youngster had heard the story before and proclaimed it "Awesome".

The edition I read calls the cub a "wee" bear. After several repitions of the word wee, one student asked "Where is the Wii Game? When do we get to play it? I laughed to myself as I realized I was in the presence of "digital natiives". They even explained that Wii was spelled w - i - i.

I ran through the story mentally applying modern meanings to this traditional story. It certainly painted a different picture in my mind. As I explained the contextual meaning my students nodded their understanding, but looked around hoping to see a Wii Bear.