When a man in a blue bodysuit burst into Margaret Bartholomew’s kindergarten class at Fulmar Road Elementary School this week and started waving a shield featuring the letters A, E, I, O and U, it wasn’t quite the normal start to a reading lesson.
The students started chattering, pointing and laughing.
“I’m Vowel Man,” the masked hero said. “I’m here to make sure you know your vowels, because vowels can help you form words and help your reading come alive.”
To help the kindergartners remember their vowels, Vowel Man gave each child a paper "shield" featuring – what else – vowels.
“Let’s say them together,” said Vowel Man, who declined to give his proper name but resembled a certain Mahopac school administrator who oversees the district’s reading curriculum.
The class started chanting as one – “A, E, I, O, U.”
“Will you study them for me?” he asked. “They will help you become better readers. Your writing needs to have vowels in it, so people know what you’re trying to say. There’s only one way to solve this problem, it’s to learn our vowels.”
As he handed out the shields, Vowel Man asked each child to say their name and tell him which vowels it included.
Madison, who just turned six, was proud to realize that she had all five vowels in her name – A, I and O in her first name and E and U in her last.
“I’ve got them all,” she said, beaming.
It was probably inevitable, but soon the children started asking about the man behind the costume.
“Take off your mask,” one boy demanded.
But Vowel Man held firm.
As he dashed out on the way to the next kindergarten classroom, he turned and said: “This is not a costume, it’s a lifestyle.”
The children laughed and debated among themselves as he left.
“Vowel man was awesome, but I think he was wearing a costume,” said five-year-old Chad. “He looked like Captain America, with stickers on his shield and mask.”
David, who just turned six, disagreed.
“I don’t think he was wearing a costume,” David said. “He said he wasn’t.”
“When it’s not a costume, it doesn’t come off,” Avery said, disagreeing. “I think that one actually comes off.”