I know what 'it' means well enough

Below is an excerpt from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.  I'm working on an assignment for my students and found this part especially profound and applicable to this school year.

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               At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of some authority among them, called out, "Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! I'll soon make you dry enough!" They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with the Mouse in the middle.

               "Ahem!" said the Mouse with an important air. "Are you all ready? This is the driest thing I know. Silence all 'round, if you please! 'William the Conqueror, whose cause was favored by the pope, was soon submitted to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the Earls of Mercia and Northumbria'--"

               "Ugh!" said the Lory, with a shiver.

               "--'And even Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it advisable'--"

               "Found what?" said the Duck.

               "Found it," the Mouse replied rather crossly; "of course, you know what 'it' means."

               "I know what 'it' means well enough, when I find a thing," said the Duck; "it's generally a frog or a worm. The question is, what did the archbishop find?"

            The Mouse did not notice this question, but hurriedly went on, "'—found it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and offer him the crown.'

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Within my class, I have English Language Learners and 1st generation English speakers.  Some of my students speak a language in addition to English while others only speak English but their parents are not proficient in English.  I have an ESL endorsement, but this is my first opportunity working with Language Learners.  It has been interesting to recognize some of the things I was taught as I obtained this endorsement.

This passage made me think of the numerous occasions where I found through reading student writing or during class discussions the misunderstandings my students were facing.  Some of them have tickled me enough that I've laughed aloud with the thought, "This is what you thought we were talking about?  No wonder you were so confused at times."

For example, yesterday, I hurriedly prepared my students' written response review questions for history.  We are studying the French Revolution.  Since I was in a hurry, I copied the suggested questions from the Teacher's Guide as is.  Normally, I am thoughtful in reading how these questions might be interpreted or I'll seek out a clearer way to ask the question.

I had one student, whose parents speak both their Indian dialects as well as English in the home, ask me "Who came up with the class system in France (referencing the First, Second, and Third Estates made of Clergy, Aristocrats, and Everyone Else, respectively)?"  I clarified, asking him if he was wondering who was the first to come up with this social division.  With his acknowledgement, I reminded him that we had read and discussed that this class system was patterned after the ancien regime or "old regime"--the class system used during the Middle Ages.  I told him I didn't know which group or leader, specifically, had instituted such a class system or the details in how this came to be.  He seemed satisfied with this answer.

Moments later, another student asked a similar question.  That's when I looked at their assignment and read the question again with more attention.  It said, "Who made up the Third Estate?  (with a follow up question about how these people felt about French society in the 1700s).  Suddenly, their questions made sense.  I went immediately back to the first student and saw that he had started writing about who had made up, or invented, the Third Estate, answering that some people during the Middle Ages had come up with the class system.

               "Found it," the Mouse replied rather crossly; "of course, you know what 'it' means."

               "I know what 'it' means well enough, when I find a thing," said the Duck; "it's generally a frog or a worm. The question is, what did the archbishop find?"

It is incredible how such a simple phrase can be the source of misunderstanding for Language Learners as well as students who do not possess background knowledge or understand the context of the question, in general.  I explained to the whole class that the question was asking which groups of people made up, meaning were part of, the Third Estate.  I had a lot of "Oh!"s in response.  I told them, as I have many times this year, that  I would change the question on my saved student assignment so that it would be better for next year's class.  (Oh, lucky, lucky next year's class.  I have several thoughts on that...for another day.)