An Elementary Problem

I have been at elementary schools all week. There is a reoccuring...thing. A thing, in teaching English that shows up and I have never been able to put a name to it. It shows up for everyone. Today it happened again so I will give you an example:

We were playing a game where a flag is put into a box where various doors of various shapes have been cut. The kids have to guess what country's flag is in the box by opening one door at a time. To open the door they have to say something like "Diamond please." Or "Heart please." This seems simple enoug, but the problme arose. It seeped up from the carpets and hovered around the room. We went over what they had to say. We practiced it. Everyone agreed it was pretty easy and it was okay to start. "Diamond." A boy said confidently. At least confidently enough. "Diamond please." Oyama sensei reminded him. He looked like someone kicked a chair out from under him and reversed the gravity. He said nothing. "Diamond please." Morimoto and Oyama urged him on. "I don't understand." He declared. "Diamond please." I was willing him at this point. I was leaning forward, motioning, "Please." "What? I don't understand." He is incredulous now. This is not uncommon, it is just bizarre. How can one understand "diamond" and not understand it when paired with "please." "Diamond" is ok. "Diamond please" is beyond comprehension and is, actually, disrespectful to boot.

I witnessed another symptom as well today. I am going down the rows asking, "How are you?" "I'm OK!" "How are you?" "I'm super!" "How are you?" "I'm hungry." "How are you today?" "What is he saying?"
"I don't know."
"Do you think it has something to do with 'how are you?'"
"I don't know."
"How are you?"
"I'm OK."