Tired... but happy Halloween

Today my Kindergarten kids:

Trick or Treated at the "Little Kids' building"

Played with puppets

Listened to Halloween music

Played with rubber bugs and spiders

Watched an Alvin and the Chipmunks Halloween video

Had donuts for morning snack

Played outside in leaves I brought to school

Went on a spider egg hunt (yellow and orange Easter eggs with spider rings inside)

Made tiny ghost puppets and pumpkin puppets

Got covered in tattoos

Made race car and doll foam crafts

Watched Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin

and then had an amazingly yummy snack!



Whew.... how's that for a run on list? We had so much fun. I wish you all could have seen how good my kids were when we visited the younger building. We talked about being quiet so we wouldn't, "scare the babies" and about using our good manners. I was so proud of them! There were thank you's all the way through the building and only quiet voices! Yay for Kindergarten kiddos!



Playing in the leaves and tattoos, cookies and silly movies.... it was such a wonderful day! And my kids looked so cute in their costumes! Me? Ah.... yes.... I was a gray sweatsuit clad bunny complete with ears, a tail and fluffy slippers. Let me just say that if your hair is a little damp, you should never take off your head band! (...I didn't but, when I looked in the mirror at lunch break, I had to chuckle when I took the ears off to tuck in a stray unruly lock.)



I love Halloween... and I haven't even passed out our candy yet!

Spider Day!

Spider hats...

...construction paper, staples and glue...

...accordion folded legs and big silly eyes.

The smiles on their faces were worth the work.

We read about spiders.

We wrote about spiders.

We even drew spiders and did math worksheets with spiders!

I showed the kids a website that showed the life cycle of a spider and we made a poster for the wall.

I even learned new things about spiders! I never knew that spiders could regrow legs and that they "moulted" as they get bigger!

Hmmm.... tomorrow is "rat" day.... I wonder what we will discover.

Spiders, rats, bats and cats!

This week every day will have a theme. Monday will be "Spider" day! We will read spider books, color our own book of the Itsy Bitsy Spider and even sing a rockin' version of the song. We will add using thumb print spiders, learn about their life cycle and even make a crazy hat! The other days will be just as likely to inspire fun. I hope my kids have a wonderful time and learn things too! The crazy kiddos won't know what to think. Each morning I'll be adding a little more to our decorations too, so by our party on Friday it should be very festive!

Shaving cream fun!

As I sit here writing lesson plans, I muse over the crazy activities my kids will be doing this week.

I know they'll like writing words in shaving cream, growing Sea Monkeys and identifying letters to win prizes!

I'm also just as sure they'd rather croak than practice their handwriting and that they will make me a little crazy when they flip the lights off in the bathroom a zillion times.

I think about how excited they'll be on our field trip and hope that "Fireman Dave" still has an open presentation slot for us.

I hope they like our new poem and that by the end of the week everyone will be a little closer to knowing their phone numbers and addresses.

Don't get me started on all the Halloween stuff I've bought for them... and please don't make me admit that I actually bought all three of the Peanuts holiday specials... scary... very scary...

Tears over acorns

So many times I hear people say that children are so hard to please.

I listen, and I know there is truth to what is said.

But, today when my Kindergarten kids squealed appreciatively over the acorns I collected to share, I had to smile.

I knew they would be pleased and I wasn't disappointed.

One kiddo even cried because her friend pulled off her acorn's cap!

The nuts couldn't have disappeared quicker if I'd had a room full of furry critters instead of little students.

Acorns....

:-)

Running and rhyming

This morning in my never ending attempt to keep my Kindergarten kiddos learning and having a good time too, I invented a silly game.

I drew four simple pictures: a pig, a star, a mop and a cat and taped one on each wall of our gym.

Then I told the kids that I wasn't, "Ms. Susan", instead I was a Super Amazing Tricker who was going to "catch" anyone who couldn't rhyme.

Next, I read a word and told the kids they needed to run to the picture that rhymed with the word I had just spoken.

With laughs of glee they ran while I pretended to catch them.

We played the game for ten minutes or so. Not very long in the whole scheme of life. But, I hope long enough to reinforce the concept of rhyming and to plant a happy memory of learning in their hearts that will stay with them.

Kindergarten... I'm tired... they're crazy... but I am so happy to teach them.

Rhyming games!

It's amazing how a silly dance and the excuse to wag your finger at your teacher makes learning more fun.

Today my kiddos and I practiced rhyming together in a very silly way. All of my favorite Kindergarten students lined up along the blackboard and then I would flash a homemade picture card at them and read the word upon it. If the picture was "rose" then I would say another word like "nose". If the word I said rhymed, the kids could do a dance. If it didn't, they could shake their finger at me (because clearly I was confused)! The resulting game was a hoot and my students loved it! At the end I flipped the deal and I would show a card and call on a student challenging them to rhyme. If the could, (I didn't mind help from friends), I would do a little dance. If they got "tricked", I would wag my finger at them. Then of course we'd talk about where they got confused and I'd let them try again.

May I suggest doing a, "little dance" if you are feeling down. (If you can do it with Kindergarten kids, all the better!)

It certainly does the trick for me.

Field Trip!

I survived my first field trip! It was even fun. We picked apples! I even got to pick some myself. The kids had a wonderful time and were well behaved. No one got lost. No litigation resulted! Hey that's success isn't it?
:-)