Five for Friday May 23

I'm linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!

Last Saturday was a perfect day with my girls!  We started off bright and early.  Ellie came down and we fueled up with some Dunkin Donuts coffee.  Of course.  Then we were off to our yearly trip to the Tioga Terrace Garage Sales.  This is my Christmas in May.  Every year we look forward to it.  Tioga Terrace is a wonderful neighborhood with about 750 homes- and every year they have a neighborhood garage sale. Thousands of people come, and it is like a treasure hunt.  This year, I did find some Melissa and Doug puzzles- for a quarter each!  WHAT?!   (I gave her a dollar, because really... ) I got a few other little things for my class, too.  I am out of room in there, and know enough not to turn into a hoarder- so I didn't get many school things.  We all found some fun things and a great time.

Every year the girls get Matt something strange. It's their mission.  We were thinking back to at least 5 or 6 years of what we found for him.  This was their contribution this year.  What a lucky brother.

ET mug- who doesn't need one?

 This paper mache' guy with tiny ankles. 

Then, at night, Ellie took Emily (for her graduation) and me( for Mother's Day) to this painting class at Wine and Design. WHAT a great time we had!  Matt and Ellie took us to dinner first.  Oh what fun memories that day!

Here were the other new friends we met in the class.

 

Here are our finished paintings. I love how they are all different.  My little leaves sort of took on a Christmas light look.  (Try not to focus on my hair- what is going on?!)

One of my FAVORITE Writing Mentor Texts is The Jolly Postman.  It seems like as I am reading it, the children are already thinking what notes they want to write and include in their stories before they even start!

 This is from Amazon:

The Jolly Postman goes from home to home in a fairy-tale kingdom, delivering letters to such familiar addresses as "Mr. and Mrs. Bear, Three Bears Cottage, The Woods." Every other page is an actual envelope, with a letter tucked inside. The letter to the three bears, for instance, is from Goldilocks, who apologizes for the trouble she's caused and invites Baby Bear to her birthday party. Some authors would stop with this cute concept, but the Ahlbergs have given this book their all. The story of the postman's travels is told in charming verse; the pictures are delightful, full of clever detail; and the results are frequently hilarious. (The wicked witch of "Hansel and Gretel" fame, for instance, receives a circular from Hobgoblin Supplies Ltd. which advertises such appealing products as Little Boy Pie Mix.)

The children loved the story, but most of all, they were taken with  the envelopes and real letters tucked inside.  I did condense the story a bit, because some of it was a little wordy for my kids- and in one part someone gives the postman champagne which I left out, too...  but the book is just a clever, sweet idea.

Reading this story was my entire mini lesson- no need for anything else but this on each table (along with scissors to cut tiny note size papers for the envelopes and glue sticks to stick on envelopes):

  

and LOTS of this:

The children were so busy and so focused, I didn't even interfere today. I just let them go so they could get their ideas down and create.

She's way ahead of me- thinking of Father's Day!  Bless her heart.

This book will be a keeper!

 

She wrote notes to all of her kitties.

 

 This story was about a jolly dog who loved to joke. It made me laugh!

I posted about our love of Letting it GO in my classroom. 

You would think none of us in that room would have a care in the world if you judged us on the number of times we sang about, talked about, or wrote about Letting it Go.  Sometimes I just need to let those words sink in because...

They really aren't.  

Anyway, I shared some ideas of ways I try to help me the children realize that.

I also found one more version of the song that made me smile.  It's even better if you close your eyes. Do it.  You'll feel just like your favorite Disney friends are singing along with you.

My sweet Sandy from Kinder-Gardening shared some fabulous ideas for dandelions- and this wish jar was one of them.  I went right out and made one for me.  My sweet husband just mowed down about a MILLION wishes- so I actually had to go down the road to find some.  I just loved this idea. 

                                   

 

Today was Grandparents' Day at our school.  Grandparents visit their grandchild's classroom for an hour before lunch, and then go to the gym to have a special lunch with the child.  I always get nervous planning for this day, and then when I am in the moment, I always wonder why.  The grandparents are so relaxed and happy.


                           
I had one little guy who didn't have grandparents come because they were out of town.  Sometimes a parent or older sibling will come instead.  Today, this little guy was my helper. At the end of the day, he said it was the BEST Grandparents' Day EVER- so I guess he was happy with the way things turned out. Although at first, this morning on the rug when he told me they couldn't come and was sad, sad, sad,  I said (trying to be nice), "I will be your grandmother for the day!" To which he replied a blood-curdling, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The other kids were sort of speechless. Then I made a face and everyone laughed. So I told him I would really need a helper  (instead of me being the grandma), and life was so much better for everyone.  Phew.

We had 32 grandparents in our classroom (which is crowded with just the 18 of us).  But it worked out just fine. My face was as red as the ladybugs, and I thought it was going to rain in there because it was so humid, but it was fine.  We played Sparkle and I Have, Who Has as they arrived. Once everyone was there, we sang a few songs.  We voted and came up with My Favorite Things, My Mother is  Baker, and Let it Go.  Of course.  So precious. Except the boys got SHY- and all of a sudden it sort of looked like, "WHY is she punishing those poor boys making them sing Let it Go?!" Oh my.

We have had a week of Eric Carle, so I thought it would be fun for the grandparents to do some projects with the children.  We did some centers.

We painted grouchy ladybugs.  I sprayed them with clear gloss once they dried so they can be put outside in the garden. These made me laugh because I'm pretty sure the grandparents let them do these all by themselves!
                                      
These were from last year once I sprayed them.
                                      
We colored and painted fireflies with glow in the dark paint.
                                      

We decorated houses for hermit crab, which I didn't get a good picture of... because I totally lost my camera there for a while.  That is so me.

On the rug, the children each read 2 stories they chose to their grandparents and showed them their stories in their writing folders.  Everyone wrote a special story for their grandparents ahead of time, too.

We gave each grandparent a lupine that we planted when we read Miss Rumphius- and The Tiny Seed. 
                                        

                                        
We finished up reading Grandpa's Slippers- a perfect story for the day.

The children ate with their grandparents in the gym, which was decorated so beautifully.  And then they could go into the cafeteria and dress up for the Photo Booth with their grandparents.  They all LOVED that part.

I think everyone had fun.  I'm still tired.

Have a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Let it Go!

This is the year of the song Let it Go in my classroom.  Thank you, Frozen.  Thank you, Disney.  

Because I sort of love it.  I know some teachers have had about enough... case in point-

But seriously, the first time my class sang along and did the motions, I had tears in my eyes. They are so sincere. Here is a little clip of some of my girls singing today. I had another video when all my girls were singing together, but it would NOT load...so sad, because they are all so precious together, but I took this on my phone, and some of my sweeties weren't here today. 

My boys were hesitant to let themselves enjoy the song. (Even though they all knew the words and even requested the song...) But at the same time, they didn't DARE snicker or giggle because the girls loved it so much, I loved watching the girls love every minute of the song, and the boys knew that I would not let them take away the joy the girls had for the song by giggling through it. (Don't worry- we do LOTS of songs the boys especially love like that Everything is Awesome Lego movie song... so they can hang in there for this one!)

Luckily, the marines came to my rescue.  They probably didn't know when they signed up to help people, they would be helping a kindergarten teacher make a point, but they sure did. We had a long talk about marines- who they were, and how strong and brave they were. Then I showed them this video of these Marines watching Let it Go! (I stopped it before they started screaming (about 2:20) I just showed them enough to let them know it was 'cool' to sing along.)

You should have seen the participation (and hand motions!) the next time we sang. Priceless and even more  precious.

Finally, if you have had enough of this song, you'll like this dad!

I love the whole idea behind the words in  this song, and thought it would make a great lesson for the children.  The very day I decided to turn this into a lesson, was the final day of state testing for my friend who teaches 5th grade.  She came down to my room and said, "I listened to Let it Go, and just decided that that is exactly what I have to do with these tests. They are over, and I need to let it go." That was a sign.  We all need  to remember to let it go, sometimes.  

                                       

Then, when this was in my devotional this morning, I knew I had to write about -

Especially, look for areas where you need to let go, leaving your cares in My able hands.  Do you trust Me to orchestrate your life events as I choose, or are you still trying to make things go according to your will? 

~Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

I can always use reminders about that. 

     

For our lesson, we read Today I Feel Silly.  There are a lot of great books about emotions and feelings. This book has a lot of different ones in it, so it gave us a lot to talk about. 

We talked about the many moods that we each have throughout the day, and how sometimes grouchy, grumpy, frustrated, worried, upset moods will sneak into our day. They will. Yes, they will. And that is normal, and happens to 100% of people. But, what can we do to let it go? What can we do to change that mood and make it better?

Boy oh boy- if you want ideas about letting it go, just ask a five year old.  I got some great responses. I had the children write and illustrate how they would let it go.  Here are some of my sweet answers:

\

I'm with her!

I want the children to always remember that those moods are just temporary. They won't last.  I also want them to remember that there are ways to make those moods better.  I thought that if we talked about some ways to help, they may remember them some day.

Go Noodle has some wonderful stress relieving videos- yoga, stretching, meditating type videos- that can help calm the class down if you need it.  They are under the Maximo and Flow sections.   We love the Willow, Willow one. Here is a sample stretch with Maximo.  The kids don't think he's silly- they know that if they try their best they get points to make their class champ grow!  (By the way, Let it Go is also one of the videos on Go Noodle.  We know that because we get points every time we sing or listen to it. POINTS!)  One of my little guys said to me, "WOW- You are SO good at yoga!" So I now love doing "yoga" with 5 and 6 year olds.  A class of adults would not see it quite the same way... not at all.

Here are some other ideas to help your children let it go.

I found this video at Conscious Discipline and thought it had some great relaxation ideas to remember for some brain breaks in the classroom for me the kids!


I have my little "Think about it" friends ready to go-  I have 2 precious, softer than soft elephants who will listen with their great big ears to anything a child has to say, and never, ever forget it.  I also have a great squishy ball to squeeze (but the child must be really thinking quietly about squeezing it and how it feels to squeeze), and some "My Favorite Things" lotion to rub, rub, rub into hands and make frustrations go away while the child thinks about his/her favorite, happy things. I got this idea from Dr. Jean's "Self-Control" lotion.  Love it. 

These are some pictures from last year's class.  Chair push-ups help the children release some energy or frustration, and  remain calm and more focused.

We do like a good "Chair Push-Up" break now and then!  My whole class does this together. I have a couple children who benefit from this the most, but it is fun and helpful for everyone- as well as a challenge! They love to see who can stay up for a long time.

We also have a ball with the Wall Push.   I don't have much wall space, but we all line up quietly and walk around the corner in our hall, where there are no classrooms.  We try to push the wall as hard as we can.  I tell them we are trying to make Miss Quick's classroom smaller by pushing in the wall!   They really think we have moved that concrete wall over.  Sorry, Miss Quick, for your shrinking room.

Again,  this is a great "brain break" for everyone in the class.  Who doesn't feel like pushing a wall every now and then? One good thing about doing this in the hall is that I tell them we have push really hard, but be quiet, so they aren't screaming- but putting the effort into the physical exertion. You can also have the children push the wall, then turn around, and push it again, for something different.

Have a wonderful day!