Kindness and Love

  

I introduced my favorite video to my class on Friday when we talked about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the importance being kind to everyone.  It may be one of my favorite moments of the year- watching the kids "get it" when one person is kind to the next, and that person is then kind to someone else, etc. etc.    You could  hear a pin drop in the room as they watched.  We watched it three times (and probably would have more if it hadn't been a half day.) I love it as an adult- and yet it is perfect for the children, too. 

One of my little girls said, "I just sort of want to cry when I watch this. " OH MY GOSH- I love her. Because I always have a knot in my throat when I watch the kids watch this.  I try to point out the kind acts as they happen, and sort of want to cry, too. 

Before we watched the video, we read about Martin Luther King, Jr.  and did lots of class sorts to show that it is just silly to say that only the blue eyed children or brown haired children can play with the Legos or get a drink from the drinking fountain.   "OF COURSE that is ridiculous!" the kids faces seemed to say.  Of course it is.  

This lesson is lots of fun to help the children remember that we are all the same on the inside!

We  also did our M&M lesson, where  the children get to choose their favorite color and eat it. The next time, they have to close their eyes and pick an unknown color and eat it. THEN, they have to tell me what color they ate.

(We model how it is NO FUN to cheat because it ruins the game. It is easy to tell the color when you open your eyes and cheat... They sort of need to be reminded of that. After that, I didn't have anyone even try to cheat.)

This is one of my favorite bracelets that I have. It is from Signals.  I wear it all the time.

I liked this poster, too! Yum...

This is a great book about Kindness!

  

Richard Giso made a great activity to go with Kindness is Cooler.

 

 

Another favorite book is:

If you haven't read this book, here is a synopsis from Amazon:

 Ordinary Mary is an ordinary girl from an ordinary school, on her way to her ordinary house-who stumbles upon ordinary blueberries. When she decides to pick them for her neighbor, Mrs. Bishop, she starts a chain reaction that multiplies around the world. Mrs. Bishop makes blueberry muffins and gives them to her paperboy and four others-one of whom is Mr. Stevens, who then helps five different people with their luggage-one of whom is Maria, who then helps five people-including a man named Joseph who didn't have enough money for his groceries-and so on, until the deed comes back to Mary.

We started with a good vocabulary lesson about "ordinary,"  "extraordinary,"  and "deed."  The book really got my kids thinking that they could each make a difference by doing something kind.  They also loved the fact that it was a CIRCLE STORY!  Gotta love that!

The very favorite part was the last page which shows exactly how one kind deed can touch everyone in the whole world. Mary made five people happy.  They each made five people happy, so that made 125 happy people - and so on... See for yourself...

Another similar and wonderful book is The Boy Who Changed the World, by Andy Andrews.

Here is the synopsis from Amazon:

The Boy Who Changed the World opens with a young Norman Borlaug playing in his family’s cornfields with his sisters. One day, Norman would grow up and use his knowledge of agriculture to save the lives of two billion people. Two billion! Norman changed the world!  Or was it Henry Wallace who changed the world?  Or maybe it was George Washington Carver?

Both books have a wonderful message, but both were a bit wordy and long for my children.  I condensed some of it so they understood the theme and message, because the message is fabulous.

This book is a simple, pay-it-forward message of kindness. 

Even the smallest acts of kindness can powerfully impact the lives of others. This truth is beautifully demonstrated as we follow the far-reaching effects of young Katie's innocent smile.
With this simple gesture, she ignites a circle of warmth that flows from person to person, touching the hearts and lives of people she may never even meet.

 Have a WONDERFUL DAY!

I let my students play.

I feel like I should be at a meeting making a secret confession or something when I say that I let my children play.  At the end of school before vacation, with all of the magic of the season, I felt more and more like we had lost some of the magic of childhood in school.

It used to be that people looked at kindergarten teachers as lucky people who got to play all day with cute children. I am sure some people (who have never actually been in a classroom) still see it this way.  Before break, a  kindergarten teacher at another school whispered to me that she still lets her children play each day- but doesn't dare let anyone know. She shuts her door and tells no one. She would never tell, she said.  Later that afternoon, another friend, a fifth grade teacher, told me how her students don't know how to play board games or any game without tattling and coming to her to solve any issue that arises. They don't know how to play with each other.

I  feel like we are raising a generation of children who do not play and do not know how to play. They can play Candy Crush or online "board games" quietly by themselves without real life interactions. They "play" on sports teams from a young age, but it is still organized play where they are told what to do.  Because of this, children don't get to practice interacting (with real  human friends), problem solve, imagine, discuss differences, or figure out how to have fun on their own with free time. 

I am so thankful for all of the great ideas I find on your different blogs and at TPT that combine learning with play and interaction. 

I have "free choice" time each day. During this time, my children PLAY.  I want to change it in my plan book to PLAYTIME. 

It isn't a long period of time, but during this time, I work with individuals one on one, do art projects with groups at a time, and some days- just play with them.  PLAY WITH THEM.  Guess which days are their favorites? 

I am included in the best conversations. I get a glimpse into their real lives:  the authentic parts of my students' lives.  I laugh with them. I see how they learn the best.  I  model appropriate behaviors and responses to situations. I  help the children learn to be problem solvers.  I encourage creativity. I build confidence in students who may struggle in academic areas, but are clever and creative. And  I gain their trust as people, because at playtime, I am playing with them.  They are the leaders.

Yes, I have sight words on blocks and Legos.  Yes, the children write books, make cards, play post office and play teacher.  Yes, the children take restaurant orders or write veterinarian prescriptions.  But they learn so much more that that. They actually have real life opportunities to practice the character education lessons and object lessons that they have learned.

We expect children to come up with story ideas every day during Writer's Workshop.  They need to write what they know from their experiences. We wonder why it is so difficult for them to think of something to write.  Playtime experiences are the seeds to these stories.  They are the foundation of friendships.  They let children imagine, create, and become who they are- not who we expect them to be every other minute of the day. I love to see how they respond to a situation naturally, not because I am telling them how to do it.  They learn that being kind is how friendships are made and kept.  I can teach lesson after lesson, but playtime provides the opportunity to make those lessons mean something in real life.

I can justify "play" as a learning opportunity with well-planned centers for learning.  I just wish I didn't think I would have to justify it. I wish it were recognized as important on its own merit.  I want it to stand on its own value  as a critical learning time for children. 

Sitting on our school's RTI committee and listening to parents with upper elementary age children complain at my parent conferences, I see more and more children discouraged, crying, hating school, and wanting to give up by 3rd grade.  Many children  feel overwhelmed and stupid. They go home to more homework, not playtime with friends or outlets for what may be their strengths.  This breaks my heart.

I don't know the "fix."  I realize there is SO much material to cover and not enough time to do it all.  I know that playtime is the first thing to go.  I know that "playing" doesn't seem to go with the rigor of "school."  I do know that children  need time to play and be children.

I will not whisper that I have playtime in my classroom each day. I will be proud of it and the life lessons that come with it. 

I wrote this post about play right before Christmas break, and then didn't print it for some reason. 

After break, I have started feeling sort of overwhelmed with everything my Kindergartners need to accomplish and learn, and thought maybe I did need those few extra minutes each day that I allot to Free Choice to squeeze in yet another lesson.  Until today when  I read this article by Dr. Peter Gray.

Here is the title:

Here is an excerpt that I found very interesting:

I’m writing, here, in response to the news that the independent School Teachers Review Body is due to report back this week to Michael Gove on his plan to make school days longer and holidays shorter. The Education Secretary’s hope is that more hours in school will raise test scores in the UK to the level of those in China, Singapore and other East Asian nations. Paradoxically, Gove’s proposal has appeared just a few months after the Chinese ministry of education issued a report – entitled Ten Regulations to Lessen Academic Burden for Primary School Students – calling for less time in school, less homework and less reliance on test scores as a means of evaluating schools.

Educators in East Asian nations have increasingly been acknowledging the massive failure of their educational systems. According to the scholar and author Yong Zhao, who is an expert on schools in China, a common Chinese term used to refer to the products of their schools is gaofen dineng, which essentially means good at tests but bad at everything else. Because students spend nearly all of their time studying, they have little opportunity to be creative, discover or pursue their own passions, or develop physical and social skills. Moreover, as revealed by a recent large-scale survey conducted by British and Chinese researchers, Chinese schoolchildren suffer from extraordinarily high levels of anxiety, depression and psychosomatic stress disorders, which appear to be linked to academic pressures and lack of play.

It is a wonderful article and I felt like I read it for a reason today.  Here are some of my reasons!

 

Five for Friday January 17th

Happy Friday! I am linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching for her fabulous Five for Friday!  Thank you, Kacey! 

I made my floor Ten Frames this week.  We have had fun with them already.  My kids are even using them at Free Choice time and making up games with them with blocks, Legos, stuffed animals- even food. (And I don't just mean dancing-in-the-squares similar to hopscotch games... actual math games sometimes!)

 

Click on the picture below if you want to see more of my Mitten Activities Post.  

We are almost done with our letter review- and this week was Vv and Ww.  We painted like Vincent Van Gogh for Vv (which is another post for next week...) and wrote our wishes for Ww.   My wonderful mother saves the wishbones every time she gets a rotisserie chicken, and she even spray painted them gold because she is so fabulous.  Everyone got a real wishbone after they wrote their wish.  I practiced making a wish with one of my little girls to show everyone  how to use a wishbone- and even at 5 years old she was on to the trick of trying to put her thumb WAY up on the wishbone to get better leverage.  So tricky, these kids...

 (another American Girl doll)

 (and who doesn't want gum?!)

 

I wrote about our Healthy Habit Day here.  Apparently I was a little too late because I have a bad cold now.  I always get colds in my eyes so I look really pretty that way. But the kids seem to sort of pity me and act extra good because they think I am crying, so there are some pluses.

These just made me smile- so that is always a good thing. Some of their little faces... At first I thought, "Oh no- the ink is low and the kids look sick!" when I printed out the pictures.  Then I thought, "YAY- the ink is low and the kids look sick!"  because that was the look I should have been going for with this activity anyway.

Here is a copy of the little poem. I used different fonts so they could chose a favorite. Just click the picture if you would like a copy.

This silly little window shade game is one of our favorites.  When one of our window shades broke at home, I wrote all of our Kindergarten sight words in each quarter of the shade, in a different color on each quarter.  Then, I sorted our little bear counters to match those colors.  Four students play the game.  One student starts by choosing a word for everyone to find and put a bear on, in their section of the shade. Then, the next student chooses a word for everyone to find, and so on.    The kids play this so well- and it is completely independent.  I can hardly wait for another shade to break so I can make a number game! 

I found a great sight with LOTS of wonderful sightword games.  Sightwords.com is such a neat sight to explore!  Have fun!

Last week, Stephanie from Principal Principles posted that she loved the song Brave by Sara Bareilles. 

Well, I  went to Youtube and listened and listened and listened. And added it to my iPod to listen more.  (That is what I do with songs- totally over do it until I don't like them anymore.)

I like the song for a couple reasons.  First of all, I don't want to wait to say what I really want to say until I am realllllly old- and it accidentally slips out . What if I am one of those older people who just doesn't care and starts swearing? Sometimes I think maybe I will just pretend I don't know what I am saying so I can start swearing.  Not really- don't worry. But maybe sometimes really just a tiny bit.

Anyway, the song is a good reminder to not be afraid to say what I want to say (within reason... ).  I usually think nobody really cares what I have to say, so I don't say a lot or just rush through what I want to say.  That is why I love this blog.  I love that people can read it if they want, and hopefully enjoy it.  I love sharing that way. 

Secondly, I am always telling my children to BE BRAVE when they read and write. Especially with writing.  Be brave and try to hear as many sounds as you can, and get those words down on paper. Be brave and try to draw something you think you can't draw!

Here are some great books to share with your class about being BRAVE.

If you haven't seen Courage by Bernard Waber, it is such a wonderful book. It's great for conversations about being brave, and how courage is being brave for both big and small things.  Here are some pictures from the book:

I added these posters to my Primary Character Education Prezi- so that I can leave one up as a reminder when the children write.

 I also added the song so we can dance to it if we need a reminder to be brave! Or if we just need to dance.


Just click on the picture below if you would like a copy of this Prezi. 

 This is NOT how to be brave.  But how cute are those penguins? 

HAPPY WEEKEND!