These are just a few of my favorite things that I have done over the years!
These are just a few of my favorite things that I have done over the years!
My class becomes heart surgeons on Valentine's Day! The school nurse makes a visit to teach us all about heart-health before students use band-aids pipe cleaners to repair their patient's heart and design their gown. The room is transformed into a hospital while the class is in activity. They have to "scrub in to surgery" before entering the room to get their patient file and begin working through the different operating rooms of centers practicing various skills!
We partnered with Student Treasures and became published authors! Each student illustrated and wrote about what they will be when they grow up. After selling over 45 books and having one donated to the school library, we got to plan a publishing party! Students' families were able to come celebrate with us as we unboxed our books and held a book signing along with pencil cookies!
We celebrated becoming 50 days smarter with poodle skirts, leather jackets, and lots of hair gel! Students learned all about the 50's before having a sock-hop, blowing bubblegum bubbles, learning to hula-hoop, and designing their diner place mat. We finished the day by predicting if ice cream would sink or float in Coke and tested our hypothesis for snack time!
The time in between Thanksgiving and Christmas is my favorite! Students who end their day above green on the clip chart get to add an ornament to our tree. The tables who are going above and beyond receive ornaments for their "table trees" throughout the day. Students love to show their grown ups all the ornaments they have earned at our Christmas party!
While celebrating with family and friends, students will receive their gifts. I have students tell me one thing they want for the holidays and create a list on Amazon. This ensures every baby receives atleast one gift of their choice during the holidays!
As part of our end of the year program, we always perform "What A Wonderful World." Because we use sign language so heavily in my room, I have been able to teach the kindergarten classes the motions for the most precious performance.
We will make an instruction-driven craft every Friday or when we complete a unit. Instead of sending them home every couple weeks- we create a memory book. Their crafts, pictures from the year, writing samples, and awards are placed in monthly sections for their grown ups to flip through at the end of the year. It is so sweet to see how much they have grown!
This is another one of my favorite things that I get to do for them since it was a dream I've had since before I started teaching. Throughout the year I will collect or have "Oh, The Places You'll Go" books donated. The last week of school each child receives a copy along with a personalized note and picture in the cover.