Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1

We celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday by having a day filled with Dr. Seuss inspired games and activities.  The students LOVED every single minute of this day!  We had Dr. Seuss soup, Ring the Gack, Red Fish Toss, Go Fishing, marble painting, foot measuring, and Green Eggs and Ham!  Check out our fun filled day below!

Students got to flip green eggs with a spatula to see if they could catch them! 

Go Fishing Game!  Found at Wal-Mart for under $10!! 

 It is a class favorite!

Marble painting the Earth to use with a writing activity we will do with The Lorax.  

Dr. Seuss Trail Mix for Snack!  YUMMY!!

We had Goldfish crackers for One Fish, Two Fish; Froot Loops for Truffala Seeds, Mini marshmallows for Horton's egg; Animal crackers for Put Me in the Zoo; Popcorn for Hop on Pop; M&Ms for My Many Colored Days; and Teddy Grahams for Barbaloot Bears.

 It made my teacher heart happy that this was one of the favorite activities!  They got to read and explore all different Dr. Seuss books.  They were excited to look at the books we haven't read yet. 

 

Ring the Gack (game found in One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish)  was a hit!  It was so funny to watch the students try to ring the Gack.  All I used were some pool noodles, an old hat, and diving rings.  

 Do you like Green Eggs and Ham??  Students LOVED trying it out for themselves!  They even made a connection to the book, and said I like them just like Sam I Am!  I only had 2 that didn't like them.  The rest begged for seconds!

Cup stacking was very popular at our 100 day celebration, that I decided to bring it back for this day.  Although it didn't go as planned, the kiddos still loved it.  I had originally wanted red and white cups to stack to make the Cat in the Hat's hat.  Well, it is a lot harder that I thought to find red and white cups that are the same size!!  So I had to just improvise and let them build!  

 Foot measuring was so much fun!  Students didn't even realize how much they were learning with this simple activity.  They were discussing who had a bigger foot and seeing how had the same number of objects when they measured!  Learning can be fun!

 

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!

Our very own Sneetch and Cat In The Hat

Hoot #2
We had an awesome time at the Memphis Children's Museum! This is always one of my favorite field trips. Students get to role play and pretend...AS KINDERS SHOULD!

We love when parents can attend!

This Week's Holler...
This week's holler goes out to all teachers, all over the world. We are in the the home stretch. You are tired. You are worn out, but you come to school with a fresh smile to bring happiness and comfort in the lives of your students. Keep on keepin' on!!  You got this!! Thank you for being a part of our tribe!

Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1

This week, we took a trip to the  Children's Museum of Memphis. We haven't been there in about a year. They had made several changes, including adding a carousel.  The carousel was restored from an amusement park that shut down years ago in Memphis, Liberty Land.  Many of the teachers and parents remember riding this very carousel as a child!  The students (and adults) loved it! Some of our students had never ridden one before! It was a marvelous day that gave our children the opportunity to explore and learn through play...just as 5 and 6 year olds should!

Hoot #2
February is not complete without a visit from a local pediatric dentist.  Thanks to Happy Smiles in Horn Lake, MS, our students had the opportunity to learn about dental health!  The students loved seeing her brush with the HUGE toothbrush.  They listened so well and even wrote about what they learned in their journals.  

 

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to Diane at Spreading Joy One Giggle at at Time. She has so many resources! We really enjoyed her article on Smart Beads! We are definitely going to try that in our classrooms. We also love her signs for walking quietly in the hallway. She has a plethora of information on her blog! 
Go check her out!

Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1

I love to see little minds at work. 
These students love to create and dominate!

One of my favorite things to do as a teacher is to just observe. I love watching my students have conversations with each other. I love how they work together to solve problems. I love just having material laying around and allowing them to be creative without any barriers. Last Friday was one of those days. It was almost magical as I listened to the "hum" of my busy classroom. There was no yelling or fighting. There was no crying or whining. I literally watched my little community of Jitterbugs express their imagination, share ideas with others, take turns, reason, problem solve, LOVE, and LAUGH. As they did all of this, I sat back and smiled. I had created an environment where EVERY student felt safe to be who they are. They were demonstrating every social skills that makes a teacher proud. This, my friends, is what this world needs more of...
Love, Kindness, Respect, Forgiveness, Caring and Sharing

May we all always be humble enough to learn from our students.

Hoot #2

To celebrate the month of February we are learning about Valentine's Day and Black History Month.  Check out the pictures of our crafts we have done over the past week!

Our focus in reading has been on nonfiction texts.  In order to honor black history month and our reading focus, we read the book Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. by Creative Teaching Press.  After discussing the significance of Dr. King and the importance of equality, the students created a dove (cut out of a paper plate), and wrote how they can help change the world to make it a better place.

And my absolute favorite one that is just so simple and truthful...

We made a "Tear Art Heart". The students filled their heart with torn paper, then they wrote things they love on small pieces of paper.  The pieces with the words on it represented pieces of their heart.  They then completed a writing activity to go along with it called "Things I Love to Pieces".  Of course I took pictures of when they first began, but didn't get a picture of the finished project!  Sorry guys!  I will take a picture and add it later.  

 CHECK BACK IN A FEW DAYS TO SEE FINISHED PROJECT!

UPDATE!!  HERE IS A PICTURE OF FINISHED VALENTINE'S DAY ACTIVITY....

 

This Week's Holler...

Our shout out this week goes to Fran Kramer at Kindergarten Crayons. We have been working on addition and subtraction in the classroom. We just loved her mini addition center using carrots and eggs! Jamie already has the carrots and the eggs! Looks like we will be setting a new center up soon! Thank you, Fran, for sharing! 
Go check her out!