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

Last week, we had the pleasure to have some 2nd graders come to our class. They have been working on Reader's Theater and wanted to share with us. It was a delight to watch some our former students. They did a wonderful job!

Hoot #2

This hoot is really nothing to celebrate, but I wanted to share. I lost my first Jitterbug a couple of weeks ago. He was not a student that was currently in my room. He actually would have turned 20 on November 12th (the same day as my birthday). When we would see each other, we would always smile and give each other big hugs. He would tell me his plans, and I would let him know that I was here if he needed anything.

When this happened, anyone (not a teacher) would think "it's been 15 years since he was in your class, no big deal." One may even ask themselves, "Did I do enough?" As teachers, we know that simply couldn't be farther from the truth. We love them long after they leave. It cuts deep, real deep. You feel that you need to do something, anything, but do not know where to start. You just pray and hope that they know everyday when they leave your room that they are loved. Our students that leave and return throughout the years are no different. Those that are reading this understand that. Through our daily struggles of meeting standards, deadlines, and  paperwork...we are enough. We meet these kids where THEY are. We love them for who THEY are. We pray for who THEY will be. We provide them with a safe place, away from their everyday lives. We meet their social needs. We let them know that they are loved. God bless our students!

Teachers we are enough!

This Week's Holler...

This weeks holler goes out to Jennifer Blanchard at the Practical Primary Teacher.  We have been struggling with writing this year with our classes.  When we came across this blog, we were so excited to read how she helps her students write in her classroom.  As teachers, we learn from each other, and we learned a lot from her blog!  Go check her out! 

Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1

We learned all about pumpkins last week.  On Monday the students walked into the room to see a HUGE pumpkin in their classroom.  We carved a pumpkin on Friday after reading Pumpkin Jack,  Pumpkin, Pumpkin, and reading non fiction texts on pumpkins.  The students loved getting to use their 5 senses to explore their pumpkin.  We got to smell, touch, see our pumpkin.  We tapped on the pumpkin to see what it would sound like, and the class determined it sounded like a drum.  I had a few that were brave enough to taste the pumpkin.  They decided that pumpkin pie tastes a lot better! 

We dug through all the pulp to get all of the seeds.  Our pumpkin had over 550 seeds!  Each student took home 20 pumpkin seeds to plant at home, and the rest were planted at school.

 We voted on what kind of face our pumpkin would have.  It was a tie, so we carved a two faced pumpkin!  One side was happy, the other was scary. 

After carving and planting, we did pumpkin brace maps.  The students could easily label the parts of a pumpkin and recall the vocabulary used because of this wonderful hands-on experience! 
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Hoot #2

Over the past week, we have had a lot of visitors!  We had the librarian from our town's public library come read to us!  They love listening to stories! 

We also had Ned's Kindness Adventure come to our school! 

 The Kindness Adventure assembly shows that kindness is the key to making friends and respecting others.  It was very entertaining for students.  The students were engaged and interested the entire time!  It had a very good message.  It allowed students to see schools and children from a different culture, and learn to respect others' cultures. We are selling "Kindness Treasures" this week in our school's snack store to help students to remember to be kind and pay it forward. 

GO OUT AND SPREAD KINDNESS LIKE CONFETTI!!  

ALL IT TAKES IS A SMILE OR SOME KIND WORDS! 

 

This Week's Holler...
This week we have been really focusing on our writing.  Students have had a very hard time with writing this year.  After stumbling across a blog about writing from Abigail over at Kindergarten Chaos, we decided to take a few steps back and start over.  We have been working really hard on our "Drawing Journal" and focusing on how important illustrations are when writing.  We have seen so much improvement in our students writing!  We are moving on to labeling and lists next.  We loved her character cards used to help students understand the importance of a setting and adding details.  Check out these illustrations from some of our kinders using the character cards! 

We literally went from scribbling on paper to actual pictures!  Hop over to her blog to read all about it!  Thanks Abigail for sharing your ideas!  You Rock!

 

Two Hoots and A Holler

Hoot #1
This week has been all about Pete the Cat! The students just love Pete the Cat stories. They love singing along as I read. It's a great way to get students involved in shared reading. We decided to make a Pete the Cat glyph! The students enjoyed comparing how their cat was different/alike for their friends.

What is your favorite activity to do with Pete the Cat?

Hoot #2
We had visitors in our classroom recently.  Some high school football players dropped in to kindergarten to say hello and show their Gator Pride! The students loved being able to see the players in their uniforms, and they were amazed that a girl could help them out and be a part of a football team!    Of course, we had to get a picture!  We love our Gators!  

My favorite is how some of the kids are looking up at them in amazement rather than looking at the camera to smile!  So blessed to have role models for these kinders! 
GO GATORS! 


Holler
This week's holler goes out to Teeny Tiny Teacher. We are loving her Listen and Learn Math that she just released! We also love her "Gold Tag" behavior system. What a great way to add positive behavior and incorporate it to fun Friday!! This may be something that we start next nine weeks! Thank you, Kristin for sharing! Go check her out!! 

Two Hoots and a A Holler

Hoot#1

This week we had a special guest come to our classroom to read. LITTLE MISS MISSISSIPPI!!!!!  We are always glad when someone wants to come read to us, but when royalty asks, we do not turn them down! We are very grateful that Emma Kate, Little Miss Mississippi, chose us! Emma Kate is a 4th grade student at our school. She brightens our halls everyday! Thank you again for coming!

Hoot #2

This week we have been doing what we love to do...giving back to our community. Our Community includes St. Jude. It is just 30 minutes from us.  St. Jude is having a benefit on September 23rd. The outpouring of support that our students have shown has touched my heart tremendously. Our goal was to raise $1000. We started with "Change for a Cure." Students were asked to bring any loose change to put in their grades bottle.

We also had "Cupcakes for a Cure." The students purchased cupcakes provided by our staff for $.50. We sold over 400 cupcakes! What a wonderful team effort from teachers and students.  We still have tomorrow to collect change and we will serve cupcakes again next week, but we are proud to say that we have raised over $1100 for St. Jude and their patients.

Walls Gators love St. Jude!!

This Week's Holler...

This week's holler goes out to Jennifer Hamilton at "A Dab of Glue Will Do." She has stuff for every theme that you can imagine. She also has her own TPT store. But, if science is what you are looking for, then Jennifer is your girl. We love her Blood Model Cell experiment! I think that we will be doing this with out house in October! Thanks for sharing Jennifer.

Click here to go to her blog!