Grinch Ethics

We read the story of the The Grinch and I asked the students to write about the ethics revealed in the story. I especially challenged them (because it's very easy to say what he did "wrong") to think like the Grinch's lawyer and defend his actions. Some of them wrote that the Grinch right because he gave everything back, some that he taught us what Christmas spirit is all about. Some still wanted to lock him up and throw away the key! :)

Right to give the Christmas decorations and presents back.

Right because it was showing us we have to spend time with our families.

The Grinch is wrong because the Christmas spirit is not to steal.

The Grinch was wrong because if someone sees the Grinch steal he will go to jail.

He is right because showing us to not steal.

Right because he put all the presents (back).

Always an interesting perspective from this student! :)



If You Were An Ornament...

It sounds like one of those get-to-know-you activities. If you were an ornament, what kind would you be....hmmmmm? :)

This was one of those improvised, last-minute, not in my lesson plan kind of lessons (that happens probably more than it should in my class). Our schedule was changed and I had an extra 1/2-hour and had to figure out something fast for the kids to do. I wanted to do something with perspective and December-related so I decided to ask them to write from the perspective of an ornament. How would you feel, what would you see, etc.

 I thought some of them came up with some interesting answers...we're starting to get past just the "I would feel happy" comments and into more details of a day in the life of an object.

This one is a little candy cane obsessed these days! ;)

"I would hang on the tree"-very proud of this student for actually starting to sound out her words-for the longest time it was "but I can't write".

"I see a present."

"I would feel sad because people will touch me and if they have germs". That would definitely be the downside-guess what now you know how Kinder teachers feel at the end of the day-very germy!

Making New Friends

Now, let me preface this by saying we are in the midst of a Gingerbread Unit right now.

In the morning, when the kids arrive they always do journal writing. Today's prompt was "To make a new friend I would....". Most of the kids wrote 'be nice' or 'play with them'. One of my students brought his up to me and I'm pretty good at reading Kindergarten, but I couldn't decipher it. I asked him to read it to me. He said "I couldn't spell 'ingredients'. And it took me a minute but I did realize I had asked how to 'make' a friend. :)

It was one of those moments where you have to stifle a giggle. They can be soooo literal sometimes!

Gingerbread Ethics

I asked the kids to write about whether it was right or wrong that the Gingerbreads all ran away. Of course, I am really encouraging them to get into the "why" of it all but it's challenging for them.

It is wrong to eat the gingerbread girl because it's make-believe.

It's right because they almost ate the tortilla.

It is right to run away because the gingerbread girl did not want to get eaten.

It is right because if you eat it won't be alive. It is wrong to talk to strangers (ie the fox).

Gingerbread Unit

I love reading all the various versions of the Gingerbread stories this time of year. If you are not familiar, here are a few:

Just too cute!

The kids also love this one-a gingerbread who can't understand why the bakery items aren't speaking to him.

Great comparison to the tortilla-they shout different rhymes, different theme.

Desert animals chasing the tortilla-a little Spanish vernacular thrown in. My kids acted this out one year for the Christmas program-you should have seen the tortilla costume-priceless!

Also new vocabulary for them-had to look up what an omebashi plum was-apparently very good for you.

The kids' favorite-I think because they love pickles so much,

My new favorite-lots of new New Orleans vocabulary-chere!

Of course I love that she's smarter than the boy and gets away at the end!

You can compare and contrast-even doing a 3-circle venn diagram or triple bubble map. Compare the different animals chasing them, different settings. We've even charted who got away and who got eaten. I always have the kids write their own runaway food story-that's going to be an upcoming post!

Candy Cane Critical Thinking

I'm a big fan of asking kids to find new uses for old things. Tis the season to create a new use for candy canes! I demonstrated with my pen and how they've seen me use it to open things or wrap up my hair. We brainstormed a list of other uses. And then I sent them off to create 4 new uses for candy canes. They came up with some things I would not have thought of.... (these pics are not the best, I don't know what's going on with my camera).

a ladle, love their euphemisms---grandma spoon :)

A heart, a pickle, a circle and a letter

I think she's a future American Idol singer-but I would never have thought of a microphone-very creative!

A heart, square, and a stick

bed, car, backpack and table-love her illustrations!

I don't know if my Ruby would be able to be walked on a candy cane-it would be gone before no time!

So Much For Early Childhood....

I'm wondering if any other Kinder teachers who are reading this are accountable for standardized test scores for their kiddos.

I ask because we start our testing this upcoming week. 5 fun-filled days of me reading questions aloud and the kids sitting in their seats that whole time bubbling in answers (very developmentally appropriate don't you think?). The best part is, even though this test is given for the purpose of identifying GT students (that's why it's given so early)--this will be my accountability for the year! I'm told because it's the only test we take, it's the only data we have. Of course, we know differently-we have tons of data on our kiddos-observational data, sight word inventories, fluency rates, number of letters/sounds learned, etc. It's much more accurate to sit down individually and test one or 2 objectives at a time. But this is what counts-multiple choice answers on a norm-referenced test given in December. :(

The best part is, since I teach a GT class-my kids are expected to score a whole grade level above. I'm required to get an average grade level equivalency of 1.3 on the total battery scores. Even though I've only had these kids for 3 months (and I have 25 of them-much less time to work with them individually). So I was expected to effectively teach a year and half's curriculum by this week. I can't even articulate how challenging and stressful that has been. Kinder is foundational-you can't just snap your fingers and have them reading--there are a lot of steps involved to work up to that. Not to mention there are a lot of activities I like to incorporate that are not based on the test requirements-projects, creativity, critical thinking exercises, the GT icons--it's a lot to incorporate day to day as it is. Next year our official evaluations will be based 50% on test scores alone-they haven't decided yet if this is the test they will use for Kinder, but if they do, man, there goes the concept of Early Childhood Education.