I AM WONDERFUL - Based on Debbie Clement's song


Don't we all want kids to say, "I am wonderful"? In this post, I share a great back to school or anytime idea based on this wonderful song.



Hello Friends,
I was sooo excited when Debbie Clement asked a few of us if we would be willing to share her CD "I AM WONDERFUL" with our class! Of course, my answer was "YES!" and what fun we had with this song!

 We practiced singing the song for about a week during our Morning Meeting. Debbie included 2 versions of the song; one with lyrics and the other instrumental only. We began with the lyrics and then when I felt my kiddos were ready, I played the instrumental version and they did fantastic! THEN..... when they were ABSOLUTELY wonderful, I videotaped them performing the song! This will be an end of year gift to their parents....... I uploaded the video on You Tube and will give their parents the private link to the song. They also created "I AM WONDERFUL!" portraits which will  be part of their parent gift. First they drew a hill shape for their body and then traced a circle upon skin colored paper. They added paper hair and used crayons to add their face. When this was complete, they used oil crayons to add details to their shirt. After that, they sponged painted around the middle of their paper. Finally, they wrote 2 things that they felt made them wonderful. Aren't these just the cutest? The link to Debbie's I AM WONDERFUL song can be found HERE.

































Until next time!

Blessings,


Mother's Day Pots and Cards, Oviparous Animals, and a Few Random pictures

Hello Friends!

Well here it is another Friday - whew! This has been a busy week and I foresee it staying that way for awhile! 19 more days of school - wow!
This was our Mother's Day week. We celebrate Mother's Day a week early at our school. I was at a conference a month or so ago and in one of my workshops, the presenter said that everything that we do with our students should be purposeful. Because of that, he said that we should not do Mother's Day gifts because there is no educational purpose for them. I, too, think that the projects that we do at school should be purposeful and I believe that Mother's Day presents CAN be purposeful.

Our kids paint clay pots and plant a flower in them. Before the kids add their flower to the pot, we look at the roots, the stem, the leaves, and the flowers of the plant. We also discuss what plants need to survive.







When this activity is completed, the children make a card for their Moms. Besides creating a cute card cover, they write about their Moms on the inside. All this is purposeful learning done in a fun way! By the way, the cover was inspired by my friend, Melanie, From the Pond. You can find her delightful Mother's Day activity by clicking the image below.






Here are a few examples of the inside of the card:



If you would like the pattern for the cute kiddo holding the muffin, click HERE!

     We finished our Oviparous Animal unit - woo hoo! I love this unit because the kids go home with being able to say a big word and also because the animals in this unit are ones that they can see without going to to a zoo!
      My Oviparous Animal unit book was featured in the TPT newsletter last week - what a honor that was!  Because we do not have a science book in our kindergarten, we do tons of kid created books. Everything that we are presently doing in science is based on our Illinois State Standards for Kindergarten Science. I have talked with teachers who say that they do not have time to do science because of all the literacy and math that must be covered. That is true, but I feel that literacy can easily be tied into science through the use of books. Yesterday, I listened to one of my kinders reading her Oviparous Animal book to a friend. What can be better than this? Science concepts tied into an emergent reader!
     




The last page of the book is the assessment page. I love this page because it says that dogs, cats, and people are NOT oviparous - they are mammals. After reading this page, the kids draw pictures of animals that are not oviparous. It's amazing the conversation that goes on when the kids are drawing these pictures..... "I am going to draw a zebra because it has fur. I am going to draw a cat because cats have kittens."

Here is a preview of my Oviparous Animal resource.

Here are a few pictures of some LIVE oviparous animals that are living in our classroom!



Do you see the notes that are sitting in front of the brooder box - see... purposeful learning!

A couple of random pictures.....
Here is a picture of a tree outside my kitchen window.....
What is the first thing I do when I come home from school? Eat a Nature Valley Dark Chocolate thin!
Argggghhhh!!!! I am addicted!
Finally, a couple more cutie pie pictures from the "Desk Fairy"! These pictures make me smile! Look at that hair! :)

Until next time!

Blessings,
Cindy