Well, I got a chuckle this week and I'll share it today as a Funny Kid Story.
As we were headed out to one of our Specials this week, the kidpeople were a bit chatty lining up, so I told them, in a dramatic whisper, that we needed to get into "Stealth mode" and be "ninjas." (This is a little teacher trick I keep up my sleeve because it is fun and works every time to bring down the noise level.) I gave them the challenge of getting past the office, where our school secretary sits, without her knowing we were there.
We headed out, very hushed and tiptoeing. Much to my surprise, when we reached the big office window, as if on cue, they all dropped to their knees and crept along! I glanced at our secretary, and after her face registered puzzlement, she started cracking up. She giggled so hard I thought she was going to fall off her chair, and I too, had a hard time keeping a straight face.
As each kiddo passed the window they stood back up, and continued tiptoeing down the hall. Anyone watching would have thought we had practiced that a dozen time. I gave them thumbs up as they filed into the art room.
Hope you have as much fun with your kids as I do! Let me know if you got a grin.
Well, folks, it has been a while, but my kidpeople were especially funny this week, and I gotta share. Besides, you probably need a chuckle.
Don't Interrupt the Teacher
Me: I have an important lesson, kidpeople, so listen up. Blah blah...
Irene: puts hand in air
Me: Irene, it is listening time now. You can ask at the end. Blah blah...
Irene: puts hand in air again
Me: Not now, Irene. In a few minutes. Blah blah...
Irene: puts hand in air again
Me: frowny teacher face Blah blah blah blah.... Okay, so I think some of you have questions... Irene?
Irene: You HAD a stink bug on your shoulder, but NOW it crawled inside your sweater.
Me: 🙄
I'm a Good Cutter
We were going to do a little Valentine project which started with a red heart. So I held up the small red paper, showed them the heart shape printed on it, and started to cut it out.
Realizing this was a good time for a quick review of the steps to cutting, which many of my kidpeople still need to hear, I began.
"When we cut, the hand that is holding the paper is the one that moves... I am sort of driving my paper so that the line is always there by the scissors... The scissors just need to open and close, open and close, and cut on the line... I can hold my scissors pretty still, right here.
Do I need to stick my elbow up in the air? (something that many of them do) No.
Do I need to twist my scissor hand this way and that? (something else that many of them do) No."
Here's a quick post to tell you about a resource that is particularly useful now. We all have our official writing units to teach, dictated by Common Core or State Standards– opinion, information and narrative writing. I get the importance of those, but that certainly is not the only kind of writing kids enjoy learning about, so we take little bends in the road to incorporate other kinds of writing. One of those is letter writing. I put together a resource to help you expand letter writing into a mini-unit.
With Valentines coming up it's a great time to write to parents, grandparents, far away friends and friends at school. The pack comes with some anchor charts, stationery, and teaching ideas. Freshen up your writing center with these new materials and penny stamps and see the kids write with new vigor to a specific audience. For only two bucks, you'll get more than your money's worth.
I'm hoping to launch my own letter writing unit next week, pulling out the classroom mailbox which will stay up for the rest of the year. In addition to leaving materials in my writing center after the mini-unit is done in probably just a week, I'm going to begin Friendly Friday Letter Writing. Friendly Friday letter writing means everyone will pull a name out of a hat, or a popsicle stick out of the name jar, and then "secretly" write to that person... well, as secretly as five year olds can do anything. snort. Then we will do quick delivery of our letters, and let instant fun and warm feelings ensue.
This little postcard stationery works great for a Friendly Friday quick write! It's part of the pack.
Friendly Friday letter writing is one of our Hygge Hour activities... pronounced, Hoo-guh, by the way. Don't know about Hygge? Then you should click here to check it out!
To get to the Let's Write to Someone pack click on either of the pictures above. While you're at my store, check out all the FREEBIES. I have more resources for free than resources for sale. snort. One of my list paper freebies has been downloaded more than 3,800 times! It always cracks me up... and warms my heart... to see my resources downloaded many thousand times over. Love. Also love it when people leave product comments, which they don't do near often enough! hint.
You can see a post with more ways to use the Let's Write to Someone pack by clicking HERE.
Hope your kiddos enjoy letter writing as much as I know my kidpeople will. Click on the photos above to find the pack.
And now for a quick grin!
Just today, as I opened my mouth to answer the same question for the fourth time, a pipsqueak piped up, and with a roll of her eyes interjected, "Do not say that to Mrs. Wright AGAIN! She is going to get frus-ter-a-ted!"
It cracked. me. up. Who says five year olds can't get another's perspective, feel empathy, or find themselves just a little bit frus-ter-a-ted with their spacey peers, too!
Want to catch some more Funny Kid Stories? Click on the Funny Kid Friday tab at the top of the page under my heading. Everybody needs a little funny kid story now and then. It's what keeps teachers going!
I am doing something SUPER fun! I gotta share it right now so you can start thinking about it, too. Have you heard of Hygge? (hoo-guh) It is a Danish word, which means a mood of warm cosiness, comfort, and sense of contentment. The Danes are known as the happiest people in the world and I think there is much we can gain by embracing a hygge philosophy and focus. Hygge is a trending topic with lots written about it now. In this post I'm going to tell you how I have a hygge classroom, and how I developed a special Hygge Hour. I also share what hygge is and even some research that backs up why hygge concepts belong in the classroom. Here we go!
I was instantly captivated by the idea of hygge when I first heard about it and decided I needed to read more. I made a little poster to summarize in a nutshell what I've learned and come to appreciate about hygge. It has been useful when sharing at school and with family and friends.
I decided that I wanted more hygge in my life and since my classroom is so central to my life, I thought I'd find ways to incorporate hygge into my time with the kidpeople. When I stopped to think about it I realized I already did have hygge in the daily environment of the classroom! It's in some of the small elements and even more so in the feeling I try to cultivate. Our lighting comes from lamps and softer, non-fluorescent overhead lighting. We have a couch, comfy cushions and floor seating. We spend lots of time sharing books with friends, sometimes in pretty laid back ways.
We have a twinkling fireplace, a favorite with everyone, kids and adults alike.
Even our class motto, "We are a Caring, Learning Commuity," which I developed many years ago, is hygge-esque. I used it in preschool, brought it to grade school, used it through the time we were a PBIS school (which I felt surely needed some balance) and now it really fits with our Responsive Classroom school. Click on pic for previous post.
I need to point out here, though, that hygge is actually more about feelings than things. Our class motto starts to get at the feeling piece of hygge in our classroom. I really want my kidpeople to feel connected, to understand that what they do affects everyone else. I want them to feel they have a place in the classroom, and they have a place in my heart. I build the connection piece into our daily routines– greeting kids one to one at the door, giving time for sharing first thing in the morning and connecting at the end of the day. We practice mindfulness right after lunch, which helps us slow down, listen, and discuss how we feel on the inside.
I have deliberate purpose for all the stuff and routines in the classroom, but how could I bring awareness and focus of these hygge elements to my kidpeople? That's when Hygge Hour was born! We may live in a regular hygge environment, but for one special hour we can be consciously happy and grateful for being part of a cozy, hygge community!
I was lucky enough to find a cartoon video for kids that explains hygge and what it means, and it was a great way to introduce hygge. Click to watch.
The kidpeople were ALL about that video, even though I didn't say a word about having a hygge hour. I just let the idea of hygge percolate for a while. Before I told them about our first hygge hour I asked the kids what they remembered about the word hygge and what were things they could do at home or we could do in our classroom for more hygge. They came up with several things, cookies being top on the list. snort. It didn't even occur to them that we could have hot chocolate or take our shoes off, so when I suggested it... Whoa! YES!
This is how we do our hygge hour:
Lighting– I put a roaring fireplace video on the big screen. There are lots to choose from on YouTube. And each table gets a flickering LED candle. And of course, we already are a non-flourescent lit room.
Quiet background music– I put on a cozy instrumental background mix of snow songs or jazz. And some of the fireplace videos have nice music, too.
Hot chocolate–We use these tiny espresso cups that had been in deep storage in my kitchen forever. I mix chocolate and white milk together, which to my surprise, actually tastes better than straight up chocolate and it has less sugar. I heat it in a pyrex pitcher in the micro. When it is warm but not quite hot, I pour it into a thermos, which mixes it and keeps it warm until pouring time. Kids get to choose zero, one or two mini-marshmallows to put in.
Sweet treat– We've had donut holes, pretzel cookies, Keebler elf cookies, and cut outs. With one cookie and the micro size cup of hot chocolate they are not getting too much, but there has not been any complaint or spoken request for more. They seemed to "get" from the very beginning that this was a special time and the treat was only one small part of it.
Cozy elements– We get to take our shoes off and put on cozy socks! Something about this just took their fancy and they can hardly wait to put their shoes in their backpacks and grab snuggle socks from the bin.
The socks come with a story that might make you grin. It took Jonathan and I a full hour to find just the right socks at Dollar Tree. First, we collected little holiday socks, which took forever because I only wanted the ones with a non-Christmas snow motif. I had almost gathered enough when I spotted fuzzy socks in adult sizes. Hmmm... better. So we dumped the little themed socks and started scouring the aisles for enough pair of fuzzies, while managing to narrow the collection down to just two colors. And THEN, while looking for enough of those (I never realized how scattered around things are in dollar stores until that day), we found adult snuggly socks with non-slip dots on the bottom... Even better. Away we went again, this time staying with it until we found enough that were all the same color! Next year I might have kids just bring in their own pair, though these are holding up well through wear and laundry. I bought extra pairs and it's a good thing I did because all our visitors kick off their shoes and wear cozy socks, too... even our principal. snort. And yes, we do have visitors. Our principal, teachers, my adult daughter, and come the new year there is a long list of parents who want to duck out of work and come hang with us.
I also decided to incorporate a special activity as part of each hygge hour to focus us on the "being together" aspect of hygge. On our hygge activity list are winter song sing-alongs, back tales and echo stories, community building games, and some new cozy things for free choice, which comes in the second half of hygge hour. They love getting out book buddies, cushions and even blankets on hygge days. Not too many better ways to spend half an hour at school then snuggled with a book and friends in the Book Nook.
We have some special small world play with snow, characters, and even a fairy house.
If we get enough real snow this winter, I'll bring some in so they can don mittens and build small snowmen at our water table. In fact, all our hygge hour activities are good general learning activities made extra special when introduced as part of hygge hour.
Our hygge hour is the last hour of Friday afternoons but that is mostly because our specials schedule. The kiddos go off to special and I have half an hour to prep the room, the treats and activity. Hygge is not tied to any particular season, in fact it is an all year long mindset, but from the get-go I decided that we would do hygge hour every week until our spring break in March. Our hygge hour is full of cozy indoor activities to perk up cold, gray, winter days, but once spring comes we'll be outdoors more.
I have chuckled to myself to see how invested the kidpeople are in hygge. They take turns serving treats, setting out the flameless candles, and holding the sock basket. The clean up and putting cups in the sink has also been very cooperative, too. Parents report that the kiddos jump right into bed on Thursday nights because "Tomorrow is hygge!!!"
In our first couple of hygge hours, to signal it was time to eat, and without putting much thought to it, I raised my cup and said, "Happy Hygge." Several weeks later at a Hygge Hour I simply said, "You may begin," which is what I say twice a day at our community-style snack times, and the kidpeople immediately protested... "Nooo, Mrs. Wright! You need to say Happy Hygge!" I didn't know the toast was so important... grin.
There is other evidence that hygge hour is important to the kiddos. As is tradition in our school, we have classroom "winter break" parties before we go off for our two weeks at home. We wear PJs that day school-wide. I was excited to tell the kids about what we were going to do for our party. It was all fine and dandy until they realized it was going to be during the hygge hour. I actually got moans and groans... "What about our hygge, Mrs. Wright??" Even though the party was going to be more special than a typical hygge hour, the only way I could bring them around on the party idea was to call it a "Hygge Party." We pretty much did the same things, only with a bigger cookie and a candy cane. snort.
To be perfectly honest, I look forward to hygge hour as much as the kids do. I have to be extra organized on Fridays, getting backpacks packed up early so my planning period can be given over to prepping for hygge. And it costs me a little out of pocket because there are the cookies and milk to buy as it is only occasionally that parents donate.
But what makes the hygge hour and hygge in our classroom in general SO important is actually the emotional aspect, the feelings that go along with of all that we do. To feel that we belong, that kids know each other and are connected to the teacher; that we are safe and cared for so we can be happy and content while we learn and grow. Simple things like reading by the fire, or telling our stories from our own lives, or playing games together is really more important than the material things that make our classroom hygge. Our hygge hour is just one more way I strive to meet the emotional needs of my students.
Just as pretty much everything in my classroom has data to back it up, so too, my focus on emotional connection with my students is based on ever growing evidence from educational research. Teachers who invest time and effort in developing relationships see more student progress in all areas. Kids who have an emotional connection with their teachers do better academically, showing higher grades and test scores. Teacher-student relationships are central to Responsive Classroom schools, too. My Early Childhood background taught me long ago that all this was true, but it is nice there is always new info coming out for all teachers and students. You can read more about the the importance of teacher-student relationships here.
Even going shoeless is research based! A decade long study on tens of thousands of school children in over 100 schools in 25 countries found students were more engaged and did better in the classroom when they ditched their shoes. In classrooms where students went with just socks, children got better grades, were better behaved, and they read more, especially boys. There was also less bullying. Those dollar store snuggly socks are golden! You can click here and here and here to read more about learning in socks.
I shared the idea of hygge hour with parents via email before returning from Thanksgiving break. They are very supportive of hygge. A few have supplied cookies, many hope to be visitors... it's so good when parents come to school! One family even bought me a hygge shirt- grin.
So what do you think? Do you already have some hygge in your classroom? What new things might you try now? A hygge environment and a hygge hour can be developed and maintained with next to no stuff at all, especially if the focus is on kids feeling cozy and content, and part of the tribe. It is about person to person relationships, not tiny cups, even if tiny cups are fun to have and use. I do encourage you to try it in whatever form you choose. You can have my poster up at the top of the post if it helps you think about and share hygge– click on it to download. Mull it over and decide what you hope to accomplish with your students and how hygge fits in.
I really encourage you to check out hygge for your own life, if not your classroom. After this post I have linked some books and videos. Hint- you can read or listen to quite a bit of the books for free in the sample sections of Amazon. You don't have to buy to learn more.
Here is one last little hygge image to use in ways of your choosing. I've used it as a mini-poster and as little thank you cards for folks who have stopped by or donated to the cause. Just click on it.
Please Pin this post to share and to refer to!
Thanks so much for stopping by. I would love to hear what you think in comments below!
Happy New Year! I welcome 2019 even as I know the next three months can be long ones as we slog through winter toward spring, especially if you are in a cold, snowy or gray place. My little Southeast corner of Michigan got surprisingly early snow in November, but then not much but rain and gray skies since. blah. So I have a couple of posts coming your way because they will introduce some new fun into your next few months. Today, let me tell you about our yeti!
The Yeti Card set includes all sorts of cards– letters, words, and numbers– for PreK, Kindergarten and First Grade teachers to teach all sorts of skills. Letters in upper and lowercase can be turned into matching or beginning sound games. And there are over 100 high frequency word cards, too.
The number cards go from 0-120 to practice recognition, counting, number order, addition and subtraction... the list goes on.
Our Yeti is super cute and my hubs, Jonathan, created him just for this set. You won't find him anywhere else. I even included some blank cards and a big blank of this cutie so you can use him in so many ways... I'm going to write Welcome Back! and use him as a sign at my door when we start back on Monday. My principal even wanted a big copy of him to do who knows what with. With the Big Foot movie out now, EVERYONE is into Yeties.
Our Yeti Pack is just two bucks. You really can't go wrong. Just click on the Snow Day Yeti below to find them on TPT, along with lots of other stuff, much of it FREEBIES! Happy New Year to All!
Look at him... That's the spirit! snort
And I think this long time coming post might need a funny kid story, eh? Even if it's not Friday.
There were two cute little kindergartners walking hand in hand out the door at the end of the day. As they went past me, I heard this little exchange:
Kiddo 1: I live in Michigan.
Kiddo 2: No, I live in Michigan.
Kiddo 1: NO. I live in Michigan.
Kiddo 2: NO! I live in Michigan...
And we think we are teaching easy geography lessons when we pull down that mitten map. snort.
It reminded me of another little guy I know, who, when his mom told him he lives in the United States, said, "NO, I live in Michigan!" It does make perfect sense that you can't be in two places at once, after all :)
See you next time for some Hygge! Don't know about Hygge? Then for sure you can't miss what's coming! Thanks for stopping by!
P.S. If you want to round out a Yeti unit, I found some great Yeties, games, and books, books, books, which I blogged about in this post– Click on the image below to find it.
Happy October! Thanks to Stephanie at Forever in Fifth Grade for Show and Tell Tuesday. Stephanie, you can never stop doing this linky– it is often the kick in the butt little nudge that takes me to the keyboard to share the latest. Thanks!
Today I have a handful of goodness. I hope your life has slowed down just a tad since the first weeks of school and you have time to find a good tip or two among these. And don't forget to Pin the ideas you want to do.
1. We have monarchs caterpillars in the classroom right now. They came after a Praying Mantis and a Walking Stick. It's been a rather buggy start to the year, but I can't pass up unusual insects when they come my way– such great learning opportunities. We have been doing all sorts of learning about caterpillars– comparing factual science books with fictional books about butterflies (Sorry, Mr. Carle, butterflies do not make cocoons,) scientific observation, guided drawing, labeling, and a fun art project I made up that incorporated math and literacy.
The kids practiced making patterns as they glued the strips to form a caterpillar, and the leaf will be placed on a page where some writing will take place, too. Here is a picture of the materials and resulting caterpillar.
2. This is one of a plethora of letter activities we do at the start of the year. They create letter dot-to-dots, connecting magnetic letters placed on paper on a cookie sheet, which entails learning letters and abc order.
It is interesting that even in this simple activity you can see what kids do know and don't know yet– I bet none of you are surprised to see the b and d reversal. That tricky t with a tail is often taken as an f... why do they make that one random letter with a serif in most sets? This activity has fast teacher prep and the kiddos liked doing it. Put it out with a lower case alphabet chart as most will need it.
3. I switched up recess a bit. My kiddos love jump ropes, but they are tricky for kinder kids to use, so I keep several Chinese jump ropes on hand. You can find them cheap in toy departments, or simply make one by tying a long stretch of elastic in a circle. The static rope allows more kids to get in on the act of jumping or stepping over, and you can vary the game by raising the loop up and down from ankles to knees as the kids' legs hold the elastic.
The loop can also be used for circle games. It's so simple that after some fast demos they can play all by themselves. It usually launches us into learning jumprope rhymes, too... Bubble gum, bubble gum, in a dish. How many pieces do you wish?...
This is the season for using pumpkins. And I don't just mean Jack O' Lanterns... in fact this year we aren't doing Jack O' Lanterns as I have a little one who does not celebrate Halloween. There are still lots of autumn things to do, though. At our morning meeting we've been rolling small pumpkins, both real and plastic as we sing The Pumpkins Go Rolling Two by Two. I vary the verses so we can sing, One by one, Two by two, three by three, etc. And I've rewritten that last verse to lines like– the little one likes to bump into your shoe, the little one always goes a-choo, the little one has a dot that's blue (I put a little blue dot under one of them). You can tie counting, addition, and rhyming into the song in lots of ways, keeping it different and fun.
We also did some cooking. First of all we had to get the seeds out of the pumpkin- small pie pumpkins are about a buck right now at the store.
Oh, the faces were priceless as kids get those seeds out of the pumpkin guts with their fingers. Then we counted them... there are a LOT of seeds in even a small pumpkin– 544, to be exact. So how do five year olds manage to count all those seeds? With the help of a math tool, of course. We work in pairs to put one seed on each number of a 50 grid.
Why work in pairs? Cooperation and faster results. Why 50? We are counting our school days to 50 right now, when we will have a "half party." A half party is a small party that comes half way to the full 100 Day party. At the half party we talk about the fraction 1/2, breaking Kit Kats in half, dividing ten Skittles equally, pouring half a glass of juice, cutting our napkin in half... you get the idea. I've blogged about it before and you can see it here.
But I digress... we kept filling the 50 grids until all the seeds had been placed and found our total number. Then we gave the seeds a good rinse in hot water, blotted them, and tossed them in a bowl with a teaspoon of vegetable oil and a generous amount of soy sauce. We let them sit for half an hour then spread them out on a parchment covered cookie sheet and baked ten minutes on each side. They were indeed yummy. We ate all 544!
We also made pumpkin pudding. It's a super simple recipe.
Make instant vanilla pudding with just one cup of milk instead of three, and add a big can of pumpkin puree. It involves a lot of mixing so everyone can get in on the act. After it sets for a refrigerated hour or two, it is very yummy. And the pumpkin is pretty good for you.
5. And to make this a true Kidpeople Classroom post, I add a funny kid tale, even if it is not Friday.
One afternoon our principal came in as we were just starting quiet time. When he saw everyone get their carpet squares he asked if he could have one, too. As I invited kid by kid to use the bathroom, he laid down on the floor with them, much to their delight. He got several messages on his phone and in a couple minutes he had to leave, quietly signaling a goodby.
A few minutes later one of my kidpeople said to me, "Mr. E forgot his phone."
Knowing he had taken his phone with him, and thinking she was a bit confused, I responded, "Did you hear Mr. E's. phone ding a couple times? That means he was getting messages. I think someone needed him somewhere else and he had to go."
This Little didn't say anything for a few minutes, and then she said, "Mr. E left his phone."
"Hmmm, nope. He had his phone in his hand when he left."
Several more minutes and several more kids off to the bathroom, and I'm looking for a book by my chair that I'm going to read after quiet time.
I hear her little voice again, saying very slowly and distinctly, "I. Can. See. His. Phone."
I looked at her. She is looking at me, but then turns her head so she is looking under the bench beside her, and once again deliberately says, "I. Can. See. His. Phone."
I stand up and there indeed is a phone on the other side of the bench. I go over and pick it up and muse, "Well, there is a phone here. I guess it's Mr. E's."
Little Miss smiles up at me and says, "Of course."
Five year olds keep the faith that they CAN get through to dense teachers if they just keep trying :)
Hope you got a chuckle and a few new ideas. I have two other posts in the making... wonder if I can get to them before the next Show and Tell Tuesday??
Click the Show and Tell button to see what others are sharing today.
Whew. There ain't nothing like the start of a new school year, is there? I live, breathe, and sleep in teacher mode, as I'm sure most teachers do. My class this year is full of the most terrific little kidpeople and I look forward to this year with them. I'll just be glad when all the "other" stuff that has to be done at the start of the year is done, and my life takes on just the regular busy rhythm.
I decided to make this a Funny Kid Friday post because we can all use a chuckle.
But first, I need to share a few words about the winners of our book and Amazon card giveaways... yes, I know, that seems like years ago now.
The winner of our second giveaway was Mary who, as a teacher, strives to encourage her students to love reading and become lifelong readers. She plans to use her book for great discussions.
And the winner of our third and final giveaway, winning No More Noisy Nights, was Angela and she shares that she is a kindergarten teacher. She knows her kids will love this book and she looks forward to the discussion that will follow. She also hopes it will spark some creative stories in Writers Workshop.
Congratulations to both! I hope they enjoy their book and a bit of shopping.
And special thanks to my blogger friends who helped spread the giveaway news at:
Now for some funny kid stories.
This story was shared with me by one of my parents.
Mom: So how was your first day at school?
Kidperson: I made a new friend.
Mom: Great! Who is it?
Kidperson: It's a girl. She has braids.
Mom: What's her name?
Kidperson: Mmmm..... Braid-y.
SNORT
And on the third day of school, as the kidpeople and I finished up our closing circle, I said, "Okay, guys, it's time to get your backpacks on."
One little guy said, "How come?"
It takes a while for the Littles to make the connection with "closing" and "end of day," I guess.
I answered him, "Because it's time to go home."
"Awww-man!" he said, which started everyone else protesting, too. "Nooo...Nooo"
A colleague and I just looked at each other, chuckling. I guess it's a pretty good sign if they never want to leave!
