March Madness!!!

March Madness has hit the classroom...and I'm not talking about basketball!

March started off and continues to be a bit crazy! We spent a week celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss and the love of reading! Who doesn't love Dr. Seuss? He's one of my favorites!!


Rhyming is so important when learning to read. Starting your munchkins on nursery rhymes is the best thing ever to introduce your child to! So many of my munchkins didn't know the classic nursery rhymes. Now they do! They're reading so much more now and yes there will always be a few who still aren't ready and will struggle.

During our week activities we had pajama day. Who doesn't love pajama day? We do!!

We also had funny sock day, dress as your favorite character day, door decorating, guest readers and we ate green eggs and ham with a green shake. ~Yummy!!


One big surprise was we won the door decorating contest for K-1st ~Yay! I'm not sure how but we won!!! Woohoo!!


Not all of my munchkins dressed up for favorite character day and I always feel bad because they say they wanted to but they didn't have any money. Well, whip out the scissors, butcher paper, tape and Ta Da, instant costume!!


The munchkins always enjoy guests in our classroom and they definitely enjoyed our guest readers. We had a friend who is a local TV sports reporter, a lady from a bank, and a firefighter. It's funny to see how adults interact with little munchkins who only reach them half way. They all gave a wonderful effort when reading but if I had to rank them... one out ranked all the others. Not that I'm biased because he's a friend and not bad on the eyes either, but to my surprise the TV sports reporter blew away the other readers. I assumed "dumb jock"...sorry all my jock friends... Well, I was the dumb one sitting with my jaw on the floor.

Reading aloud to kids is not an easy task to do. He totally had the kids engaged and knows how to read to kids probably better than most teachers I know. He read with enthusiasm, inflection, you name it, he did it. He asked them questions that had them infer, questions that made them think! Such a great job! The munchkins made him a thank you video using his catchy rhyming lines that turned out really cute. They ask about his next visit and they like to hear that he thought their video was "awesome."

The lady who read to them did a good job too but she read way too fast and seemed to stop after every sentence to ask questions. I think someone told her to ask them questions but she over did it and the questions she was asking...yikes! Someone gave her a book on feelings...~hello Dr Seuss week people?! ~Just because they all raise their hand to answer doesn't mean you have to call on EVERY child...you'll never finish reading!! I didn't want to jump in and tell her that but I should have because she never finished the book!!! She was there 30 minutes and had to go to her next stop! I give her an E for effort because it's not as easy as it may seem! She did send word back that she had a great experience and loved doing it and apologized for not finishing the book.

Our other reader was a friend of my student intern, the firefighter. Bless his heart! My intern picked what I think is one of the hardest Dr Seuss books for him to read...Fox in Socks!! ~Eek! Heehee! Total tongue twister book! He did a good job and was pointing as he read cautiously to every word! Haha! He was also a hit because he brought his boots and pants for the kids to try on! Poor guy probably had stinky boots after letting some of these stinky munchkins put their stinky feet in his boots! ~Pee-Ewww! ~Yes, we, my intern and I also go into his pants and boots! Haha! Yikes that sounds bad!


Lesson to anyone reading... When reading to children, they love the interaction you give them when reading a story. Change your voice to fit the characters even if you feel silly doing it! Ask questions about what's happening, ask them to make up a different ending, ask them how do the characters feel and how do they know he/she is feeling like that. Ask them questions about the story that the pictures don't answer. Last but not least...have fun reading! If you show your child you enjoy to read they will grow up loving to read! Ok, enough on my soap box!

I won a new computer for the class!!! Yay!!! 15 of us "won" a new computer for opening an email! Woohoo! Thank goodness I checked my school email and didn't delete it! heehee! I wish I could take it home! Darn!

Spring Break was a nice time to recharge and get ready for the craziness that's about to hit!

Monday was the first day back and it was heaven! ~Yes, you heard me say that! Heaven!!! My munchkins were so good and quiet but in a scary and weird sort of way. As someone mentioned it was the calm before the storm! Boy were they right! Today was a totally different story! It didn't help that my day started off with me waking up late! I don't like that feeling one bit! My whole day gets thrown off track. The kids were a little wild today...maybe it's the weather? Ok, so I can't keep blaming the weather. I pulled out the big guns today...~hmm...that's a thought...water guns! Squirt the ones who don't listen or practice my skeet shooting on those munchkins that forgot to stay in their seat! Heehee! I'm just joking folks! But I really do think schools need a velcro wall somewhere...let them run, jump, and hang out for awhile! ha! Yes another joke. The big gun today was...BRIBE!!! They're earning reward coupons for their behavior and can "buy" items every other Friday! Let's see how that works for now...my quiet twin who never speaks will probably have the biggest loot! We have an Easter egg hunt coming up next week so I'm dangling that over their cute little heads! It's only day two back and the March madness is starting. So much to still do and time is flying fast!

To continue with my crazy day...I got a NEW student! ~NOOOOOOO!!! as I screamed in my head! Why? Why? Why? Why at such a late time of the year?!! The first thought that ran through my head was ~He probably got kicked out of his last school for behavior!! Great! Yes, sad to say that's what I thought but usually that's the case. This time it wasn't. He moved from San Antonio but their are weird and strange circumstances behind him being here. Oh well I have to get over it and help him adjust into our class! I assessed him to see where he's at and to learn what he knows and does not know. Well...can I scream now or later?! ~AHHHHHHH!!! He's super, super low!!! I thought my low babies were low...no way!
He's really a cute little boy and very polite...military little munchkin. He was a little aggressive playing with one of my munchkins and kicked his little marbles! When I heard what happened at lunch and saw my little baby crying...watch out! ~Oh no you didn't! Let's just say he quickly learned that's not acceptable. Do you think he learned?...nope...in class I caught him bending a little girls hand back and said he was playing a game with her. ~Oh no you didn't again!!! Spoke to him again and sent him to put his head down. I know, I know...what a first day! Well, too bad so sad. If he's accustom to behaving this way, well he just entered boot camp and that's going to change. My munchkins are great kids and great to one another and he's going to fit in perfectly as soon as he learns that. Don't worry I didn't make his day that bad. He actually earned a reward coupon before the day was up, so I guess he realized ~Oh crap I better behave in here! He did tell me while I spoke to his step mom after school that he liked this class and made some friends! So I guess I'm not that mean after all! His step mom made a comment that seemed odd,~He's very affectionate. My response was ~that's ok, hugs are great! ~No, he's VERY affectionate, OVERLY affectionate. Hmmm...she made it seem like it's a problem. Either I'm not very smart to pick up what she was insinuating or just plain dumb but how can affection be bad. He gave me a hug and walked away!

Spring is in the air! Stay tuned for more adventures in munchkinville!
XOXO's

What Cookie are You??

Wow!! Finally an inservice that was very well worth it!

Dr. Keith Polette was our presenter for the day. http://www.keithpolette.com The day flew by!! Dr. Polette has always been a great speaker and presenter. I took one of his classes during my undergraduate studies and all the girls always showed up to his class! Heehee! Something about his way of speaking is so engaging, non threatening, and a lot of fun!

Dr. Polette is still with UTEP and now is our Reading Framework Guru for our district. He previously was working with the teachers in grades 3-6 and now us! He has authored a few teacher books and 4 children's books. Three of his children's books are based in the Chihuahuan Desert and are really cute. A few years back, my grade level at the time, used his book Isabella and the Hungry Coyote, made the kiddos costumes, and put on a mini production of his book. This book is his version of Little Red Riding Hood in the Chihuahuan Desert. We invited him to attend and he was kind enough to do so about 4 or 5 years ago. The kids were mesmerized as he read the story to them. We, the teachers, were in awe too! This time around we, the teachers, were also mesmerized!! Heehee!

Dr. Polette's is/has such a wealth of information and we were all glued to our seats craving for more. His presentation was serious, funny and entertaining! One of the fun things we had to do was pick which cookie we would be; a flatbread heart shaped cookie, an oatmeal raisin cookie, a rootbeer cookie, or a chocolate chip cookie....go ahead pick your cookie?! What cookie would you be??? Write it down and don't change your answer!! I'll give you the analysis of each one at the end of the blog. :)

One of the many key points he spoke of was~ Conservation. No not, energy conservation...heehee! He stated Without the ability to conserve, children cannot successfully understand phonics or process the letters and words in text. Conservation is the ability to recognize the same object in different configurations. We usually see the use of conservation done in Science when you have two same size glasses of water then pour one into a larger container and ask the munchkin which has more? If the munchkin can state that they're the same they understand conservation, if they say the larger container has more then they have not mastered the concept of conservation. Another example would be to show the munchkin two same size balls of clay. Keep one rolled into a ball and the other one, roll it out into a long snake. Then ask which has more... if they can say they're the same amount they understand how to conserve, if not, then they need more practice. A conservation example in Reading was showing the munchkin the capital letter A and the lowercase letter a. Ask the munchkin if they are the same letter. If they say no...errr wrong answer...they don't understand conservation! If they say yes they are both the letter A then...by George, they've got it!! When they do get it...it correlates with reading readiness and cognitive development so it will help them perform better. When they still do not get it, it's not because they aren't trying, it's because their brain development or to be more specific the Angular Gyrus, hasn't reached the point of growth or maturity to be able to understand it. Hope that made sense??!!

Some great children's books he shared with us that reinforce the concept of conservation were:

• Where's The Fish by Taro Gami
  
• Sea Shapes by Suse MacDonald
  
• Alphabatics by Suse MacDonald
  
• The Other Side by Istvan Banyai
  
• Alphabet City by Stephen Johnson
  
• Mouse Views by Bruce McMillan
  

This is the part of his presentation that I was sucked into... the discussion on a part of the brain called the Angular Gyrus. I am just fascinated by brain research...I know...nerdy! heehee! The Angular Gyrus is the part of the brain that is involved in the processing of auditory and visual input and in the comprehension of language. This part of the brain matures early is some munchkins by age 3, but not in others until after age six!!! Yikes!!! A few munchkins weren't even 5 when we started. After hearing this information I could instantly guess which munchkins' Angular Gyrus haven't matured yet! Until it develops we really can't force or push it to mature. We can help it along but it really begins at home with parents at a very early age....READ and SPEAK to your children!!! The more language children hear at a very early age, even another language, the more they internalize it. Then when it's time, it becomes an easier task to read and speak because they were exposed to language early.

How do you know if this part of the brain is developed??? An autopsy was his response! haha! Well, since we can't do autopsies on our munchkins, this is where the conservation examples came in; the glasses of water, balls of clay, and uppercase/lowercase letters. Another important way to tell if it has developed is if they can rhyme and understand rhyming. The fun example was to ask if they can take one arm, either left or right arm, hang it on top of their head and cup their ear with that same hand. The arm has to be on top and over, not behind their head. If they can do this their A.G. has developed, if they wrap behind their head...still not ready! 30 more minutes back into the oven...heehee! Who knows...maybe he just made us look like big dorks with our arms reaching for our opposite ear so he could get a good laugh! haha! Actually, I tried it with my munckins and the one's I can tell are having problems couldn't do it. A few did it perfectly, no questions asked and those are my little smartie pants!

There was so much wonderful information that I could go on and on about but then I'd be doing his workshop! Oh...are you still waiting to find out what kind of cookie you are?? Heehee...I was a Chocolate Chip and so were a big group of the other Kinder teachers. There were a few of the other cookies too. Ok...if you picked...

• Flatbread cookie-You're a clear-cut, no-nonsense person. You like things in your life to be precise and accurate. You enjoy being right about most things. Very analytical.
  
• Oatmeal Raisin cookie-You're a practical down to earth person. You're a good problem solver, like making decisions and happy to tell people what they ought to do. Usually very organized.
  
• Rootbeer cookie-You're weird!! Haha!! You like it because no one else had thought to do so. You like trying new things, taking risks, going with the flow, and combining things that most people would never think of combining.
• Chocolate Chip cookie-You are a party favorite. You are popular, energetic, a good mixer, and a great dancer. Fun to be with, you're a wonderful companion, though you don't have much use for schedules or being on time.

Wondering how these relate to classroom teachers...well, we each have to possess a little of all 4 in order to have a successful classroom. All this talk of cookies...yummy...got milk??

Stay tuned for the next blog and how my munchkins behaved with the substitute...
XOXO's