Last week, our basal story was "Gloria who might be my best friend," from the book "Stories Julian Tells." In the book, they fly kites and I definitely like to make connections with our stories. (As I was typing this, I thought that I had written about this last year, and I had. See HERE.)
If you want to see the "How To," go to this SITE.
This year, I got SMART! I had a little friend cut pieces for the string for the kite, and another little friend cut piece for the tail. Ah, I'll just sit here and listen to children read during quiet reading while you 2 work, work, work! :)
It really is fun to do this. And then we went outside and if they ran, there was just enough breeze for the kite to fly. Here's two pictures:
{Really, if you can identify the children in these pictures, please quit your Unified School District job and contact the FBI!}
This was Thursday afternoon before Spring Break. I had decided to make this a "you have been respectful" reward time. For most of my 20 little friends, this is NOT a problem. But I have 3 that it is a huge problem for, and 1 that is starting to become that way. So I told them Thursday morning, that kids who had been respectful in class would be welcome to make kites. I also told them I would find some place else for kids who hadn't been respectful. Guess what? Two kids didn't make it. (I kept track - it was 5 strikes and you're out.) Friday afternoon, I decided to do a repeat - a fun activity in the afternoon for students who had been respectful. Guess what? Everyone got to do free choice on Friday afternoon. Isn't it amazing how that works?
Beautiful Saturday - and I got all my school work done yesterday evening, so I'm trying to have a school-free weekend (except for this, of course :)
In class, we read the story, Gloria Who Might Be My Best Friend - it's an excerpt from the chapter book, The Stories Julian Tells. Anyway, in the story, Julian and Gloria make kites. So Friday afternoon, we made kites. I found this site that shows a video on how to make 20 kites, 20 kids, 20 minutes. That sounds right up my alley. I had the paper cut, the string cut, the tails cuts. They just had to help me with the masking tape and putting the kite together. Why, oh why, do I always feel like tearing out my hair on these projects? But one of my wise friends told me, this is something they will always remember! OK, that's why I do these projects. To connect to stories, to making learning enjoyable, to be creative. We had about 10 minutes until recess, so we went outside and tried the kites. There was just the right amount of wind, and some of them flew a bit. What fun! What fun!
The only Dr. Seuss thing we got to were the tongue twisters. Some of them did a super job, making funny Dr. Seuss words that fit in. Some of them did an ok job. And some of them just didn't get trying to start all your words with one sound. Oh, well.
I was so discouraged Friday afternoon after math centers. Students didn't put up tubs, they left materials just lying around, their turned in papers were just a mess. Yuck! So I was telling them, you really need to do a better job of cleaning up - and then, one student brought up 5 more manipulatives that hadn't gotten put up. OK, that was it. No centers next week. Well, I don't know if I can do that (I like the small groups, when the kiddos are working) - but at least Monday. And when they ask why - I know what I'm going to tell them.
Tuesday was a stinker day, as far as behavior, and it just got better through the week. No, no, I'm not being sarcastic - it really did get better. I think because I start getting lax and letting things go and then when I tighten up the rules again, I'm happier and my good kids are happier.
Only 1 more week until our Spring Break. I can't wait for some lazy, relaxing, pajama days. And maybe some shopping. For me. For fun. :)
