Happy Thanksgiving!

To celebrate Thanksgiving my kindergartners did a lot of fun projects. They made turkeys and wrote what they were thankful for, we read stories and talked about the pilgrims and indians and discussed traditions that they participate in on Thanksgiving. After I show you a few photos of the things they made I am going to list each student and what I am most thankful for about them.

Joshua and Savannah

Leah

Ally

Andy

In random order . . . .

I'm Thankful For . . . .

Jeff - your maturity - you set a great example

Joshua - you always want to do the right thing

Leah - your sweet spirit

Savannah - your loving acceptance of everyone

Daisee - your honesty

Telissa - your precious smile

Jacob - I can count on you to get things done

George - the funny things you say

Chandler - your ability to make us all laugh

Ryan - your love for learning

Ally - your joy and love of being a kid

Jennifer - the look you get when you remember an answer - so cute!

Dawson - your energy and loving attitude toward everyone

Logan - your precious attitude - even when you are in trouble

Morgan - your leadership qualities

Erika - your love for learning and following the rules

Laura - your sweet spirit and love for learning

Luke - your love for art and making things

Andy - your sweet smile and kindness to everyone

My class is soooo extremely amazing!! I am truly blessed and thankful!

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day happened to fall on a Wednesday this year which meant my kindergarteners would be able to go to the annual Veteran's Day assembly that Melba has. Well, this year I was supposed to choose one kindergarten student from my class to say a few words up front during the assembly. Immediately I thought of Ally. She does a great job when she talks in the front of the classroom and she is loud enough and articulate enough for the audience to hear her. She did a great job and we were all very proud of her representing our class. I was also proud of the rest of my kindergarten class who sat through a hour and a half assembly without any restroom visits or extreme naughtiness.

Ally is waiting her turn at the mic. My camera died after this picture so I was unable to get a close-up of her saying her words. Sorry!!

November Students of the Week

So these two cuties are my students of the week for the month of November. Both Ally and Joshua exhibit all of the qualities to make them worthy of this award. They are both extremely well-behaved, treat everyone in the classroom with respect and seem to enjoy the educational process. I feel so blessed to have these two in my class this year.

Ally Carlisle

Joshua Waite

The Period!

So - I've been teaching my Kindergarteners what a period at the end of a sentence is. I don't think it's technically in the curriculum for Kindergarten but I'm always using one when I write on the board and they should know why and what it is right? Anyways, I'm always telling them that a period is used when writer's need to stop their thoughts so that their story can make sense. I've gone into quite a lot of detail about it and I thought  that they were catching on to the concept - I have to say I was pretty proud of myself. Well, it just goes to show you that pride goeth before a fall because on Monday while we were doing our stories for Melba writes I was helping Ally construct her sentence. I was curious as to the placement of her period so I questioned her about it. The young man sitting next to her leaned over and said, "Mrs. Franklin I know why Ally put her period there?" To this comment I inquired, "Jeff, why do you think Ally put her period there?" His reply was all too serious and so adorable. With a straight face he replied, "Because she said that she needs to stop there so she can go use the restroom." I guess we still need to work a little bit longer on the whole "period" concept. I had to have a little laugh though - to myself of course!

September Student of the Weeks!!

Congratulations to Laura Forsgren and Jeffrey Fahey for being awarded as my student of the weeks for the month of September. These two students set a great example for the rest of the class. They are always on task, they are kind to others and they are extremely respectful in the school environment. Great job you two!!!!!!!

Laura

Jeffrey

My last name is 2nd!!!

So, yesterday my class was doing their monthly writing project for the district and as they were finishing their work I was coming around and writing their initials in the bottom corner. I was saying their first and last names out loud and then telling them their initials as I wrote them. So, I get to little Jeffrey who acts very grown up for his age - in fact he is my student of the week for last week because he sets an amazing example on how to behave. Anyways, I sat down next to him and said, "Jeffrey is your first name so J is your first initial and Fahey is your last name so F is your last initial, JC" and then I wrote it on the paper. He immediately jumped to the defensive and said, "Fahey isn't my last name!". To this comment I responded with, "really, what is your last name then?". He replied, "2nd!" I have to admit that I immeditely knew what he was talking about and began to giggle inside but to him it was no joke so I wasn't going to let him feel foolish in any way. So I replied to him, "Oh yeah I remember you are Jeffrey Fahey the 2nd". To this he said, "yeah"! I nodded and removed myself to another table continuously laughing inside. It was soooo cute!!!

Fall Trees

We had our very first art project this past week and I have to say it went pretty well. Thanks to an organized art mom and well-behaved kindergarteners (I threatened them within an inch of their life). I have to say that the projects turned out very cute and very original to each kid. It's amazing how much you can tell about a child by just looking at their artwork - it truly says a lot about who they are. It's also amazing to me how much fun and joy it can bring to their little lives and I can't believe there are school districts out there that will not allow art projects to be conducted in the classroom without a full scale curricular intent complete with lesson plans, standards and how it will relate to what is being taught. Let's just let fun be fun. I think that every time they pick up a crayon, paintbrush, marker, gluestick, scissors they are tapping into their creative ability to imagine and express themselves in order to be comfortable with who they are. How is that not educational?

Alright - I'll hop down off my arts and crafts in the classroom soapbox and show you some pictures of their creations. Keep in mind that they are supposed to be autumn trees - sometimes kinderart is difficult to decipher but that is what makes them so darn cute.