Wow! I can't believe the school year is actually over! This year seemed to go by especially fast, even with all of our snow and tornado days. I took a much longer break from the blog than I wanted and was pleasantly surprised when I checked on it this morning.
The California Teaching Credential named not only my blog but my great friend, Suzan's blog as two of the top 50 Kindergarten blogs! Click here to see their website and find the other amazing 48 blogs that made this list. I've got to admit, this news made my day!
OK, the end of the year went exceptionally well even with a week taken out due to the storms. There were several small units that I did not get to ...my Matter Matters unit, one of my favorites had to go by the wayside. Boy, I hated that but we did have a lot of fun with our end of the year Fairytale unit! I don't guess the kids knew the difference!
We started our unit with discussing the elements of a fairytale (see previous post) and learned some vocabulary words often found in most fairytales. I think I will add woodsman or woodcutter..he seems to pop up a lot.
 |
| I made this set last year and just used google images for the clipart. |
 |
| I really like the James Marshall versions of fairytales-he has a funny sense of humor and the kids get a kick out of it! I began the unit with Hansel and Gretel. We looked out for our vocabulary words and the different elements of a fairytale. Next year, I will chart all of the elements and their examples in the fairytales that we read. Michele Potts made a great chart and I wish I had taken a photo of it-loved it! |
 |
| You can't go wrong with Little Golden Books and the kids recognize them from our 50's unit-a nice tie-in. |
 |
| For Hansel and Gretel, I used this map that Lana Holzer shared so that we could reinforce map skills. I just love that they know what a compass rose is and how to use it! (Next year I will have a mini Pirate unit incorporating this skill since we are the Providence Pirates.) |
 |
| The children color this map and we practice using the compass rose to answer questions about Fairytale Land.  for each of the other fairytales, next year I will read a different version of this story.  I read both of these versions of Little Red Riding Hood and then the children had to choose which one they liked better and explain what they liked about it.    We followed the same format for each fairytale...read two versions, compared and contrasted and then wrote about one of the versions. For The Three Little Pigs, the children were able to choose which pig's house they wanted to make.    Maisha Booker came up with the cute Frog Prince art-the kids loved it! |
The day of our Fairytale Ball, everyone dressed as their favorite fairytale character!
I love how clever some of their costumes were!
Did I have some princesses or what?! So sweet...
We start off the Ball with a Parade through the school. We have 150 Kindergarteners and our school is K-8 so this is a lot of fun to travel all over the school. The middle schoolers were so sweet- clapping and cheering for the little ones. It was touching. Then we made our way to the cafeteria where we had three centers set up. I wish I had taken more photos to show you!
Lana Holzer (aka Snow White) taught the children some of her fairytale songs that
she has written at one of the centers. The children got to dance with Ms. Holzer too!
Another center was our Crown Making station. We ordered kits from
Oriental Trading Company and the children were able to decorate their own crown.
Look at those faces!
And here is the Dream Team...hot and tired but happy at the end of the Ball!
Ms. Fowler, Mrs. Graham, Ms. Potts, Ms. Booker, Mrs. Hicks, Ms. Holzer
