Famous Americans!

I thought I would share our finished Famous Americans books with you. 
 I really like their covers...I tell them that THE most Famous American that needs
to go on their cover is THEM!  They love it!! 



Ok, while I am happy with our finished product, I know I fell short on this book.  My aim for next year is to try and have one famous American that we study each month and then add to our book.   We'll see..if wishes were fishes and all that.  I had wanted to include a child (Ruby Bridges), Eric Carle (since we did study his work for a solid month!), women (Mae Jamison, Helen Keller-both from Alabama) and George Washington Carver (also from Alabama).  I have gathered books on all of these historical figures and will work to get my patterns, lessons, activities compiled over the summer.   That being said, I am still happy with all that we did accomplish with these books and how they tie in with our Course of Study.




The artwork for Martin Luther King Jr. is based on a TLC unit. The Johnny Appleseed
patterns were made based on a project that I saw in an Oriental Trading Co. catalog! 
I get some great ideas from them!! 



The George Washington and Abraham Lincoln artwork came
from Deanna Jump's American Symbols unit. 

OK,  for Dr. Seuss, I just used the same patterns that I used for Martin Luther King Jr.! 
I didn't think he would mind.  :)



Here is one of our favorite Famous Americans, Mrs. Lawson!  She selflessly has come to my room every Monday for the past two years to read to my students.  They absolutely love their time with her!  I cannot express what an invaluable gift this is that she so freely gives to these children.  Thank you, Mrs. Lawson!




Here is another Famous American, one of my fabulous Peer Mentors, Kionna!  This is a huge perk from having a K-8 school.  We are able to request some of the best middle school students to help in our classrooms for one period a day.  Kionna has been assisting in my room, however, since she was in the fourth grade!  How lucky am I?!




Brittney, another wonderful Peer Mentor, came to say goodbye after her 8th Grade Graduation. 
There were tears...




...and some laughter!  We will miss her terribly but wish her
well as she moves on to high school.



So Exciting!!

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.

This is the artwork for Hansel and Gretel.  Since I did a compare/contrast
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.

 At the next center the children have their photo taken in front of our backdrops (Party City) and enjoy a cupcake and punch.  We also have a coloring sheet and crayons for those that finish their cupcake early.

 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