Well, there were a few crushed looks on faces Friday afternoon when the final winner of the Food Drive was announced. Mr. Apostol’s 5th grade blew us all out of the water, when, in the afternoon one parent brought in boatloads of food. They ended up with over 800 lbs of food. WE WERE the winners up until noon, with over 400 lbs of food for our class. The exact numbers escape me just now but you can see the results for yourself if you look at the PTA board in the front office.
In talking to the class I focused on complimenting the team effort they gave to the drive and the fact that collecting food for our community is such a great way to show they care about other people that we may not know but are living in the Sanislo neighborhood. The organizer for the food drive said the school as a whole did such a fabulous job that all students will get some type of reward (but the coveted ice cream party goes to 5th gr)
This event really brought our class together. When food was brought in, they all shared in the job of bringing it into the hall to be weighed. I think it helped them to find their place as an important part of the school community. They really liked the surprised faces of older students watching all the kindergarten kids troop into the hall with their food. Thank you all for your generosity!
On Friday our Second Step Lesson (this is the anti-bullying curriculum) was about how to be helpful and caring to someone who has a problem. I told them they were to find one way to help/show caring at home this weekend. We will talk about what they did on Monday. Some ideas: watching a younger sibling so mom or dad can cook, helping to carry groceries from the car so you have to make less trips, if something is lost, helping to find it; I’m sure you can think of many more!
Last week we read lots of Gingerbread stories. Here is the class listening our librarian, Mrs. Horsley, read The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett. In class they heard The Gingerbread Boy by Robert Blair which is a traditional version, The Gingerbread Man, retold by Toni Gunnerson in which an alligator eats the unfortunate cookie and The Gingerbread Kid Goes to School by Joan Holub and in this version a smart dog gets the last bite! Monday we will read them a Gingerbread Man story that has it’s setting in a big city.
Looking at our books before we leave the library.
One favorite pastime of this class is pretending to be the teacher. This little girl is reading one of the Gingerbread stories to her classmates. Other times someone will take out one of my big books that are a song and they REALLY get enthusiastic! BINGO is a favorite.
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Hello to the great readers in 102A,
I came by to visit your blog, and it was fun to see you reading a book I wrote–The Gingerbread Kid Goes to School. I really liked the illustrations that the artist, Debbie Palen, painted in the book. Her illustrations really made the story (and the gingerbread kid) come alive. It’s interesting that so many authors have written different stories based on an old gingerbread cookie story. Maybe someday you can write your own gingerbread story.
I love your paper plate gingerbread masks. Sooo cute. I wish you and your teacher and librarian happy holidays!
From author Joan Holub
Wow! A comment from an author! Thank you Ms. Holub. You are right, the illustrations do a good job of showing the cheekiness of the Gingerbread Boy.
Me? An author? I think not. I am having too much fun reading entertaining books like yours to kindergartners.
Happy Holidays to you too!
Teresa Goethe