Pomegranate.

During snack time, I usually walk around the room helping open lids, rip stubborn packaging, and chatting with my sprouts about this and that. Yesterday, as I walked past Nicole’s table, I noticed her snack seemed unusual. She was eating something out of a baggie, it was small and red that almost looked like cherries, but not quite.

“Wow, Nicole, that looks healthy, are those cherries?” I asked her.

“No, they’re pomegranates,” she corrected me.

“Oh, those are yummy,” I said.

Now suffice it to say, this was an unusual snack for Nicole to bring to school. She’s never brought anything exotic before. As I walked away from her table I heard Dan question her further.

“What are pomegranates?” He wondered.

“You don’t have them…” Nicole began.

“They are from my world,” she finished.

I always thought Nicole played by her own rules, but never realized she came from an entirely different world.

Manners.

There’s nothing I love more than giving a complement to a sprout and seeing the pure proud feeling on their face. In our kindergarten class, we’ve been working on manners… it’s not uncommon to hear ‘please’, ‘thank you’, and ‘your welcome’ in the room. Hand a child a paper, and most likely, they’ll thank you. Yes, it’s rather pleasant.

The other day, we were announcing the child we’d selected as the most respectful, responsible, and safe student of the week. For the record, this is a program my school as implemented… I have mixed feelings about it, but the kids seem to love it and really look forward to the announcement.

Evelyn was chosen this week. She has really worked hard at making good choices and has emerged as a model student… truly worth recognition.

After the reveal, the class congratulated her with lots of applause and even a cheer. Finally, in an attempt to move us along and wrap up the celebration, Mrs. D. turned to Evelyn and said, “Congratulations, Evelyn.”

Evelyn, ever the polite little girl, replied, “You’re Welcome.”

Now, nobody thanked her, but she knew she was supposed to say something polite, and ‘You’re Welcome’ is one of the replies we give to be polite. I’m not sure what Miss Manners would say about her reply, but I think it was simply perfect.

Author.

Today as we walked outside for recess, David stopped me and asked if I would tie his shoe. As I knelt down to help him, he took the opportunity to bend my ear a little.

“You know what I want to be when I’m a normal man?” He asked.

“Do you mean when you’re a grown man?” I questioned.

“Oh yeah, when I’m a grown man…” He confirmed.

“What?” I wondered, not sure of his answer.

“I wanna be an author,” he said with a smile.

By this time, I’d finished tying his shoes and we joined the rest of the crew outside.

“But David, you’re already an author,” I reminded him.

He really is a wonderful writer and we call our students ‘authors’ each day during Writing Workshop. I guess it’s working.

“Yeah, I know, but I mean a real grown up author,” he answered.

“Then you will be,” I said.

I can’t wait to read his books.

Adulation.

At bus time today, after about fifty or sixty hugs, the following conversation took place between Luther and myself.

Me: I love being a teacher.
Luther: Yeah, cause everybody just loves you.
Me: Yeah, pretty much.

Celebration!

Today something big happened… I mean really huge. We completed our first sight-word list. Forty words. That’s a lot of words for mid-November in kindergarten. Last year, my class only learned forty words by the end of the school year… this year, thanks to The Three Habits of Highly Successful Reading Teachers (I swear – I don’t get a cut of the sales…), our sprouts have learned that many already and we’re not done… we’ve got an entire new list of words to begin soon.

As part of our celebration, Mrs. D. and I decided to whip out the ol’ Pajama Day card. Oh yes, like a master poker playing saving his ace, the Pajama Day announcement is a sight to behold.

Picture in your head announcing to a group of kindergartners you are taking them all to Disney World. There will be candy, soda, and lots of cartoons on the plane ride there. Children will have Mickey Mouse (or their favorite character) as their personal tour guide for the visit.

That’s the reaction we got just from announcing our Pajama Day… a day where you… where your pajamas to school.

Oh how I love kindergarten.

Papoose.

Today, as part of our Thanksgiving study, we did a sight-word book on Native Americans. The words we were focusing on were ‘we’ and ‘have’, but one of the pages said, ‘We have papooses’ with a little picture of a cute Native American baby. Nobody knew what a papoose was so we discussed it and all practiced saying it.

As we moved to small groups to work on the book, I had each child in my group read the book. ‘We have corn,’ ‘We have arrows,’ We have friends,’ not so difficult. When each child got to the page with the baby papoose, they all barreled through the word, although nobody got it quite right. Here’s what I heard.

“Poo-pooses.”
“Boo-booses.”
“Poo-booses.”
“Doo-dooses.’
“Oo-ooses.”

Just about everything, but ‘papooses’. Nobody laughed or giggled. Each sprout made a concerted effort and a few genuine looks of straining were observed. Apparently ‘papoose’ is not in the average kindergarteners vernacular. Sometimes even with pre-teaching, teaching, and review, a word (or concept) is just too difficult to grasp. All together now… ‘papoose’!

Run, Turkey, Run!

OK, I almost never review children's books, but I found one that many may not have heard of, and the amount of sheer joy (something we can all use an extra dose of) it is bringing to my classroom needs to be shared. Run, Turkey, Run! by Diane Mayr with illustrations by Laura Rader has got to me my all time favorite (non-historical, that goes to Tapenum's Day) Thanksgiving read aloud. This simple story about a turkey trying to evade becoming the main course on thanksgiving has brought more giggles and laughter to my class than any other book in recent memory.

We've actually read it every day since it was first brought out about a week ago. Every single day. The text is predictable, and the children get to read (or shout, it's up to you) 'Run, Turkey, Run!' ever couple of pages. Every time they urge the poor bird on in unison, all I can hear in my head is Jenny from the Forest Gump movie shouting, "Run, Forest, Run!" in that deep southern drawl. It's awesome!

Our hero, the turkey, has many tricks up his sleeve to outwit the farmer, and the illustrations match the text for laughs. When turkey decides to hide in the duck pond he's outfitted in full scuba gear. Hi-la-ri-ous. Really, you will be smiling and laughing right along with your sprouts... trust me.

If you've never read Run, Turkey, Run! do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. Your class will thank you for it. Otherwise, it might just be grilled cheese sandwiches for you and your family on Thanksgiving too!

Mrs. Hashbrown

So far this year, between Mrs. D. and myself, we’ve only been out a total of three days (for various reasons). As luck would have it, we were able to secure the same substitute all three times. She is, I’ll call her Mrs. Hashbrown, well known in our school for her subbing prowess. I was lucky enough to work with her one of those days and she is, quite simply, a peach.

Well yesterday, Mrs. Hashbrown was in for another kindergarten teacher. I knew this and had seen her a few times in the hallway and at lunch. My sprouts did not know this and at the end of the day, when we were outside playing and enjoying the unusually warm sunshine for mid-November, Mrs. Hashbrown emerged from the school like a butterfly from it’s cocoon.

You would think either Lady Gaga, the Pope, or the Dalai Lama (take your pick) had arrived. As word of Mrs. Hashbrown’s attendance spread over the playground, she was, quite literally, swarmed by kindergartners. She was at one point almost totally enveloped in hugs… not that she was complaining.

When one of my friends ran up to me to report, “Mrs. Hashbrown, Mrs. Hashbrown is… HERE!” what else could I do? I ran up to her and embraced her too. There’s not much more I love than a fantastic substitute teacher and a good bear hug.

Ricky.

Each morning, our morning message is a predictable text that children help build (the words are on cards) and then read to the class. They love being a part of the message and when a child hears their name read, their little face just lights up. Today at bus time, Ricky told me how he thought the message should read. (I've provided the correct words in parenthesis for you.)

Good Ricky (Morning),

Ricky is first.
Ricky is last.
Ricky is calendar helper.
Today is Ricky (day of week).
We have Ricky (special for that day).

Love,
Ricky

He thought this was the funniest thing he’d ever said or heard and I had to agree it was rather hilarious. I told him I didn’t think the rest of the class would approve of such a message, but I appreciated his creativity and humor. He asked for a hug… then ‘more hugs’ and I, like the good civil servant I am, obliged.

Gesture.

Yesterday afternoon and evening, we had the first half of our parent conferences. Whoever thought teaching all day long and then staying into the evening to meet with parents was a good idea has never spent much time with a group of kindergartners… just sayin’.

As the early evening approached, a parent arrived for her conference. As she walked in, she had one of those little cardboard coffee carriers you get when you buy more than one coffee… low and behold she had stopped to buy herself a pick me up and brought both Mrs. D. and me one too.

“I just figured you both might like one too,” she explained.

A small simple gesture just made my night. Not only did she really help us get through the evening, but she cemented my philosophy that teaching is a collaborative effort… parent and teachers have to work together and sometimes a little coffee goes a long way.