My daughter wants one of those jackets for Christmas now! It is so funny how kids get influenced by pop culture. Last year we were at a Showcase practice (one class from every school in the districts does a song and dance routine) and to keep our kinders quiet we gave them dry erase boards and markers. One little girl spent the entire time writing about Justin Bieber ~ my favorite was "I lik Justin Bieber. You no why? Becuz he likes me!" It was too cute. One of our little guys who spoke almost no English could sing "Baby" word for word.
Anyways, now that I have that Gleekiness out of my system, here is my new class cadence, an inspirational poster and a fine motor skill idea!
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You may not know this, but I was in the Army for 3 years. It's where I met my husband!I loved my time in the military and I am a stickler for proper posture and paying attention while saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Anything patriotic is up my aisle. Last year my kinders even sang "Veteran's Day" for Dr. Jean! It was so darn cute, I wish I had a video! She came to our school for professional development and gave an impromptu concert for our kiddos! Afterwards we asked her to pose for pictures with our classes. When my kinders learned that she was the Dr. Jean that made our Veteran's Day song they begged to perform it for her and she was gracious enough to agree to stick around to listen to them. They were just thrilled! Dr Jean sings it here at 2:24 in case you are thinking ahead to November already!
We also learned the Oklahoma state song and performed it at the end of the year - did you know Hugh Jackman (aka Wolverine) did musicals?! We watched his performance on our Smartboard and my kinders fell in love. Soon they were spontaneously breaking into song throughout the day. There is nothing like watching them work and sing at the same time!
This year I am going to add a cadence to our repertoire. Kind of like a class creed, but set to a rhythm. Here's the rough draft (I am open to suggestions lol):
We're Ready Raccoons from Mrs. Knopf's class
(students echo)
We always work hard at every task!
(students echo)
Learning at school is so great!
(students echo)
Let's get started we cannot wait!
(students echo)
This year we will learn to read!
(students echo)
We can do it! We will succeed!
(students echo)
Sound off!
(students say Ready)
Sound off!
(students say Raccoons)
Bring it on down!
(students say Ready Raccoons...Ready....Raccoons!)
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When I was at Sam's Club earlier I saw a framed print with a quote by Mother Teresa. I loved the quote, but not the price tag on the print! I came home and made my own instead, now I just need an 8x10 frame and I'll be set! I plan to hang it by my desk to keep me motivated!
Click the picture to download it :)
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And, finally, I found these at the Dollar Tree:
The gummy candies are no big deal, but the tongs are awesome for fine motor skill development! And, since they light up, the kids love them! Each pack is $1 and only comes with 1 set of tongs, so it's a bit pricy for anything but small group or an individual learning center. Use the tongs with counting games to get a 2 for 1 benefit! I am going to use mine with grid games like these found at PreKinders. Use pom-poms or cotton balls as counters. You could even use cereal pieces, or regular fruit snacks. I love finding things like this that will make normal activities a bit more engaging!
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