How did it get
so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon.
December is here before its June. My goodness how the time
has flewn. How did it get so late so soon? ~Dr. Seuss
(I believe I start every blog post with something about
time moving too quickly...so this month, I will let Dr. Seuss mention it, after
all, it was his birthday.)
Dr. Seuss’ birthday is always a favorite for me, and so
much fun. We had a lot of fun activities
to celebrate from crazy hats to mismatched socks and ended with Green Eggs and
Ham (well, bacon.) We had a great time
wearing pajamas to school and watching the Lorax (my
personal favorite.) We read many of Dr.
Seuss’ books, and followed up with some great writings, such as “What would you
do with the last truffula seed?” And “What do you like to do on rainy days.” We blended words and decided if they were
real words or if they were nonsense (Dr. Seuss) words. We made Thing One and hats that resembled the
Cat’s. We were invited to the library to
hear a Dr. Seuss story and then enjoyed cupcakes to celebrate Dr. Seuss’
birthday. We also tried green eggs and
ham (well, bacon) green pancakes and green milk, but left the juice
orange! I am sorry to say that my
camera, which is usually glued to me, has decided to disappear somewhere between
rainbows and leprechaun traps! Fortunately,
I had downloaded many of Dr. Seuss pictures, and I have borrowed pictures from
others to complete my blog. My shopping
list now includes a new camera!
This month we also enjoyed listening to Steven share his “Star
of the Week” poster. We learned that he
loves super heros,
dinosaurs, and his baby brother, Dallas.
His favorite food is spaghetti with meatballs and he enjoys
fishing!
I love when the kiddos do things outside of school and
bring it in to share. Two of our
students participated in a science fair and brought their projects in to share
with their friends. They did a great job
explaining their project and demonstrating how they did it!
Of course, March brings Leprechauns (named Laddy) who leave footprints all over our classroom, as well
as gold coins (candy) at our tables. Laddy got himself into some trouble too, when he lost his
shoe in the cake trap set by Brandon.
Mrs. Saggese’s computer ended up missing too, but Laddy
let us know that he would trade the laptop for his special shoe, so Mrs.
Saggese met him to make the trade! We
learned about Ireland and their traditions while we read a nonfiction
text. The students’ at home project for
March included making a rainbow or a leprechaun trap, and many did both. The enjoyed sharing them and were quite
comical. You can check out the videos on
Mrs. Saggese’s blog: www.wigglesngigglesink.blogspot.com.
Since celebrating the beginning of spring didn’t seem
like the thing to do a day after a snowstorm, we waited an extra day and
celebrated Tanner’s birthday instead! We
enjoyed a presentation by his Martial Arts instructor, Mr. C from Jin Shil
Martial Arts, and Tanner enjoyed sharing
what he loves to do. The kiddos were
excited as they got the opportunity to get up and try it out! After this special treat, we got a sweet
treat of make your own ice cream sundaes.
Tanner’s parents joined us in helping the class make their sundaes and
after singing to Tanner, they dug in! Happy
Birthday Tanner!
We ended our week by doing some Jelly Bean graphing, used
Jelly Beans to solve some word problems, and talked about Jelly Beans using our
Five Senses.
After break, we will continue talking about and learning
about our Five Senses and spring, followed by the Oviparous theme! Have a safe and refreshing break and enjoy
those kiddos!
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Are we allowed to have this much fun in school?
People may be said to resemble not
the bricks of which a house is built, but the pieces of a picture puzzle, each
differing in shape, but matching the rest, and thus bringing out the picture.
– Felix Adler
Whether it is religion, culture, abilities, interests, shapes or sizes we are all different. As a special education teacher, this is a lesson that can’t be taught enough. We all have greatness to add to the classroom and each of the 21 unique kiddos that I get to spend every day with certainly are a resemblance of that. We spend time in our groups talking about strengths and I love that they have learned which friend to go to when they need help. We discuss the friend that can read, the friend that can write, and the friend that is a math whiz. We also discuss the “artist,” the one that can help tie shoes, and the one that will help us with anything we ask. Of course, this discussion always starts as I try to draw a picture on the board that typically ends up not resembling in the least what my intent was. My compassionate students now respond with comments such as, “It is perfect, Mrs. Ganio,” or “You are getting so much better.” I then end up calling on a “friend” to help me! We love to celebrate differences and I love the way the students feel when they are called upon by their peers to help them. Even the kiddo that struggles the most with the academic challenges has so much to offer his friends.
I also enjoy when parents and students share with the class their traditions and their cultural backgrounds. I have learned so much this year from the class and their parents, I often wonder if I should be called the student. Sometimes it is the student’s star week when they bring a parent to help share this information, and sometimes it is the time of the year. In February, we were fortunate enough to have Sam and his mom come and share with us about the Asian New Year! With a wonderful slideshow and interacting, we all sat and enjoyed what they had to share!
No different from any other month we were busy and on the go. In addition to learning about differences we learned about the heart and keeping our bodies healthy.
We then had a wonderful Valentine’s Day event and enjoyed eating healthy, red snacks that the parents shared with us. (I must admit that I was at a training this day and was not able to be a part of the festivities. I asked my wonderful co-teacher to be sure that she took a lot of pictures for me….she did admit later that they forgot and so she “staged” most of the pictures that ended up on my camera.)
Josie turned six years old in February and it was an exciting time for her, and the rest of us, as she shared her Star Student poster and told us all about her family, favorite book, favorite music and favorite food! It amazes me sometimes at how even the quietest students gain a louder voice, more confidence, and answer questions with determination as they talk about the important things in their lives.
Our hundredth day of school arrived one day before Valentine’s day this year and what fun it was to see all of the kiddos (and Mrs. Saggese) to be dressed up like they were 100 years old. Conversations of what would be happening a year from now took place, as well as many fun stations that involved counting 100 items to make necklaces, using the numbers in 100 to make a picture, and sharing our At Home Family Projects that students used 100 of something to make.
This month we also wrapped up our Penguin unit, and had fun learning addition. I introduced Touchmath to each student as another method of addition. We then made our own number cards using stickers to represent our touch spots!
We also enjoyed a special event called “Healthy Snacks.” The kiddos loved using the ingredients to make a healthy snack with a guest speaker. They each got a turn to help in measuring or mixing. Of course, they all had the opportunity to taste a bit of the smoothie they made.
We are looking forward to March when we will have two new participators joining our class from SUNY Oneonta, and my favorite time….Dr. Seuss!!
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Holiday break...family, fun, and friends....
No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one. ~Elbert Hubbard
The holidays were busy here with plenty of last minute things to do and my parents arrived on the 24th. We had a great time playing games, chatting and just relaxing. Christmas day you would have thought my 13 year old was 5 again with her anxiousness to open gifts. It never seems like a lot of gifts, until you are waiting for the kids to open them, taking turns of course, so you can see their reactions to each item and take pictures (that my kiddos detest.) After gift opening it was on to plenty of snacks and… for dinner, a deep fried turkey. We had never done this before and Jim really wanted to try it. It was good, but probably not worth the time and effort to make it happen. Here are some pictures from our Christmas day:
So, what do teachers do on their vacation? Well, hopefully many of them are traveling away from the snow, or relaxing with their little ones and family, however, my “little ones” are not so little and have schedules and agendas of their own. There was no time to head anywhere warm, as my husband only had a couple of days off. So, I did some planning and preparing for when I go back to work. Between Jen’s dance schedule and her other activities, along with my commitments and playing taxi to my 17 year old, the school weeks are so busy. I also decided it was time to use some of those recipes for freezer meals I had posted on my Pinterest page. So, after many hours of grocery shopping to find what I needed, I was headed home to put more than twenty freezer Crockpot meals together. I was over ambitious, and probably didn’t need to plan on making so many at once; however, with Jim’s help, we prepared, packaged, and cleaned up in three hours. I can’t fit one more thing in my chest freezer or in my kitchen freezer. I feel like I actually accomplished something this vacation, besides the typical cleaning. I was able to talk my 13 year old into going shopping with me (ok, I bribed her, knowing she wanted to go to the mall to have her brows done.) Anyone who is familiar with me and my family knows that my husband (or my son) does most of the cooking here, so this was a major challenge for me. In three hours time, Jim and I were able to put together all of the freezer meals and clean the kitchen. Of course, no one said these freezer meals will taste good! I guess I will have to update as we try them. For now, a picture:
I seriously considered some crafting, and again, anyone who knows me knows this is a big challenge for me. This is something I am as talented with as cooking; however, I have purchased many craft items over time with intentions of making some cute things. Needless to say, the hundreds of dollars worth of items occupy blue storage bins, neatly tucked under the furniture in my office. Of course, prior to beginning this, I would have to actually clean my office (that was used as the Christmas room this year) in order to get to them. So, instead I turned to a book that was lent to me by one of the student’s parents. It is definitely a book I would recommend.
I also prepared three pans of lasagna for a late Christmas celebration with my family. I even made the sauce, all homemade (without the help of Jim or Justin.) We had a great day with my brother and his family, my sister and her family, my parents and Jim’s mom…and of course my kiddos…and Jenna’s friend who joined us as well.
New Year’s Eve this year was a girl teen party at our house. Jenna has been asking to have one and with no real plans ourselves, we agreed. I was looking forward to her and her friends being here; however, it was a long night. The girls wanted to go sledding the next day and were afraid if they went to bed that night they wouldn’t wake in time to go before all the parents came to pick up the kids. At 4am I was awoken to the sounds of a rowdy game of hide-n-seek. At 6am I again heard the giggling girls making pancakes, bacon, and eggs….all dressed ready to go sledding. They were not happy when I told them they were not leaving the house until 8:00am. When the last friend left, just after 11, Jenna headed in to watch some television. It was ten minutes later we found her sound asleep and there she stayed until 6pm. Justin was at a friend’s for the evening, because he had no desire to be here with a house full of giggling girls.
I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday and best wishes for 2013.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Winter Solstice is here....and the New Year is not far behind!
“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in
the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It
came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and
puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he
hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What
if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” ― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Spending all day with five and six year olds can leave me exhausted some days, excited others, and challenged others, but every day the rewards outweigh any frustration. The smiles, hugs, and the excitement in the kiddos’ voices when they have something they really want to tell you! It is so hard to believe that we are going into 2013 and I am so thankful that I have six more months with these great kiddos, and feel sad that they days will continue to move too fast!
As you read this blog, and view some of the great projects we have done in the classroom, it needs to be clear that many of these fabulous ideas are not mine, but they are that of my wonderful co-teacher who has taught kindergarten for more than ten years. Of course, I will take credit for some of the fun, however, a lot of my time is spent differentiating the lessons and activities she wants implemented and reviewing how the kiddos are growing. I then change the schedule, yet again; to be sure we can provide additional instruction in the areas necessary. I am excited about our return in January, because once again, we have made some changes that I feel will best meet the needs of our kiddos…and by needs I mean both enrichment as well as supplemental.
So, we all know how much I love pictures, so I want to share the rest of my pictures from December, and tell you a bit about them .
Pictures from Caden’s Star Student week:
We are beginning to work on words families using the character/ sounds we have learned. Check out our word family houses:
We spent a lot of time learning about adjectives this month including colors, numbers, and sizes. The students each colored their own gingerbread person and had to write about them using adjectives. Mrs. Saggese then read the description and the other kiddos had to decide which gingerbread person was being described. They all did such a great job using adjectives that their friends were able to immediately pick out their gingerbread person. We then used adjectives to write letters to Santa. The students learned quickly that without adjectives, Santa may not know exactly what they wanted. When I offered to send the boys a pink DS, they quickly learned to include the color (except for one boy, whose favorite color is pink!) Here are a few pictures from our gingerbread writings:
We are using the reading series, Journeys, for the second year. We have found some really great things about this program. One of the strategies that our students have responded to quite well is our Alphafriends. Mimi Mouse and Pippa Pig are something that they have connected with. For one of our station activities I have made “Alphafriends sticks” and when I say a word they have to hold up the letter that that word begins with. This has helped our less attentive students stay engaged and they love to use the sticks…cheap and simple, yet successful. These are my Alphafriends sticks:
One of the students’ favorite times of the day is sharing~ and we have been asked if this is like show and tell of the past. Well, it is similar in that students get to bring in an item to share with their friends~however, different in that these items come in hidden in a paper bag with three clues written on the outside. The sharing student has to read their clues and they get to chose three friends to try to guess what they have in their bag. They then reveal the item and answer questions about it. The entire process requires the students to speak and respond in complete sentences. Here is a picture of our sharing time:
As I mentioned in our previous post, our theme has been Holidays around the World. We have had so much fun “traveling” to Mexico, Italy, America, Israel, and the Netherlands. We also filled our passport with the flags that represent these countries as we traveled to them. Here are some pictures from of what we put in our suitcase for each country:
Our Hanakiuhs from Israel (also known and Menorahs):
Our stockings and Dear Santa letters representing America:
Our La Bafana brooms to represent Italy, as La Bafana travels around on her broom to deliver gifts to children:
Snack and social time after a busy day:
Here are some pictures from our culminating activity for the Holidays around the World theme. Waiting patiently as our wonderful parent volunteers finish up the cooking, and then enjoying the pancakes, latkes, applesauce, sausage, orange juice and turkey bacon:
A great opportunity for us to “mingle” with the students and talk about their holiday traditions:
Mrs. Murdock comes to visit and “chat” with the kiddos:
Mrs. Saggese reads “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” after our tummies are full. You will notice, it was also pajama day!
We then opened our gifts from the families. We had requested in our newsletter that if the parents felt they wanted to do something for us for the holiday, we would prefer objects donated to the classroom that we are frequently having to replace. The child who brought it in got to take the items from their gift bags and share with the class what they got for them. The students were so proud of themselves.
Of course, even with this request, parents go above
and beyond and we received many great cards with some great messages of
appreciation, scratch off tickets (and I won!!), and gift cards for meals,
manicures, etc, and homemade gifts such as bagels (that were truly the best I
had ever eaten.)
We then went to the gym to break our Piñata, the way the children in Mexico do. I realize that the children in Mexico do not have Spiderman Piñatas at holiday time, however, the selection was limited. As you will see from our pictures, it didn’t take many of our very strong students to break it, so the PE teacher, a parent, and Mrs. Saggese decided some packing tape would hold it together so every student would get a turn. As you will see from the pictures, Mr. Slater (PE Teacher) showed up wearing his holiday gear, and imagine the kiddos surprise when he brought the huge, red bag to gather his goodies when the Piñata was broken. The students looked on at him, unsure if he was being serious or not. Their faces in the picture look a bit worried. (Thanks for the laughs Mr. Slater, and for allowing us to use the gymnasium and make a mess.)
And, I just have to include a picture or two of the recent Ganio brunch held at our house. This is a great time every year when Jim’s family joins us from near and far. Little gifts wait under the tree for the cousins’ children and there is always way too much food and never enough time.
