It's A Wrap!

Hey Kinder Friends,

Well the stage was set and we were ready to go! We wrapped up the week with a little bit of music, festivities, fun and a celebration of Mexican Heritage! We all had fun learning a little about history, the different ways we celebrate and about customs and traditions. And for us, we were all on board for our school wide celebration of Cinco de Mayo! We signed up for stage and lounge decorations and a performance that every single person was able to participate in. It was a big production and we learned that it was a lot of work and it took us ALL to pull it off! Every teacher and child had their hand in making this a special event for everyone and it was a huge success!

Nothing in the world say Cinco de Mayo more to most of us than a donkey piñata! And I will tell you we had more than enough to go around. Everywhere we looked and everywhere we turned, we saw one and that is just the way we like it! In Kindergarten, the donkey piñata could just be the symbol for celebrations!

 

We tried something new this year and added some guitars. What a great project to tie in some of those music objectives. I think next year we might just do more with this one. We all identify music with any kind of celebration. And the music this year for our program was The Mexican Hat Dance. We has so much fun practicing for the last several weeks, that we might be a little sad that this event has come to an end.

The banners we made for the stage are one of my favorite projects of the year. This project allows us a chance to look at some Mexican art and take a close look at the themes and colors in that art. The banners are our interpretation of that. And when these banners are finished and laminated you can see the big, thick brushstrokes on the page. These just say Kindergarten art in the best way...

In class we learn that some celebrations involve costumes. Oh, and we love an event that allows us to wear a costume! It's always an exciting time when the box of halos comes down off the top shelf. It kind of feels like getting down the Christmas ornaments for me. I look in the box and see the flowers and colors and I am reminded of all the past celebrations and good times. I always take a minute and pray for...just one more!

In the lounge we were able to plaster scatter some decorations to make the day even more special for visitors and our school friends. We were all happy to sit down together and have lunch. It's not often that we get to sit down with forks and napkins and eat face to face. It reminded me today that I work with wonderful people...

And in the end we...danced!

It was a show stopper and one of the best performances we have done do far! Every person and child made this event so special. It was an all out affair and I am sure it will live in the hearts of the children forever...and mine too!

 

 

Cinco de Mayo Fun!

Hey Kinder Friends,

We are moving right along and things are moving fast! It is hard to believe that this year is quickly coming to an end. I'm not sure where April went but it is almost gone. And just as April comes to a close we look towards May. In the classroom May is a special time for us as we learn about celebrations and discuss Cinco de Mayo. As part of our school wide program we create and make decorations for the school event.

 

 

This gives us a chance to look at some Mexican art and get out some paint and get a little creative. It is a nice way to spend indoor recess and keep our minds off the great outdoors that we long for. We have been busy making banners for some stage decorations. But I think we would all agree that piñatas are our favorite because they remind all of us of our own celebrations.

 

 

 

The best part of the program is performing The Mexican Hat Dance. And this year we like to practice it a lot! It is one of those feel good get up on your feet kind of dances that every child can participate in and that makes it even more fun. A little chaos to some lively music and lots of kids...my kind of fun and I mean it. It can sure put a smile on your face pretty quick!  

 

 

  



It's A FIESTA!

It's finally posted! By special request, it feels nothing short of a FIESTA with 96 pages full of Math, Literacy and Social Studies fun. Great for avoiding that summer slide or for creating your own FIESTA! It's available at my TpT store.

Cinco de Mayo!

Hello Kinder Friends,

We have had such a busy week in Kindergarten but it has been filled with tons of celebrations. All the festivities have left little time to blog. I have debated about blogging about Cinco de Mayo all week because in my 13 months of blogging, my Cinco de Mayo post last year was my most controversial post of all time. Each time I started to blog about what has been going on inside our classroom, my mind kept going back to that controversy.

Our Kindergarten children learn and perform The Mexican Hat Dance. This has been a fun dance for the children to learn and for our program every single child gets to participate, which was always very important to me. We dress up in costumes because it is an important program at my school and we are on the stage performing for a large crowd. The hats and flowers make us look unified. Those additions to the costumes allow any child to feel as though they are still dressed for the program no matter what they are wearing.
 
We make decorations for the stage and the teacher's lounge as part of our contribution to the school wide event. As we discuss and learn about celebrations in class, we decide what to make for those props based on our discussions. It is no surprise that flags and pinatas are two things that most of the children identify with celebrations, so we always include those. This year flags have been very popular and we have made a few versions.

Click on the image below to grab your freebie so you can celebrate with us!

Previous Post...

As I came home, I immediately went to my computer to see what was happening in the blogging world. I had a comment waiting. It said, "I love the idea, but I would like to invite teachers to take this beyond sombreros, tacos and burritos! I hate all the stereotypes created behind this kind of unit." I respect that thought and opinion but I see things a little different.

My State requires me to teach that...
K.12 People learn about themselves through family customs and cultures
K12A Identify family customs and traditions and explain their importance
Cinco de Mayo is observed nationwide in the US as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride and
it commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the battle of Puebla on
May 5, 1862

In my classroom, we have spent an entire year learning and discussing the topic of diversity which includes a foundational understanding of heritage. I wrote and was awarded, a grant called Under One Sun...Celebrating Diversity For Everyone! Due to this grant, we have spent numerous hours learning about the similarities and differences in people and in Kindergarten we begin with "us", our classroom, family and community. We have read numerous books, written about ourselves, our families, our family traditions and we have spent a year sharing those experiences with each other in order to learn about each other as a way to develop a foundational understanding in Social Studies. Once we have a better understanding of ourselves, we can better understand others, especially when we do not see eye to eye or get along. As Kindergarten teachers, we lay the foundation for a broader perspective in the subsequent school years and these early positive experiences are critical. During this school year each one of us has had to open our eyes and minds to different perspectives and ideas. We have had to respect things we may or may not agree with and at times our thinking has changed and we all have learned a new or different way of thinking about many different things.

In my class, I am the minority and at some point, everyone has realized that. I did not grow up recognizing Cinco de Mayo and a few of my students didn't either. Over the years, I have grown to love this time of year and you can ask anyone and they will tell you the same. And I am crazy in love with the donkey pinata you have seen on this blog. And this year I am crazy in love with the flags and sombreros the children have made. Those projects are included in our unit study because they are symbols to the children that represent their family, heritage and culture and remind them of times of celebration. The children also perform the Mexican Hat Dance and they wear clothes that represent their heritage that their families lovingly prepare or buy or create from what they have on hand. To us these items are not stereotypical, they are authentic. We also share food with each other as well. We have also learned a lot about each other over some good food we have shared together much like a family eating a meal together. It never was about tacos or salads because it was more about what each of us brought to the table...our hearts. At Thanksgiving it was the contribution of everyone that made our vegetable soup a reality because our Kindergarten grown vegetable garden only produced lettuce. We would not have had a feast had it not been a combined and collected effort. And through that, we learned that we need each other.

I participate in this program because I believe it is important to celebrate or recognize the heritage of my students. I dance with an open heart and I sing with an open heart just like we all did for the Black History program and every other big or small event during the year. We have laughed together and learned together and I can tell you we care deeply about each other. I will cry a river of tears to say goodbye. when the year is over. And when I see the images of donkey pinatas, child painted sombreros and child created flags, I will think of the children of the past, present and future that I teach and I will have nothing but good thoughts and I will remind myself...

"It is in the spirit of ALL children that we dance."
  Love, Mrs. Coe

For more Cinco Fun visit me here...

Top Book Picks!

Hello Kinder Friends,

Well our Book Fiesta and celebration on Friday was a huge hit. The sun was shining and we all had fun. Anybody can host a Book Fiesta. And this is a super way to celebrate during The Week of the Young Child. In Mexico, they celebrate The Day of the Child on April 30th. In different places all over the world The Day of the Child is celebrated. Adding a Book Fiesta to your celebration is a great way to incorporate some literacy into all of the festivities. Incorporating food, music, games and crafts into your celebration can make this a memorable event with your Book Fiesta being at the heart of your celebration.

We had so much fun with our special day that it really made me want to get some new books to keep the celebration going.

I had to order this book because I have used L is for Lone star and I liked all of the information that the book provided when we were talking about Texas. I have never seen P is for Pinata but I think this will be a welcome addition to our bookshelves for information about the Mexican culture and traditions.

Mexico ABC is a book about the people and places of Mexico.

Frida is a book about the artist Frida Kahlo. I thought this book would be a good way to tie in some art inspiration after reading this book.

Abuelita is a book about when a grandmother comes to live with a family. I thought this would be a good book to read and a great tie in to Mother's Day and Grandparent's Day.

And last... I was pretty excited to find this gem of a book. As we finish our Book Fiesta celebrations we will be reading, Look at the Book by Loreen Leedy. I am hoping to rush home tomorrow and find this book on my doorsteps so I can get it to schoo,l read it and conclude our celebrations with some fabulous bookmaking.

Book Fiesta!

We are gearing up for a celebration to celebrate Children's Day. Children's Day is celebrated on various days in many places around the world, in particular to honor children. In Mexico, Children's Day is celebrated on April 30th. As part of our unit on Celebrations, we are having a book FIESTA. We are having a nice and relaxing Buddy Reading morning with some sight word FIESTA fun. We will be making some Cinco de Mayo props for our program next week and walking to the park for some BaG WhAcKeR fun. It should be a wonderful day.

In class, we have had some great discussions about how each our families celebrate at home. My class has enjoyed asking each other about their own celebrations. Through these surveys above,  we have learned that we may not celebrate the same holidays or the same holidays the exact same way but we have learned that many kids of celebrations have things in common and so do we! Click on the image above for your survey.

From my class to yours, Happy Children's Day!

Bag Whackers!

Hey Kinder Friends,

We are gearing up to celebrate Children's Day in Kindergarten. We are so excited to be able to end a week celebrating children and books. We are having a book fiesta and we could not be more excited.Today we created what I call Pinata Bag Whackers! Oh me, oh my you have to give this one a try. If you were thinking of a big pinata and had visions of children beating a hanging object with a bat blindfolded and then running, pushing and grabbing candy and that vision made you a little horrified, then I have the answer for you! Pinata bag whackers are perfect. First, they are so simple to make. We used left over tissue paper, glue, glitter, brown lunch bags and yarn. The children decorated it on their own. We are stuffing ours with another brown bag, stickers, small prizes and fruit snacks.

The best part is that these are individual whacker bags and each child gets to WHACK his or her bag all by himself. Yep, whack that bag right at school. It is not a typo. Just throw the bag over your shoulder and WHAM~WHACK. When the bag pops open the child will find the empty bag and race to put the treats inside his or her own bag. No fighting or crying over treats. No being upset that someone didn't get to bang the big pinata with the bat, no kinder controversy...darn!

Have fun friends!