Whew! Today was a rough one. My kids came back from a 3-day weekend (we had a conference waiver day on Friday) to school today, knowing that they would be off again tomorrow (for election day) and they were OFF. THE. CHAIN!
And, of course, it was hard for me to focus, knowing that I was off tomorrow.
Luckily, we were able to have a good morning! (The afternoon was... well... a whole 'nother story!)
We began our day with calendar and dancing, as usual, but I purposely wasn't answering the kids' questions about why there was no school tomorrow. After calendar time was over, they all came to sit at the carpet. I asked questions like,
"Who knows why there is no school tomorrow?"
"Why is it important to vote?"
"What does the president do?"
"Would you want to be president?"
After a brief discussion, we read Duck for President.
It's a really cute book about a duck who gets tired of working hard on the farm and decides to hold an election to become leader of the farm. As you can probably imagine, he eventually becomes President! The kids loved it. The book had some really great vocabulary words that we were able to discuss, too!
After reading the book, we talked about the main idea. This was a brand-new concept for my kids, so their ideas were a little bit off... but, altogether, I think they did a great job! I jotted down their ideas on sticky notes and hung them on our anchor chart.
Once they were all done, we came back to the carpet and they got to cast their ballot (into a bucket that had had snack in it 35 seconds beforehand, because I didn't even think about a ballot box!) and we tallied the results (another brand-new concept for my kids). The winner?
And, of course, it was hard for me to focus, knowing that I was off tomorrow.
Luckily, we were able to have a good morning! (The afternoon was... well... a whole 'nother story!)
We began our day with calendar and dancing, as usual, but I purposely wasn't answering the kids' questions about why there was no school tomorrow. After calendar time was over, they all came to sit at the carpet. I asked questions like,
"Who knows why there is no school tomorrow?"
"Why is it important to vote?"
"What does the president do?"
"Would you want to be president?"
After a brief discussion, we read Duck for President.
It's a really cute book about a duck who gets tired of working hard on the farm and decides to hold an election to become leader of the farm. As you can probably imagine, he eventually becomes President! The kids loved it. The book had some really great vocabulary words that we were able to discuss, too!
After reading the book, we talked about the main idea. This was a brand-new concept for my kids, so their ideas were a little bit off... but, altogether, I think they did a great job! I jotted down their ideas on sticky notes and hung them on our anchor chart.
(I was a big fan of, "Being in charge can give you a headache!")
Then, I told my kids that they would be given the chance to vote, too! They were thrilled and absolutely giddy. We talked about how important it is to think through your vote, but about how you shouldn't ask people who they're voting for. I told them not to put their names on their ballots and to keep their choice a secret. Then, they got their ballots and headed back to their seats. They took it very seriously.
Ballots are from *ELECTION FREE WEEK* of KinderLiteracy and FirstieLiteracy! by Tara West!
Duck!
That took up most of our morning, but we did have a few minutes to work on a poem that was included in the Tara West packet.
In the afternoon, the kindergarten teachers rotated from classroom to classroom with a special activity for the kids. My students, unfortunately, spent much of the time with their heads down. :( They were just too wound up and too chatty to be able to do much of anything.
I, however, had a blast going around to the different classrooms! My activity included talking to the students about the president and his (or her!) job, and then asking what they would do if they were president. Some of them simply didn't understand (thinking that the President was a firefighter, for some reason!) but I got a lot of really great answers!
So, without further ado, I present...
If Kindergarteners were President
Question: What would you do if you were the President?
- Make our country safe
- Save the day by rescuing people from volcanoes
- Ride a cow
- Give everyone a pet fish
- Invite people to the White House if there was a fire
- Save people from sharks
- Save people from bad guys
- Help people have homes and a better life (melt my little heart!)
- Give people money
- Go around the world
- Go to OSU and make money
- Make presents for Santa
- Give everyone pizza
- Visit schools and talk to kids about being president
- Give Mrs. Fletcher another cat :)
- Visit different states
- Make sure everyone has a job
- Give people balloons
- Fly around the world
- Help people fix their bathtubs if they break
Personally, I think that these are all fabulous ideas! They covered pretty much everything. :)
Okay, okay... it's been a long day and it's time for me to go unwind on the couch and watch American Horror Story (Freak Show). Have a great evening!
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