Reading Fair and End-of-Year Party

A few (OK, well maybe more than that!) photos from our last day of school. It was fun celebrating but so hard to say goodbye!

Pretty party dresses

Waiting for the Reading Fair to begin. We were the "Storytelling" area. The kids helped make the entire background! After the festivities I took some individual shots of the kids posing in front of their hard work . . . 

And then they insisted on taking one of me :)

Unfortunately not everyone was in attendance, 

so a few faces are missing.

We still had a great time at our party!

I was too busy serving cake to take many pictures! 

I also let the kids take turns with my camera for a while. 

Here are a few of those shots:

I'd say they did a great job! Whenever I take photos throughout the year, I make a point of letting the children try out the camera, too (anyone who wants a turn can have one), so I guess you could still consider this "Review and Assessment" ;)

And a quick note . . . Families are welcome to keep in touch. Email me at emy.krauspe (at) gmail.com. I'd love to hear how everyone is doing! All the best, and have a great summer -- Mrs. Emy

Looking Back

A mini photo collage that warms my heart, just because.

Year in Review: Let's Backtrack

It's been crazy looking back over all the photos from this year (and I definitely took A LOT . . . Still, it never feels like enough!). Since this blog was only started in February, there are a wealth of topics, activities, and accomplishments I never covered online.

Now that the school year is winding down, I'm planning to take some time to reflect and share on the incredible year we've had in 1-4. I hope you'll join me!

PS - You may have already noticed a new tab at the top of the page: Alphabet Projects includes links to letter crafts, as well as info about how we teach phonics at Al Suroor. 

Thought of the Day (and a Reminder!)

Image source

Have a great weekend! 

And don't forget . . . Next Tuesday (12.6) will be our end-of-year party in KG1. We're looking forward to celebrating with all the children - it's been a WONDERFUL year!

Firsts and Bursts

I love "firsts." It's one of my favorite things about teaching very young children.

The first time Alya used, "Help me, please!" without any prompting. The first time Majed strung the sounds S-O-N-Y together to read, "Sony!" on the MP3 player. The first time we had a successful English-only brainstorming session.

No matter how many "firsts" you have, they never get old. Take today: A little boy identified a letter in environmental print for the first time:

"Ms. Emy! Ms. Emy! LOOK! O." 

I was instantly flooded with so much excitement and pride I thought I might burst. (This is frequently true about so much of what my students do!)

Here's the letter on our carpet:

I wrote before about how we tape and walk our letters. Since then, the children have started helping me construct the letters, which has been a great way to work on critical and spacial thinking skills, as well as team work.

The letter "O" love didn't stop there. The same student that identified it on our "Colors" poster during whole group decided to write it out during centers - another amazing first!

Do you see his pink "O's" in the center? And the yellow one to the right?

From across the room he called to show me what he'd done, and when he realized I didn't understand right away, he showed me:

:)

Now, of course, all the children are extra busy finding and writing letters they know (and some they're not so sure about yet!). Not only do I love the "firsts," but the whirlwind domino effect is pretty spectacular, too! Here's to many a few more of these learning bursts as we enter these final weeks of KG1.

Bear Surgery

There was an emergency play dough removal that took place in our classroom the other day. . .

I'm sure the bear's the better for it :)

It amazes me what children come up with. A lab coat from the science center (must've had those masks still in the pockets), a wrench from the magnet station, and a teddy bear from the reading corner turned into something excellent.

I live for the brilliant, unexpected moments like these. Children are so incredible. What an honor to spend my days with these creative little humans.

Color Party

For some reason, last Thursday the children became convinced that we were having a party. Not sure how or where the rumor started, except for that it was a non-uniform day. Before simply telling them "No," that in fact there was no party planned, Abla Salwa turned to Mrs. Emy and said two of the best words on the planet:

Why not?

So we spent the last 30 minutes of the day having a spontaneous Color Party!

We blew up balloons and put on some dance-worthy music (the children LOVE this song!) . . .

. . . and Abla Salwa painted faces . . .

. . . while Mrs. Emy taught about the static electricity that results from rubbing a balloon on your head.

The balloons act like magnets!

 Our party was both a learning experience and a great time.

Such a fun way to end our color theme and welcome the weekend.

Thank you for the idea, children!