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Meeting Mo!

11/8/2014

I met my adulthood hero on Wednesday, November 5th, 2014. Since becoming a pre-k teacher, I've grown very fond of books by Mo Willems. Through DonorsChoose.org, I was able to get a project funded that allowed us to receive most of Mo Willems' books. This included 20+ Elephant and Piggie books, the Knuffle Bunny trilogy, all of the Pigeon books as well as Cat the Cat, and a hand full of standalone and board books. To add to the collection, our classroom also has the plush of the characters in each series. Not only do Willems' books grab the attention of my students, adults find his work very humorous as well. Mrs. Belanich will often come by my classroom, just to check out the latest book. You may even hear her laugh...and snort! My paraprofessional, Helen, has set a goal for me to get him to visit our school. I have my fingers crossed! I would love to share our classes' Willems Wall full of thinking maps about his work of literature.

The Mo Collection

Ms. Liang, Ms. Esther, and myself have attended a story slam event at the Bell House in Brooklyn, earlier in the year. When Ms. Liang learned that Mo Willems would be attending an event at the same venue, we all jumped on the opportunity to join in for the chance to meet the man behind the Pigeon. We pre-ordered the tickets to guarantee getting into the event. On Wednesday, we all trekked out to Brooklyn after work. We got there an hour before the event started. It was there, that we learned he was only a VIP guest for an NPR show called Ask Me Another and not some sort of book signing.

We all brought our favorite books for a chance of getting them signed. Along with my books, I brought my Pigeon hat I purchased online from the Eric Carle Museum website. They opened the doors at around 7 for us to be seated. As we were looking around for seats, the decision of where to sit was decided when we noticed the chairs in front of us had a sign stating "RESERVED VIP WILLEMS." His party could potentially be sitting right in front of us. We could not pass up the opportunity.

As it came closer show time. I became anxious to seeing him in person. There were other teachers who attended that also had the same agenda of meeting Mo and getting books signed. I looked around and spotted him passing the entrance door. Star-struck could be the correct word to describe what I was feeling. The show began and Mo walked in with three others to take their seat in front of us! He spotted my hat, pointed at me, and whispered "Nice hat!"

Admiring Mo from behind...That hair... that voice...that laugh....

Like a girl in UGG boots with Starbucks in one hand, the latest iPhone in the other, and plenty of girl drama… I couldn't even. I was so excited that he was sitting directly in front of me. The show kicked off with introductions and started with the quiz show. There was a segment that called Mo up to the stage and briefly introduced him to the audience as he gave a little background info about himself. When he came back to his seat, I worked up the courage to ask him to autograph my hat! He did! I spoke with him briefly about how my students loved him and will be so excited to hear that I was able to meet him. We snapped a quick picture together.

Mo giving me a shout out! (not really)

MO!	My new best friend! (Flash caught me off guard)

At some point, there was a ten minute intermission where Mo signed books for the teachers in the audience. I was able to get my copy of Leonardo the Terrible Monster signed. This book has a very special sentimental value since it was the book I used during my demo lesson to obtain my current position.

As it was getting late for a school night, we departed the show early. I was so excited. I met my adulthood hero and it was something I could share with my students as we had a common bond through the works of Mo Willems. Ms. Esther and Ms. Liang were very tired and hungry at this point. I, on the other hand, was running on adrenaline!

"I so happy!"

A BIG thanks to Kevin Tsang for being our photographer for the evening!

Mo Willems' Influence in Pre-K 108

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However Many Days of Autumn

11/7/2014

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We've begun discussing all things related to the season of fall in pre-k 108. With the weather changing from warm to cool (at times) and the leaves changing color and dropping, there's no way to avoid discussing the transition from what was left of Summer to Autumn.

The Leaf Man

We kicked off the discussion with multiple readings of The Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. I make it a strong point that we reread stories to look back at things we may have missed as well as enjoying great books for a second or third time. The Leaf Man allowed us to accompany the journey of leaves as they fall off trees and travel where the wind takes him. Leaf Man takes many forms and is very versatile. As a class, we took a walking trip to our playground, then our neighborhood with the goal of finding leaves to make our own Leaf art.

Leaf Man Cometh!

A closer look at leaves

The backyardigans looking for leaves

A neighborhood stroll

Please LEAF me be...

J.D. and N.S. won't let some chains prevent them from finding leaves.

Do Tree Maps lose leaves during the fall?

After collecting the different leaves within our surroundings, the leaves would be stored in our art center where students had a choice to create their own leaf art. Before letting our children let loose their creative side, Tree Maps were introduced to sort our leaves by color. Students would come up and pick a leaf, they'd make an observation and figure out where the leaf would go on our map.

Once the map was complete, the art center housed the leaves for several days for anyone who wished to create art with the leaves we collected. All students were given the opportunity to participate in this activity, but that doesn't necessarily mean that every student made one. There are only certain projects I wish for every student to take part in, for example, self-portraits, individual thinking maps, and assessment games. Only a handful of students chose the art center during this topic of discussion.

T.P. sorts a green leave on our tree map.

A Leaf Man's...

got to go...

where the wind blows.

J.L. (top left), A.H.(top middle), S.V. (top right), T.C. (left), S.C. (right) all take part in leaf art.

Scary TALES

As we crept closer to the end of October, the read aloud book selections became mostly Halloween themed. In between, we focused on the things we knew about Fall, and words that we can use to describe it. At the same time, we attempted to complete a circle map and bubble map about fall. I say attempt because there is always room to add more as the days pass.

Even Monsters Need Haircuts

Crankenstein

Ghosts in the House!

Halloween by Gail Gibbons

Gail Gibbons is a great author who illustrates her non-fiction books. I briefly introduced our children about the difference between fiction and non-fiction books. Since I did not want to delve into too much of her Halloween book, we only focused on the introduction of Halloween and the differences between pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns. The discussion sparked the creation of a double bubble map where we looked at the differences between vegetable and the decorative. A fake jack-o-lantern was brought in and a real pumpkin was presented for the kids to see.

Pumpkins or Jack-o-lanterns?

What's the same and what's different?

Double Bubble Trouble

J.W. take a close look at the Jack-o-lantern.

T.C. is fascinated by the pumpkin.

A group of students became really interested in turning our pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern. We decided to create a Mo Willems' Pigeon Jack-o-lantern. At our art center, we would spend time working on our one day project. Students painted the different parts and we waited for it to dry. The Pigeon would eventually be finished in after school with the help of Ms. Lillian

J.L and S.V help paint the Pigeon body

Friends at first sight!

Kids notice the Pigeon immediately the next day!

Jack-o-lanterns and Slime

The subject of Halloween would spark two projects. In our art center, students were able to create paper bag jack-o-lanterns. They would stuff their bags with old scholastic book orders until it was almost full. They would twist the top and begin gluing torn orange construction paper to give it the correct color. Once they were finished covering it in orange, they would add the facial features to complete the jack-o-lantern.

The second project would be creating oooey goooey slime! After reading I Need My Monster and learning about ooze, I introduced students to some homemade slime. Students had a chance to touch the already made slime first. Those who weren't grossed out were able to join the project center to help make slime for the class. To make slime at home, you'll need...

Glue (I recommend clear glue)
Liquid Starch
Food color
Mixing bowl

It's best to experiment with the ratio of the glue and starch mixture. Add food coloring to the glue before mixing in the liquid starch. The result you'll have will be similar to the picture below.

I Need My Monster

Slime Slime Slime!

With the slime made, it would eventually be enjoyed by everyone after rest time.

Music for Many Performance

Before Halloween Day, our school had a special performance from a great story teller from Music for Many. Our students were invited to listen to the tales.

The leaves are falling!

Towards the end of October, I took the opportunity to take the discussion of falling leaves to do a counting assessment with the students. It's the inital assessment to see different skills our students may or may not have while counting. I created a tree out of cardboard with fake leaves of different colors attached. I would differentiate the assessment for each student, depending on their skills.

"Count the red leaves."

"Count all the leaves."

"Who has more?"

Halloween Day!

We finally arrive at Halloween Day! Students were allowed to bring in their costumes, but they could only put them on after lunch. Since our students sleep directly after lunch, I woke up students who had costumes early so they could put them on and enjoy them before the day ended. I came in as a Jedi, but turned Sith as soon as the kids weren't around because of my scaryish mask.

Group Picture of the Characters of 108!

Heroines!

Heroes!

Mr. Andy with I.W. (last year's student)

The Sith Empire has Returned!

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The Art of Cutting Onions in Pre-K

11/3/2014

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One of the saddest moments while teaching pre-k occurred when I had this one particular student. A lot of the kids in my class have siblings. Since I subbed for a few years before getting the pre-k teacher position, I knew a lot of the older siblings. This one particular student had a brother at our school, but he attended kindergarten during my first year teaching, so I didn't get the chance to see or speak to him.

The child's father was very nice, as was the grandfather. I don't know where this child came from because she was anything but nice when we met her. She'd always have a look of disgust on her face as if she had experienced the burden of having a life-time of misery at the age of four. She was simply stubborn and refused to do anything we'd ask.

When I found out she had a brother, I was curious to know what he was like. Did he share the same agony his sister possessed? She had never mentioned anything about her brother. She was also never picked up by her mother either. I asked around about her situation, only to find out that her parents had issues. The mother, out of spite, took the son and ran off without telling her husband. In the Chinese culture, having a son meant everything. Couples who had daughters would keep trying until they finally had a son. Some were fortunate to get one, others weren't and kept trying until they physically couldn't. Even my own mother came from a family of five older daughters and two youngest son.

When I learned of this, I sympathized for the girl. She had been abandoned by her mother. I tried to approach her in a more nurturing way, but she wasn't having any of it. No matter who it was, male or female, she had a certain distrust of adults. During the course of the school year, the father would approach the office about the whereabouts of his son. Having no info about the subject, he'd walk away empty handed. During our Family Tree project, where parents were asked to send in pictures of the child's family to share, dad would send in family group pictures which included his wife and son, as well as individual photos. All of the other students shared the photos and introduced the class to the members of their family. She refused to participate. The pictures would go out on a bulletin board tree where each family would get their own section. Every morning, before dad dropped her off, I'd see him staring at his family.

As the school year progressed, she began to opened up more and more. She participated during class discussions, began doing work, became more friendly with the other students, and I even saw her laugh and smile. We began doing tree maps about the people in our lives who we care about. The categories were parents, grandparents, pets, friends, siblings, and extended family. When students had time, they'd take a break from their choice centers and joined the writing center to complete this assignment. When it was her time to tackle the tree map, she surprisingly came over without a battle. She began drawing her map. She included dad, grandpa, brother, aunt, and drew a female figure under parents. I asked who it was and she responded "mommy."

She kept drawing and adding more details. I sat there, silent, trying to think of what to say in the situation. She was happy. I didn't say anything. I didn't need to. I only hoped that in the end, it would all work out for her.

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The Tales of 108

Meeting Mo!

Mo Willems' Influence in Pre-K 108

However Many Days of Autumn

The Art of Cutting Onions in Pre-K

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