Dear Mr. President

Dear Mr. President,
Hello. I'm Grace. I live in Denver. Where do you live? What country do you live in?
Love,
Grace

Dear Mr. President,
Why can't first graders play football? Because I'm begging my Mom and Dad to play. But they say I got to be in 2nd grade. Football is my favorite sport.
From,
David

Dear Mr. President,
Hello. I think killing babies is not ok. I think John McCain is right. You are still a good president.
From,
Lily

Dear Mr. President,
I have lots of loose tooths. I am in 1st grade. I love Presidents. I love you. I can tell that you are nice. You are my friend.
Love,
Tracy

Dear Mr. President,
How about you make some new laws. Because it is hard in America. Because people are driving me crazy.
Love,
Bailey

Dear Mr. President,
Can you put spies outside of people's doors to spy on them?
Love,
Jack

President's Day

I asked my students if it would be hard or easy to be the president. Here is what they said:

"It would be easy to decide if the laws are good or bad. It would be hard to fight the French and the Indians. (?) It would be hard to decide how long bad guys should stay in jail." -Ella

"If I were president it would be easy because the war is going to have two years off." -Alex (Would that be the French and Indian war that Ella referred to?)

"It would be hard to be the president because making everybody believe in Jesus would be so hard! And making everyone pray to Jesus!" -Bailey (Hard, and illegal)

"Being president would be hard for me. I would be a little bit shy and I am too young to be president. I would miss my Mom and Dad a lot." -Anna (Good point)

More to come! Next week: Letters to Mr. President

The Star Spangled Banner

This week we have been studying patriotic symbols. In her journal, Emerson wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner, or the Star Stangle Banner:

"ho say can you see by donserly light
what so proudly we hailed
that our flag was still there
oh say does that stars stangle better get well
for the land of the brave and the home of the brave"

I think she got the general idea.

What is Valentine's Day about?

"Valentine's day is about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and chocolate hearts." -Ella

Chocolate hearts replace self-control.

Sounds pretty accurate.

Gifts for Jesus

The wise men brought gifts to Jesus. I asked my students to write in their journals what gifts they would bring to Jesus. Some said gold, some said "frankinsins" and others had some pretty insightful answers...

"I would bring him Love, Joy, pess, pashins, kiniss, goodnis, fafilnis, jintlnis and sawfckonchool and my hart and my soll and my miynd and all of my schranth and all of the things that i can give him to day and tomoroe and the next day and the next day and the next day and the..." (I think you can see where this is going)

"I would bring to Jesus my hort and my soule and my offering for him. I love Jesus my savere!"

"I wold bring to Jesus my hart so He can take all the sin. And take my life when I die and let it be His."

Isn't that beautiful?

"Did you know...

...that even grown ups and girls can do karate?"

Sometimes I think I should devote an entire blog to Zach.

a Christmas Eve love story

Once opon a time their was a princess named maria and a prince named justin beber. it was true love. it was teh night before christmass and they snugled together.

by Emerson

1st Grade Prayer Group

My students amaze me. I overheard them talking the other day. Rachel said, "Let's pray about that at recess." I asked them to tell me more, and it turns out they've been praying at recess every day after lunch. I asked Joshua what they pray about. "Our sins. Also, our dogs, and anyone who is sick." So sweet.

Why do you love Jesus?

"I love Jesus because he did wunderful things. He havd givnus Love." -Grace

"I love Jesus because eh is mi favrit savior." -Ben

He's my favorite savior, too. :)

Juice Plus

Zach's Mom sells a product called Juice Plus. Zach is quite the spokesman for it and often asks me if I'm interested. Today, I told him no, I wasn't interested right now.

He then politely asked, "Is it because of your unhealthy lifestyle?"

Babies

Last year, Aeden's Mom had a baby. This was their fourth boy and she had him at home. Aeden came to school the Monday after the baby was born very excited to tell us all about his brother's birth. He told us his Mom was making elephant noises until the baby came out. He said that when the baby first came out he was very soft and smelled so good. He also told us that the baby lived in something called a placenta. He offered to bring it in for show and tell. (!) I told him to ask his mom first.





I've got babies on the brain today. Four of my friends are expecting, so I thought I would gather some advice for them from some first graders who consider themselves expert brothers and sisters...here is what they wrote in their journals:
(if you can't read it, try saying it out loud exactly how it's spelled...that's what i do)




"When you have a new baby you taec kervit bcas if the baby gis lost then you will be wred so woth ovrit and tac der av it and Be mor Kefrol." -Josiah





"When you have a new baby I will name her Lilly." -Bailey (That is, unless you would like to name your own baby).





"When you have a new baby name it." -Ben (Better do it quick, before Bailey gets to her).





"When you have a baby She will go on the chraplen (trampoline)." -Grace (I don't recommend hiring Grace to babysit)





"babyS ar fun allso You nyed to woch awt for dyiprs cus they ar mesye." -Emilie





"you ned to now wen thar birthday. you ned to chang ther diprs. you ned to tac car uv thum. you ned to mac shr that thay dot get hrt. you ned to giv tham baby food evre day. you ned to macshr that thay dot get hrt. (she really wanted to emphasize this one). you ned to tect tham to reed for Kendrgotin and for frst grad and evre grad like thrd grad. you need to mac shr that thay lisin to you. you ned to tech tham to blef in God and you ned to tel tham that Jesus deid on the cros. you ned to tel that evredes (everything?) in the bible is chow (true). you ned to love tham. you ned to tch tham that God creadid teh hevins and the earth. and mac shr that thay dot (don't) liy and mac shr that thay dot hit ech abr." -Rachel (Don't get too overwhelmed now).





"When you have a new baby luv it and car uv it and luv and luv and luv it." -Isaac (the best, and probably easiest advice to follow).,

Questions for God

This is one of my favorite journal entries. I asked my students, "What is your question for God?"

There were some theology questions:
-Der God, how did you get her(e)?
-Why did Saten wanto go out ov hevin?
-Wi wr you lounle? (I asked Isaac why he thought God was lonely. It was when he was in the garden, before he made people).

Some questions about the future:
-Der God what is heaven like?
-When are you going to come to earth?

Some questions about when life is unfair:
-Why did alikz win the gomebars? (We had a contest to win gummiebears a few weeks ago and Alex won. Apparently Katie is still having a hard time with it.)

Some grateful hearts:

-Facu for sool Jesez. (see A Thank You Note below)
-Dear God I Love you and you Love me. God why do you Love me so much?

And some general curiosity questions: -What do you like to et? I like spageteua.
-Do you love me?

What is your question for God?

A Thank You Note

Dear Mr. Roberts,

Fack you.

Love,
Karissa

Mrs. Jones

It's been a while since I've written, and a few things have changed.

My adventures are no longer in Kindergarten. Now I teach first grade. I'm also not Miss Terrill anymore. I got married this summer and now I'm Mrs. Jones.

My students remind me of my new name when I accidentally refer to myself as Miss Terrill. Zack even told me I have a song. "It's called Me and Mrs. Jones, want to hear it Mrs. Jones?"

Of course I do!

So he proceeded to sing:

"Me and Mrs. Jones...Mrs. Jones...Mrs. Jones...
We've got a thing goin' on
She is my teacher
And I love her..."

"I made up the last party myself, Mrs. Jones!"

Thank you, Zack.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

This might be my favorite question to ask children. Their dreamy, unrealistic plans make me smile and inspire me.

Here are some responses I've gotten...

"an astronaut"

"a policeman"

"a skunk"

"a doctor"

"a mommy"

"a captain and a chef"

"a table seller"

"a horse doctor"


But today, I asked the question, and Giovanni's answer knocked my socks off! "Giovanni, what do you want to be when you grow up?" "Well, I pretty much want to be myself."

Oh. Yeah. It's not about doing. Our job title doesn't define us. It's about being. Being yourself.

Fables

Today the seventh graders came to our class to read some Fables and write stories. Two very wonderful things happened.

Mrs. Lewis (7th grade teacher) and I began to partner off the students: one seventh grader with each kindergartener. I told Mrs. Lewis that David is an English Language Learner whose first language is Russian, and would probably need another kindergarten partner to help him write his story. Mrs. Lewis told me that she has a girl in her class who is also an English Language Learner whose first language is Korean. This girl was terrified to read her fable. She was so nervous that her partner wouldn't be able to understand her story, or would think that she was dumb. David was a perfect fit. It was so sweet to watch them read and write together in broken English. Neither one could probably understand the other very well, but neither one cared. They knew first hand what the other had gone through this year: learning a new language in a new school. They smiled at each other and communicated more than words ever could.

Mrs. Lewis also has a student with autism. He has an aide who writes everything for him. He ended up being partnered with Luke. Luke's classmates describe him as "very quiet and very smart". Luke hardly ever speaks. Even when he is called on, it takes him a while to say something. I wondered how he was going to dictate a story. The boys went into the hallway to read and write their story. Ten minutes later, Mrs. Lewis came up to me with a look of surprise on her face. She was holding the story the boys had just written: Half a page about a little monkey named banana-lover who chases off a mean gorilla. She told me that she had never seen her student write that much on his own. I told her I had never heard Luke say so many words. I'm not exactly sure how they did it, but those boys were a perfect fit for each other.

This makes my heart smile

Sydney asks: Miss Terrill, can I tell you four things?

Yes, Sydney.

Okay, #1 I love horses.
# 2 I love unicorns.
# 3 I had a really good dream last night.
and #4 I love being at school.

Who will save the day?

My class wrote a story:

(If you are in kindergarten, this is the most exciting part of the story because you have never been on a school bus before).

But no story is complete without some conflict...

And the very exciting and terrifying climax...

Now there was some debate as to who was going to save the day.

We took a vote.

These were the results:

David's Dad-1

Miss Terrill -2

Mr. Jones-3

Ethan's Dog-3

God-5

I feel a bit slighted that I lost to Mr. Jones and Ethan's dog.

But I think God was most qualified to save the day.

A good resolution.

Questions for God

Writing prompt: What is your question for God?

Giovanni wanted to ask God when it was Monday. Why? He was going to his grandma's house on Monday, but wasn't quite sure when Monday would come along. I clarified that we should ask God a question that only he knows the answer to. He changed his question to, "Jesus, what r santos Wrkers name" (Translation: Jesus, What are Santa's worker's names? I decided to leave the theology of this question alone).

Other questions included:

How did God made the mon?

Where dus God Get his Powrs?

Where Duz God liV?

and my favorite...


? Hoo Poot the Glitr on the snO?



P.S. We don't do spelling tests in kindergarten :)

Welcome to Kindergarten!

This morning I told my class that I wanted to write some stories about them. They were pretty pumped and eager to help me brainstorm. I asked them what would be important for people to know about our class. Here they are-the 7 most important things you need to know about Miss Terrill's Kindergarten class in their words (and mine):

1. We sit at tables called desks. (in case you are unfamiliar with the term "desk")
2. We have a sight word wall.
3. Our class is so special to us.
4. Our class is the quietest class in the whole school. (that's what I tell them at least)
5. We have birthday crowns and birthday badges. (remember when paper crowns were as good as real ones?)
6. We do Bible verses and reading groups.
7. Miss Terrill is the best teacher in the whole wide world. (turns out)

There you have it. Those are the facts. Welcome to our class.