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.