Back to School Chalk!

I am joining Betsy at Teaching Young Writers for Chalk-a-bration!

April Chalk-a-bration!

 

I'm joining Betsy today for Chalk-a-bration!  I decided this month to let the kids take the chalk and just go wild!  We are all so happy to see a little sunshine, some warmer temperatures and finally, NO MORE SNOW!!  So, to celebrate, we grabbed the chalk and took off for recess.  All of our kindergarten students have recess in the afternoon together.  So, what you see in the photos below are my own students plus many others who decided to join in when they saw the opportunity to chalk!

When you give a kindergartener some chalk,

 ...they will collaborate on a chalk drawing!

 ...they will write words and draw flowers.

...they will draw the sunshine and note who rocks!

 ...they will draw portraits.

...they will work hard to make fancy block letters!

And finally, when you give a kindergartener some chalk, you are bound to draw a crowd...of 74.

Got chalk?

February Chalk-A-Bration



I'm joining in the chalk fun today with Betsy from Teaching Young Writers.  Head on over to check out more chalky goodness!

May God surround you

with strength every day

May love fill your bucket

and hope light your way

 

 

 

Not only does this poem just make me smile, but it also contains my OLW for 2014: LIGHT!  I hope that next month I will be able to find a day that isn't below zero so I can head outside with my chalk!  It's been a long winter inside with my iPad chalk, but it works.

 



January Chalk-a-bration and Poem Love

Today is January 31st.  Do you know what that means???  It's Chalk-a-bration day!!



 





I have linked up with Betsy at Teaching Young Writers to share a little chalk love.

Yesterday, my students were fortunate to have a visit from the amazing Betsy!  She came to share a little poetry love with my students.  They read poetry, shared ideas and chalked a poem with Betsy and it turned out just amazing!  I was very proud of my little kinder sweeties.  They were completely engaged in the poetry, their work, their thoughts.  In fact, when it was time for Betsy to leave, the kids wanted to keep working on poetry!  Score! 

The poem they wrote in partners and small groups was assembled into a larger class poem.  You can see it here on Betsy's blog.  It starts..."In Kindergarten, you get to..." and is a compilation of what they can do as kindergarteners.  It's really quite amazing for their first ever written poetry!

As the rest of the day unfolded, I kept thinking about how excited my students were to try this new thing and how the most easily frustrated students in my room were excited and quick to grab a chalk bit and get started.  This isn't always the case for those little ones when it's writing workshop time.  They are the sweeties to drag their feet, need to find a pencil, "accidently" spill the contents of their writing folders, etc., but none of those kids even thought about it.  They grabbed chalk and joined in with the rest of their peers like writing is the easiest thing in the world for them.  It gave me a lot to think about.  I have found an "in" with those little ones!  I have all kinds of poetry ideas beginning to swirl in my head for the future...beginning with a groundhog poem...assuming we can actually go to school on Monday (so many SNOW DAYS around here!). 

It wasn't just the kids that Betsy had thinking, though.  All afternoon, something kept working in the back of my mind.  I kept thinking about how much the kids had enjoyed sharing ideas about what they do in kindergarten, but we hadn't given any thought to what the teacher gets to do in kindergarten, and that is where my own poem began.  Since I'm not as brave as Betsy, I chalked it on my iPad rather than venturing out into the snow with my chalk.

 

In kindergarten we get to:

watch eyes light up faces

see grins ear to ear

listen to storytellers

watch readers take hold

see writers unfold

listen to happy songs sung

watch scientists bloom

see math minds grow

listen to problems being solved

watch crayons stay inside lines

see hugs between friends

listen to the wonder

 

 

Be sure to head on over to Betsy's blog Teaching Young Writers and check out more chalk today!  To read even more about Betsy's chalk-poetry work, check out her other blog ithinkinpoems today too!

December Chalk-a-Bration!

It's time to join Betsy at Teaching Young Writers for another Chalk-a-Bration!  Quick, grab your chalk and let the poetry dust fly!



It's hard to believe that it's time to break out the chalk again!  Since it's pretty snowy and icy here in Michigan, I used my iPad for chalking this time around.

And three out of four of my children also got in on the chalk action!

 

Maddie is five and is still convinced that people should look like this!  We're still working on it...

 

Avery is only two so we will just call this "abstract art."

 

Matthew, who is 10, used the iPad also but his is a doodle board app instead of a chalk board app.  I just love this picture of Matthew and Dad having a light saber fight!

 

Emma was too busy using her new Kindle Fire to participate...maybe in January the newness will have worn off and she will be able to join in the chalk fun!  :)

October Chalk-a-Bration!

It's Chalk-a-bration time!

I was hoping to take my students outside for a little chalking fun today.  But...it's Halloween and it's Michigan so that means it's raining!  We made do with black paper and brand new pointy chalk instead!  Check it out...I love that some of them added words too!

 

Join Betsy at Teaching Young Writers for more chalk-a-bration!

September Chalk-a-bration

I was hoping to chalk a poem with my students this month, but life happened and chalk didn't!  So, here is my own contribution today...a little poem written in chalk on my iPad.

My amazing friend Betsy is the host of Chalk-a-bration at her blog Teaching Young Writers. Check out her blog for more wonderful chalk poems!

Chalk-a-bration July 2013

It's Chalk-a-bration time again!!  Check out Betsy's blog Teaching Young Writers for more great chalk posts!

Today I have a mixture of chalk from my own children and my students who are attending a summer program for incoming kindergarten students. 

This morning, I noticed on my way out the door that my daughters had been using the chalk in the garage yesterday!  Perfect timing!

                             This is my 5-year old's version of hopscotch!                             

A series of ice cream cones.

Just one of the labels I found...this is where we keep our storage tubs.  I think my 7-year-old is into labeling, organization, etc., with the exception of her bedroom.  :)

At school today, I was planning to take my students outside to decorate the sidewalk by the main door of the school...until it started raining.  So, I scratched that plan and instead let them draw on black paper.  The kids were so attached to their drawings they wanted to take them home.  Since they shared the paper, we compromised and hung the murals on our walls instead.

Josh and Noah: Team X's

 

Jordyn's snow girl

Gavin's ... something?

Drew's boat

 Maddie's bug skeleton (in pink) and Peyton's monkey falling (in white)

Athena's Skylander

CJ's sandwich and name

Brayden's house

Celina's flower

Now it's your turn!  Grab your chalk, find something to write on and go!  Chalk a poem, draw a picture 

 

Be sure to check out Betsy's blog Teaching Young Writers for more chalk!