By Golly... He Got Away Again!

What a fun week, filled with lots of excitement, as we prepared to Catch Leprechauns!   The Kinders had a blast!  The teachers were worn out, but are still smiling!
At the beginning of March, a letter was sent home to parents that they had a project to work on as a family.  I use Ashley Reed's TpT unit.  The letter mentioned that they should work with their child to create a trap that would "catch a leprechaun" in the classroom.  The trap had to fit on a table spot!  Trust me - that is an important direction!  I had one trap that was king-size,  made out of lots of wood, and heavy!
Then...you wait!  All of a sudden, a couple of days before St. Patrick's Day magic begins to happen.  Once that first trap arrives in the classroom, it truly is like magic.  Every day, more and more traps arrive.  Why?  Because Kinders remember things like seeing a friend bring in a leprechaun trap, so they remind their parents that they NEED one, too.  It really is a beautiful thing!
On the day before St. Patrick's day, we begin making posters in small groups.  We talk about what pictures may attract a leprechaun or what words we could use to draw them in.  Next, they worked cooperatively in little groups to create posters to hang outside our classroom.  Let me tell you; it is SO fun to watch and listen in as they talk about what they are going to draw and write.  I even saw kids doing "Rock, Paper, Scissors" to decide who could keep the leprechaun.  Then they decided on custody issues, too.  One would get him only on the weekends; the other during the week days.

The most FUN part of the day.....we set our traps on our table spots and started the tour.  Yep, we toured the room as each students explained in great detail how their trap was going to work to catch that little green man.  It was amazing to hear the vocabulary they used as they showcased their trap.  I'm pretty sure that meets CCSS!  With inservice on St. Patrick's Day this year, we "cheated" and set the traps a day early.  That worked out fine, since they will set them again tonight at their houses.

After school, we (a 2nd grade teacher helped because he loves to) messed with the traps, put green footprints around the room, and messed with a few other things in the classroom.
WELL, this morning I actually had to block my doorway with a pocket chart.  We have no doors, and they were dying to get in the room.  The kids were so cute.  One girl was sure there was something in her trap.  Another boy grabbed her trap and shook it,  she screamed, "Great, now you killed it!"   I tried not to laugh, but our tech guy just couldn't hold it together as he watched  the "leprechaun murder" unfold.  
Needless to say, everything ALL day long was the leprechaun's doings.  They were convinced he was watching us.  They saw every little hole that has been on the ceiling tiles this entire year and thought for it was made by the leprechaun.  It was just too funny!  
What we don't do in Kindergarten for our OWN enjoyment!

"Popping" Fun Activity

Who doesn't love Dr. Seuss books, right? 

They are full of goofy words and rhymes, unusual characters, and often spur cool activities related to the books. 

I read the story, Hop on Pop to my students and then they got to do the coolest thing ever...sit on a balloon and POP it!  After have a "POPPIN' GOOD TIME" the students built words and shared them with their friends.  

So much learning took place during this fun activity.
We have to do it every year! 

 CLICK HERE to have this fun activity in your very own classroom!