Field Post 7

I went back to Chippewa Elementary School the Tuesday before Thanksgiving break. I walked in the classroom at 9:30 to see the students preparing to recite the poem for the first graders that they were working on last time I was there: "My Turkey Shot Out of the Oven". The morning began with the class making a turkey hat to wear to their performance later in the afternoon and even I got to participate. Not only that, but I also made the same turkey hat 11 years ago and still have it! Many of the students had troubles with folding and cutting the pieces of paper, and they also used an excessive amount of glue, creating a mess. The whole process took up a big chunk of the morning, as it was tedious work for these second graders. After crafting, it was time to present their star of the week. Star of the week is when one student is chosen a week to present all about them and have the other students ask questions. The students go crazy for this because it gives them a chance to feel special and explain to the class what they are like. The boy presenting that week talked about his family, favorite color, favorite food, favorite activity, where he lived, what he wants to do when he grew up and so on. Following this nearly every kid in the class had their hand up to ask their star a question. It amazed me how curious kids are at this age and how many questions they had. It made me think that at an older age such as high school there would not have been this many questions. This is why I admire this age group--they are curious about everything. After star of the week ended, it was time to get back to work on their poem recital. Ms. Clancy gave each of the 22 students a line in the poem to read. She asked them to line up in order and they practiced the poem three times through. Once the students felt confident Ms. Clancy took them down to the office to recite the poem to the workers there. The principal took a picture of me and the class wearing our turkey hats after the rehearsal, and then we headed back to the classroom to get ready for the library. Each student was asked to pick out a book to take home and start reading it silently while they waited for the others to finish. They found every single chair and every single little nook and corner of the library to sit in and read. After everyone was finished they were asked to reconvene in the center of the library on the "reading carpet" to have a short lesson. Shortly after Ms. Clancy came to pick the class up and it was also time for me to leave. Each time that I say my goodbyes to the class more and more students come up to hug me and I have always been fascinated by this after each of my visits. These kids have really started to grow on me and I believe that I have grown on them.