Meet our Mascot!

I would like for you to meet Nicole, our class mascot.  Yes, I know Nicole seems like an odd name for a stuffed pink bear, but I was not the one who did the naming.

We had a "Name the Mascot" contest back in December.  My kiddos earned tickets for having perfect papers.  They had been rushing through their work, and this was something that got them to slow down and do their best.  I drew a name at the end of the week and that student got to name the mascot.  She named it after her sister, Nicole.  I wasn't about to tell her to pick a different name, so Nicole it is! The kiddos all still call it "the mascot" though, so I guess Nicole didn't really stick.

You may be wondering why we have a mascot.  At the beginning of each year I introduce our mascot and mascot journal.  At the end of each day I choose a kiddo to take the mascot home for the night.  They write in the mascot journal to tell about the experience and then read it to the class the next day.  At the beginning of the year the parents are allowed to help with the writing since kinders may be learning letters and sounds still.

They LOVE taking the mascot home and I LOVE that that they are working on their writing!  It is a win, win!

It is amazing to see how their writing improves throughout the year!  These are two writing samples from the same student.  One in the fall, and the other from this month.  Look at the difference!

Some of the kids even make clothes or furniture for the mascot and take photos to add to the journal.  They can be very creative!  The mascot even had breakfast in bed :)

If you are looking for a way to get your kiddos excited about writing, this is an idea to try.  Just make sure you set some ground rules before sending him/her home.  Our mascot is only allowed to pretend swim, bathe or eat food.  So far this has kept her clean.  The kids know that if they destroy her then nobody will get to take her home anymore.

She doesn't go home on Fridays.  I don't want to deal with the "NO FAIR!" complaints that would certainly come, but I tell the kids it is because they wear her out during the week and she needs to take the weekend off to rest.  Speaking of Fridays, only one more day to go this week and then I get to take the weekend off to rest too!

Building Snowmen. . . from paper

There is no snow here in San Francisco, so we have to come up with other ways to make snowmen.  This one wasn't the most exciting method I have ever used, but it was sure a hit with the kiddos!  Snowmen, from a paper printable.

I found this super cute printable from Smarty Pants Fun and thought I would give it a whirl.  I copied it in black and white and had my kiddos color in the pieces they wanted.  They cut them out and put the snowman (or snow woman) together on a piece of white paper.  My classroom may have been quiet enough to hear a pin drop at that point in time!  They each wanted to make an amazing snowman, so they really took their time.

I saved their snowman and used them for a writing activity later in the week.  The kiddos had to write about how they put their snowman together.  I did a model on the whiteboard and had them help me decide what to write, then they were on their own.  They did a great job!  It is amazing how much they can write now!