I cannot believe it SNOWED the morning of my first school visit! So serendipitous!
I thoroughly enjoyed sharing ICE CAP and the ideas behind every element of the book with the students (JK TO Gr. 5). Seeing former colleagues, new teachers and student teachers was pretty fun too! The whole school visit made me MISS my teaching career but…my dream was to reach MANY children and so the journey begins!
My early morning started with a cart full of props (everything from forest animal stuffies, the natural items used to decorate ICE CAP’s tree, etc), various sizes of snowmen to sequence/compare and couple of follow up activities for each class. I can hardly wait to see how they personally designed their card stock snowboards!
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0d1KmdDb5AU9vLmYByJAuixmg
I had sooooo much with students at every level because the perceptions, comments, ideas and questions were all so unique to their own age and experiences. For example, when I asked this open-ended question, “What kind of beans could Ice Cap take from nature to decorate his tree?”, I got so many different answers – all correct: “Coffee beans, big beans, green beans, etc.” Kids love when their ideas are valued!
My presentation shifted with each grade, but the experience was the same: FANTASTIC! When I asked them what a giggling heap would sound like, that was all the same – joyful, loud and infectious!!! My day ended with lovely feedback from the staff and teachers. Many thanks go out to them for allowing me to share my winter tale! I look forward to investigating the process of writing Narratives with some older grades in the New Year!
Cheers! Joan Epp
P.S.
If you are a parent, please consider volunteering in your child’s classroom. The rewards are many. Children are delightful, full of possibilities, and they possess wonderful imaginations…it’s an AWESOME experience to be a part of their world!
