I had a blast reading the Pete the Cat books this week and using his songs to incorporate a fun colors theme. A teacher friend of mine owns the Pete the Cat Puppet and let us borrow him for the week!
We started the week with the original story, "Pete the Cat; I l Love My White Shoes." We took turns reading the pocket chart and matching the shoes to the color words. I got these adorable shoes from Alyssa Plummer. Thanks Alyssa! You can grab this freebie from here tpt store here. We even played a little hide'n'seek game with Pete later on in the week using her game pieces.
The kids loved 'reading' their color word book with Pete! Although this was a challenge for some of them, it was great practice to find the color word, write the color word, and color the picture to match. Click on the picture to take you to this freebie! Talk about following directions! AND YES, I had many friends color the page the wrong color or circle words that were no where near the right word, but it is all part of the learning.... or so I keep telling myself. And then we have to stop and 'smell the soup.' This saying comes from The Teeny Tiny Teacher, and if you have not read her blog yet.... you should. Click on the link to take you to her 'smell the soup' post. Her blog is medicine for the soul and will make you laugh out loud. Although you should probably wait to click on the link until finishing my blog... because once you read hers, you will be hooked... and my blog will then be a mere figment of your imagination. Forever.
Later in the week, we discussed writing in our journals. This is normally when you hear the, "But teacher I don't know how to write yet!!!" (in the most whiny, sincere voice) and quite possibly followed by tears. I then responded in my most excited teacher cheer that they can write! (while wearing my giant magic reading glasses because there is no talking while I'm wearing the glasses..) I explained that writing is simply drawing what you see in your brain. "Close your eyes and think of Pete the Cat," I say. "Can you see him?"
"YES!" They squeal!
So we began to look at the shapes used to draw Pete the Cat and I slowly used my sad, pathetic artistic ability to draw this cute guy. I have to say... I was impressed with myself. He is so cute. I also informed them that one way to write words is to label a picture. We barely touched the surface about labeling, because by now we've sat on the carpet for longer than a 5 year old can handle, but I'm hoping this will be a good start to lead into my labeling literacy center down the road.
LOVE HIM!
And this is where I would insert the picture of me using the Pete puppet... however, I will not. Because apparently I am allergic to something in our school and my eyes were too swollen and red to wear my contacts and feel human. Sigh.
Or maybe it's the 24 students who have already decided it is time to be sick. Nonetheless, we had a terrific week!
And as Pete would say, "It's All Good...."
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