So Long, Farewell...

Dear Hardworking Journalists' Families,

As many of you saw, our last day of school was not only a day filled with fun games, lots of laughs, and spending time together; it was also a day of closure.  Goodbye's can be hard, but they are also very important for communities to share, to honor each other's feelings.  For our final goodbye, we wrote in our Class Journal, not about what we did that day, but about our thoughts feelings about it being the last day of Kindergarten.  This is what they said.

Gaby:  I had a great time this year with all of my friends and I will miss each and every one of you guys.

Fiona- I feel sad because it's the last day of school.  I'm glad it's Pajama Day.  It's hard to talk when you're sad.

Patrick-  I am sad because I will miss my friends and I won't be able to play with them anymore.

Lorenzo-  I'm sad cuz I'll miss this school.

Mirriam-  I feel sad because I will miss you all, but I'll still see Gaby, and I love you all.

Xander-  I'm happy that I'm going to a new grade.

Ashtyn-  I will still see Christian and we are going to the same class.

Isaac-  I feel sad cuz I like KinderCare and I love this school.

Isaiah-  I will miss all you people, but I will still remember you.

Bryson-  I will miss everyone in the class, but I will see you in 1st grade, and I'll have fun on summer break.

Ryan-  I'm going to miss all of my friends and everybody else.

Teagan- I'm sad.

Kayla-  I'm sad that I'm going to miss everyone in this class.

Chloe-  I fee sad because I will miss some friends that are going to a different school.

Jacob-  I feel sad because I won't see you for a little while, but I'll still see you.

Clara-  I am feeling a little bit sad and happy and I'll see you in September.  I'm excited for the friends going to a new school.

Logan-  I'm sad I won't see some of my friends who are going to a different school.

Nativ-  I will miss everybody in this whole school.  And I am going to Israel and still remember you.  You're still my friends.

Christian-  I'm sad because I will miss you all.

Michael-  I'm going to a place like school while my parents go to work.

This was quite an emotional last Meeting Time.  We ended with our Special Goodbye Circle, but this time, instead of whispering a special message to the friend next to you, hugs were given, which were really sweet.  We ended with giving ourselves a big round of applause for completing our year together and for having done such hard work!

It was truly a pleasure coming to work everyday and getting the chance to work with your wonderful children.  I am sad to see them go on, but am very excited to see them grow and continue to develop into beautiful, thoughtful, and curious people.  They know my door is always open, so please come in to say hello!

Thank you for an amazing year.
Love, Gaby

Some Of Our Favorite Things To Do!

Hello!

This week, the Hardworking Journalists honored the closing of the school year with a celebration of some of their favorite things!  The class had generated a list of some of their favorite games that they wished to play, so we took to the neighboring park for a snack break and some fun!

We played many games, including Sharks and Minnows, Seaweed Tag, Fastest Tagger in the West...

Red Light, Green Light

and Duck, Duck, Goose!

Some friends also brought in their favorite games to share with the class, so we did Games/Relax and Reading Switch during the afternoon.

We continued the festivities on the last day of school with even more favorite games and books from home, as well as an ongoing slideshow of the memories captured on film throughout the year.

As a gift from me, I invited friends to select one picture from this photo collage for them to take home and keep.

I also gave out a Thank You card for all of the great memories we had together, as well as a handmade paperback book for them to write all of their adventures and stories in.  When they come back to school for 1st Grade, I look forward to reading them!

Have a great summer!

Love, Gaby

Butterflies, Birthdays, Taking Bows, and MORE!!

Hello Hardworking Journalist's families!

Here is a recap of the adventures we have been having in the last few days of school:

The First Graders had been housing a chrysalis and watched a Monarch butterfly emerge from its casing!  They brought it to the garden and we were able to enjoy witnessing it's first FLIGHT!

Thank you to Natalie for being our Family Reader this week!

We had MANY Birthday Celebrations this week!  These two friends invited us to sing Happy Birthday to them and then SHOUT Happy Birthday! as loud as we could!  That was a new request!

We also sang, So Long, Farewell

And gave out Birthday High Fives and Birthday Hugs!

We played a few games of Mr. Fox, Mr Fox, What Time Is It?

And Red Light, Green Light.

We also enjoyed a special treat.

On another day, we had even MORE birthday celebrations together!  We got to sing and SHOUT Happy Birthday to our friends again.

Sing So Long, Farewell...

...and Big Yellow Taxi.

We gave Birthday High Fives all around!

Played Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox, What Time Is It?

And Steal the Bacon.

Thanks for the special homemade treats!

This week, the friends also requested to have a Silly Meeting.  Before starting, the class reviewed the agreements for having a successful Silly Meeting, which included:  (Audience) sit quietly, look at the presenter, wait your try, applaud, give a thumbs up, laugh in your normal laugh.  (Presenter) do something silly! take care of your body, our body, and our feelings by doing things that could make us laugh but not make us feel uncomfortable.  We had many different silly things going on, including dancing, singing, jokes, faces, and body movements!

We also had a special expert, Amanda, come in to talk to us about her pet "Oo-May-May", a snake from Africa that lives in sand.  We got to hear all about it's diet, it's hunting tactics, and how to keep him happy and healthy.

Friday, after school, The Hardworking Journalists held their screening of their re-enactment of Marcia Brown's >>>STONE SOUP<<<

Love, Gaby