Last Day of School

Today is the last day of the school year.  Kindergarten graduation is tomorrow.  I might cry.

Photos from the first month of school--

Practicing this month for talent show -- I can't believe how much they've grown!

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Source: Pinterest 

Lord... bless these children.

Florida Class Talent Show - Installment #3

Last week I began a series about my school's talent show with this post.  Talent Show is the end-of-year production for our graduating kindergarteners, and it takes place in the same ceremony as graduation.  Don't you wish your high school had done that?  ;)

Today's installment is the last post for Florida Class's "we're villains but we're not that bad" script.  In case you missed them, here are Installment #1 and Installment #2.

Today you'll meet Captain Hook (from Peter Pan) and Hare (from The Tortoise and the Hare), the Giant (from Jack and the Beanstalk) and the Evil Step-Mother (from Cinderella).

These two sections have some of my favorite lines from the skit (though I could probably say that about most of the villains' plots).  I love puns and fairy tales, so getting a chance to make puns about fairy tale villains was a lot of fun!  Just putting scenarios out there, like Hare running the "Race for the Cure Marathon, sponsored by Aesop's Publishing Company" -- the kids don't get those references at all, but I crack up when I hear little, wiry Alice spouting off that little bit of wit.  She's such a character that it doesn't matter if she understands the joke or not, she delivers it well!  (I'm not even sure if my co-teacher catches all of them, but they make my heart happy!)

Anna helped out again with Hook's predicament.  I had trouble figuring out a way for him to be less evil.  I mean, he's a creepy old man on a ship surrounded by little boys... then Anna came up with the idea that Peter was stealing the treasure cause it sparkles, so we ran with that.

Hook (Peter Pan) and Hare (The Tortoise and the Hare) [Benjamin and Alice]

Hook – That is too bad for Rumpelstiltskin.  If he wanted a puppy, he should go to a pet shop. 

Hare – You’re right.  There are easier ways to get a dog!

Hook – How are you?  I heard that you ran a big marathon last weekend.

Hare – Yes!  It was the Forest Animals Race For The Cure Marathon, sponsored by Aesop’s Publishing Company.  It was for a race to raise money for charity!

Hook – Did you win?

Hare – No, I was in first place for most of the race, but I felt bad.  I am naturally very fast, so running is very easy for me.  I felt bad for the tortoise, though.  He is very slow.  He never wins races.  I decided to take a rest at the last water stop to give him a chance to catch up. 

Hook – That was very nice of you!

Hare – Thank you!  I do my best to be a nice girl.  Not everyone can be as good at running as me.  I have a lot of energy.  It felt good to let the Tortoise win, just once.  He looked so happy holding up that trophy.  Anyway, how are things in Neverland?

Hook – Oh, do you remember that boy I told you about?

Hare – You mean Peter?

Hook – Yes, that’s him.  Peter Pan.  He is such a horrible child!  He stole my favorite treasure chest.  What is a good pirate without his treasure box?  Peter Pan and those other little lost boys came sneaking around my ship and took my box!  Little children like things that sparkle, so I’m sure it was tempting, but it does not belong to them!  I have to find a way to get it back.  It has my spare hooks in it! 

Hare – How rude!  I hope you get your treasure chest and your hooks back! 

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The Giant is played by Luis, the biggest kid in the class.  He is HILARIOUS.  He's really awkward and he fidgets a lot, and somehow that combination is PERFECT for this part.  When he shouts "Fee Fi Fo Fum!" I just about die laughing.  

Ruby does a great job with her part as well, playing the misunderstood step mother who just wants to get to know Cinderella.  What better way to bond than over new shoes? 

Giant (Jack and the Beanstalk) and Step Mother (Cinderella) [Luis and Ruby]

Step Mother – Giant, why do you look so upset? 

Giant – My house was robbed!  I was up there at the top of the beanstalk, eating breakfast in the kitchen and minding my own business when this kid runs in!  He scared me half to death!  I shouted, “FEE FI FO FUM!” to try to scare him off, but before he ran away, he stole my pet goose, my favorite magical harp, and a bunch of gold!  Can you believe that?

Step Mother – Oh my goodness!

Giant – I tried to follow him to get my things back, but his mother helped him escape.  What a pair of criminals!

Step Mother – Sounds like you’ve had a hard day.

Giant – I have.  How was your day?

Step Mother – Well, my spoiled step daughter is at it again.  I try and try to be nice to her, but she won’t let me get to know her!  She just stays up in the attic all day with those mice and those birds and refuses to come downstairs.  Last night, Drizella and Anastasia and I went to a ball at the castle and we invited her to come with us in the carriage but she wouldn’t join us.  Then later we saw her at the party!  How rude!  I don’t know how she got there after we left the house.  I’m just glad she left early.  I just don’t know what to do with her!  Maybe we can go shoe shopping together next weekend. 

Giant – That sounds nice.  I heard that she lost a shoe at the party.  She probably needs a new one!

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I hope y'all have enjoyed these selections!  I had a lot of fun writing them.  I'll reiterate my spiel from the first post that if you'd like to borrow them, just ask!  I'm more than happy to grant permission for you or someone you know to use my ideas, but I'd just like to know about it!

Like any good fable, the last nugget gives The Moral of the Story, and Florida Class's skit is no exception:

So you see, we are called the villains, but now that you’ve heard our sides of the stories, you can decide for yourself.  Are we really that bad?  Remember: there are always two sides to every story! 

(Stay tuned for Libra Class's script excerpts!  They'll hit the blog later this week, if I've got time to post them! I've got a LOT going on the next few weeks... eesh!!)

Florida Class Talent Show - Installment #2

Continuing the posts about Florida's talent show script (which started a few days ago with this post), the villains for today are Rumpelstiltskin and the Queen from Snow White, followed by Scar (from The Lion King) and the Fox (from The Gingerbread Man).

Rumpelstiltskin and the Witch/Queen (Snow White) [Jace and Elizabeth]

Witch/Queen – Rumpelstiltskin, you’re looking Grimm today.  What’s wrong?

Rumpelstiltskin – I just had a horrible meeting with the Queen!  We had a deal.  I would spin straw into gold, then she would pay me.  Well I got tired of getting jewelry for all my work, so I asked for one of the royal puppies instead.  They’re so cute!  I would love to have a dog around the house, but instead she told everyone that I asked for her firstborn child!  What kind of monster asks for a child as payment?!  Now I can’t work anywhere in the kingdom because everyone thinks I’m a kidnapper.  All I wanted was a puppy!

Witch/Queen – Oh I’m so sorry!  I can’t believe she would spread such nasty rumors. 

Rumpelstiltskin – She isn’t as nice as people think she is.

Witch/Queen – That sounds like my step-daughter, Snow White.  She met the huntsman in the woods and thought that I sent him to cut out her heart!  Really I just sent him to BUY her some CANDY hearts!  What a misunderstanding!  Now she won’t have anything to do with me.  I even tried to send her a bunch of apples to say “I’m sorry,” but somehow she thinks they’re poison!  Now I don’t know what to do!  

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Lemme tell you, it was hard to find a way for Scar to just be "misunderstood."  He is EVIL. I racked my brain for a reason that Scar could be less despicable and I honestly couldn't find one.  I finally asked Anna Teacher for help and she and I came up with this possibility  but it isn't my favorite of the villains' excuses for their villainous reputations.

We read The Gingerbread Man in class, so the Foxy Lady (hehe) lines were fun to write.  Sarah plays the fox and she does a precious job!  Henry plays Scar and he had a lot of trouble with his lines, so Anna ended up cutting a lot of them and now he lip syncs to some lyrics from The Lion King musical instead.  It doesn't exactly fit, but it's really cute.

Scar (Lion King) and Lady Fox (Gingerbread Man)  [Henry and Sarah]

Scar – Hello Fox, how are you today?

Lady Fox – Hello Scar, I’m not very good.  That little gingerbread man tricked me!  The farmer’s wife baked him, but he ran away from her.  Then, he was chased by a pig and a horse and a cow.  He can’t swim, so he wanted help crossing the river.  I was nice enough to help him cross the river, but then he jumped all the way up to my face!  I’m allergic to gingerbread men!  I tried not to sneeze, but I couldn’t help it, and he fell in the river!  Now everyone thinks I ate him!

Scar – That’s too bad!  You were just trying to be nice.  What a sad misunderstanding. 

Lady Fox – Tell me about it.  How are you, Scar?  Has that little nephew of yours caused any more trouble?

Scar – Well, of course.  You know that Mufasa, the king, is my older brother.  I should be king after him!  It isn’t my fault that I was born second.  I would be a much better king than he has been.  I would rule the land with efficiency and control.  Instead of banishing them to the badlands, I would work together with the hyenas to have a peaceful kingdom without trouble.  I would be a fair and honest king.  Now that little cub Simba will be king next instead of me!  He is too young and headstrong to rule!    

Lady Fox – That is too bad.  It’s tough to be the second son. 

Scar – You’ve got that right.  At least Simba is a cute nephew... but don’t let him hear that I said anything nice!  It might ruin my reputation for being a tough lion.  

(In case you missed it, catch the first installment here.)

Florida Class Talent Show - Installment #1

I mentioned yesterday in this post that I'd be posting the scripts for talent show over the next several days.

Today I'll start with some of Florida's script.

Here you'll meet the Wolf (from The Three Little Pigs) and Goldilocks (as in, and the Three Bears).  Brant and Cecil do a super-cute job!  Anna Teacher has changed a few lines and added some dance moves due to time restraints on our class's allotted show time, but here is the original idea!

Wolf (3 Little Pigs) and Goldilocks (3 Bears) [Brant and Cecil]

Wolf – Hello Goldilocks, you look frightened!  What is wrong?

Goldilocks – Those three bears scared me half to death!  All I wanted was a nice relaxing weekend away!  I got the address wrong!  I thought I was going to a nice, quiet bed and breakfast, tucked back in the woods.  The cabin was cute and the porridge was just right.  I had just settled in for a quiet nap when the bears stomped into the room and woke me up!  I was so scared! They wouldn't even let me explain that I was on vacation. 

Wolf – That sounds terrible.

Goldilocks – It was!  I can’t even get a refund for my weekend.  How was your weekend?

Wolf – It was horrible.  I have had a terrible head cold all week, so I’ve been huffing and puffing night and day.  I saw some new neighbors move in down the street, so I went over to welcome them to the neighborhood and invite them to dinner, but then I started sneezing!  I accidentally knocked down two of their houses!  Who makes houses out of straw and sticks, anyway?  

Talent Show is coming up quick!

Brighton Kindergarten's Graduation And Talent Show is coming up in 15 days.  Can you believe it??  I'm blown away about this past year... so much has happened, I've experienced so many different things, and God has grown me in unexpected and wonderful ways.  I wouldn't change this year for anything.  I promise I'll do more introspective posts as my one-year anniversary comes up closer, but for now I'd just like to talk a little about this wonderful challenge called Talent Show.

It all started with a conversation that went something like:

"Zara, the foreign teachers write the script for the talent show."

"Oh, what?"

"So you need to write the script. And Zara, don't make the words too easy. Moms and Dads want to see that their kids can say hard words in English." 

"...uh...ok...what sort of script?" 

[Note: True story.  I'm not using hyperbole to make a point.  Very often, Moms and Dads are not as concerned with their kids' ability to understand what they're saying in English, just that they *can say* the hard words.  I found that out during open class.  Image is everything.  OH KOREA.]

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I teach three main kindergarten classes, but two of them combine together for their Korean class (Montana + Virginia = Libra ...just smile and nod), so in many cases, my three classes are generalized as two main classes.  This is one of those cases, so I had two scripts to write: one for Florida class and one for Libra class.

Anna (my co-teacher for Florida class) wanted our class to do a skit about famous fairy tale villains, told from their point of view.  She wanted stories that painted the villains as not-as-bad-as-we-think-they-are.  Challenge accepted!  That script was really fun to write!

Celine (my co-teacher for both Montana and Virginia aka Libra class) wanted our classes to have a presidential debate (running for president of our kindergarten).  The only problem was that I don't understand how Korean presidential elections go... In the USA, we have 2 parties that duke it out, but in Korea there were a lot more candidates for president in the election that was just held in December.  I didn't watch any of the run-up to the election so I didn't see any debates or discussion of the issues, so that script was a lot harder for me to wrap my head around.  Not to mention, how do you get 22 kids to cooperate in a debate format?  We worked it out so that we have 4 "parties" running for office, each with a candidate and campaign staff.  We decided that they wouldn't actually debate the issues, but rather introduce their campaign platforms.  It was harder for me to be creative with that script, but now that it's done, the kids are doing a really good job with it.  It is SO CUTE to watch!

Both skits are adorable.  I'm really pleased with how the stories turned out!

Florida's script (the fairy tale villains) cracked me up while I was writing it, knowing which kids were going to have which lines and imaging how they'd deliver them.  They have not disappointed in hilarity! They're so precious!

Libra's script has some seriously hard words (anything written by a social studies teacher about policy and elections is gonna include some higher-level vocabulary, even for seven-year-olds, and with the go-ahead for hard words, I went all out!) and the kids are just DOMINATING the pronunciation!  It's actually been an awesome way to teach these little toots some difficult concepts and terms!  They have learned all about candidates and platforms and elections and what the different roles are in the campaign staff... Did you know any of that when you were in kindergarten?  I bet not.  My kiddos are CHAMPIONS!

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Over the next 15 days, I'd like to share some pieces (or all?) of the scripts.  I'm not sure if there are any copyright laws on this, but since I wrote them, I think it's fair for me to post them here.  If you or anyone you know would like to borrow them for any reason, just ask me!  I would probably be okay with that, with credit where credit is due.  I really enjoyed writing them, so I just ask that I get a shout out if someone does use my intellectual property.  Or payment.  I'd be cool with that.

Stay tuned!