Gingerbread Men

 

Notice the sideways stickers on the dark brown one...

Every time I do a artsy kind of project with this large class, I can tell it will not turn out the way I planned.  With 27 kids, it is impossible to guide everyone at the same time.  This week we started our Gingerbread Man theme, and I am excited to take part in a gingerbread man exchange organized by "Learning with Mrs. Parker" in California.  We were to make 25 gingerbread men and send them out to other classes all over the United States -- even one to a class in Germany.  I looked at lots of ideas, but with so many kids, I thought simple would be better.  Color it, put on 4 stickers and 3 buttons -- what could go wrong?  Well, about half of them put the stickers in the wrong places -- even though there was an outline on the hands and feet for them to follow.  They colored them lots of weird patterns and colors. Not all are proficient with scissors --  we knew some would have amputations if we let them cut them out, and we didn't want to risk that since we were mailing them..

So, not anything fancy, but the kids were proud of them.  After I helped them rearrange stickers and buttons -- and cut off the out-of-lines crayon marks -- they looked kind of cute. . We are going to put the ones we receive on a bulletin board -- I'll take a pictures!!

I am thankful to have some volunteers to help prepare the Christmas craftivities -- but I know we will not be able to make as many as we have in previous years when we had a smaller class.  I don't know what the policymakers are thinking when they allow such large classes in kindergarten.  We all do the best we can, but there is no way to do the coaching and conferencing and guiding that we want to do.  On the bright side -- most of them are able to read and write a sentence or two, and it does get easier after Christmas...if we can survive until then!  I have laryngitis this week, so trying to teach when I can't speak above a whisper is quite a challenge!!  I thank God for my wonderful assistant!!