The beginning of the school year is always filled with lots of excitement, and in SK 107 we have a variety of engaging ways for children to learn. Recently, they have been very busy looking for monsters! We began our monster unit by reading Marilyn’s Monster by Michelle Knudsen. Some of the kids in Marilyn’s class have monsters, but Marilyn doesn’t have hers yet and decides to search for him. SK 107 felt a search was necessary too!
We went on a monster hunt around the school (a great way to go on a school tour for our new friends, too). And can you believe that we did not find one monster?! After not finding any, we did what anyone searching for a monster would do: we called the Monster Help Hotline! Hairy Larry's Emporium Monster Hotline appreciated our curiosity and creativity. As it turns out, their new protocol is to beam monsters directly into the imagination of children. This helps to ensure that no monster will get lost in transit. They also assured us that every monster comes with a quality guarantee so that each monster is as real as you believe them to be.
After hearing the new protocol, SK 107 got to work creating their own monsters! Each child shared what their monster will be helping them with in SK. Goals were far and wide from helping them to become better readers, improving math abilities, becoming more attentive listeners, practicing patience, and even enhancing some magician skills. Goal setting and reflection are both essential components of our learning.
During our monster unit, we played Monster Memory, chose a class monster for Go Noodle (movement-focused brain breaks), and watched short episodes of Mojo the monster from Classroom Dojo (a program that teaches skills or values — whether it's working hard, being kind or helping others), and read lots of books including My Teacher is a Monster by Peter Brown.
Of course, the best part of our monster unit is the joy our students have had in their monster journey. The students in SK 107 are just having so much fun they don’t even realize they’re learning.
Thanks Hairy Larry for helping SK 107 find our monsters!