😈 Have You Found Your Monster? 
Ms. Julie Gelfond and Ms. Gorelik, SK 107 Teachers
The beginning of the school year is always filled with lots of excitement! Our friends in SK 107 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 was inspired by Marilyn and 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). Can you believe that we did not find a single monster?! After not finding any, we did what anyone searching for monsters would do: we called the Monster Help Hotline! Hairy Larry's 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 throughout the year in SK. Goals were far and wide from helping them to become better readers, improving math abilities, becoming more attentive listeners, and even trying to learn how to do a backflip! Goal setting and reflection are both essential components of our learning.
In SK 107 we have a variety of engaging ways for children to learn. During our monster unit, we played Monster Memory, chose a class monster for Go Noodle (movement-focused brain breaks), 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 we have seen our students exude during their monster journey. Thanks, Hairy Larry for helping SK 107 find our monsters!

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