Monday, September 26th was Will's first Special Helper Day at school and I got to spend the morning with him! As always, I loved getting to be a part of his school day. The students recently finished up a unit called "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" (learning about the body - parts, muscles, skin & skeleton) and were just beginning a new unit on "Taking Good Care of Yourself". So I also got to talk to them about healthy eating for strong and healthy bodies.
To prepare, I organized our snack around my mini presentation. I was focusing on food groups and the new My Plate teaching tool because it's a great visual aid to adults and children alike. I purchased small paper plates and (really roughly) drew in the break down of food groups, per My Plate.
There are no peanut allergies in Will's class, so I brought dry roasted, unsalted peanuts, some wheat crackers, grapes, baby carrots and some green pepper strips. To drink, I brought milk to complete the "My Plate" and because the kids were focusing on the color white this day (or week?).
Will's Special Helper responsibilities included: introducing me :), counting the classmates that were present that day (Duck Duck Goose style) and determining how many (if any) were missing (P.S. - it cracked me up that Will knew exactly who was missing and why... "Austin is missing! He went to visit his uncle Ray!" LOL), leading calendar time...
...playing weather man and dressing the weather bear...
...and holding the flag (ultra seriously) during the Pledge of Allegiance and My Country Tis of Thee song.
He also got to be the line leader for bathroom runs and room changes and make a few special decisions throughout the day such as what prayer to say before snack and which good morning song to sing. It's a very special honor to these kids. :)
To prepare, I organized our snack around my mini presentation. I was focusing on food groups and the new My Plate teaching tool because it's a great visual aid to adults and children alike. I purchased small paper plates and (really roughly) drew in the break down of food groups, per My Plate.
There are no peanut allergies in Will's class, so I brought dry roasted, unsalted peanuts, some wheat crackers, grapes, baby carrots and some green pepper strips. To drink, I brought milk to complete the "My Plate" and because the kids were focusing on the color white this day (or week?). 
Will's Special Helper responsibilities included: introducing me :), counting the classmates that were present that day (Duck Duck Goose style) and determining how many (if any) were missing (P.S. - it cracked me up that Will knew exactly who was missing and why... "Austin is missing! He went to visit his uncle Ray!" LOL), leading calendar time...
...playing weather man and dressing the weather bear...
...and holding the flag (ultra seriously) during the Pledge of Allegiance and My Country Tis of Thee song.
He also got to be the line leader for bathroom runs and room changes and make a few special decisions throughout the day such as what prayer to say before snack and which good morning song to sing. It's a very special honor to these kids. :)After our morning rituals with calendar, weather and chatting in circle time, we went up to the church hall for some active time (since it was raining this day and we wouldn't be going outside to play later). Colors are a big focus right now so we did a couple of color games with dancing/twirling colored scarves...
...and a following directions game where we walked in a circle holding hands (each child had a red, yellow or blue star on their shirt) and walked to the center when our color was called to do some specified motion - wiggling, shaking, tapping foot and clapping, etc.
Then it was bathroom break and my turn to talk to the kids! Will named himself my assistant and stood up front with me, interjecting his own tidbits, pointing to things and holding papers. He answered almost every question I asked before anyone got a chance :) so I had to whisper to him to give the other kids a chance to answer and Mrs. Skees helped me call on the kids with raised hands. We talked about food groups and which foods belong to which groups. (This poster board was the one Will and I made last summer out of grocery ad clippings and construction paper.)
Then we talked about how each of these food groups belong on our plates each day and how half of our plate should be fruits and vegetables!
I brought in a small stack of food-related children's books and read a couple of them and left the rest out to share. I was only planning to read this first one (which I sort of skimmed for my favorite parts), but we ended up reading a second one, which was more of a story than an information book.
Notice Will's position. I had to scooch him around to the bench I was sitting on so everyone could see.
The main reason I chose this book was for this part. It's an absolutely perfect concept for people to consider when thinking about the foods they eat, and it's simple enough for children.
...and a following directions game where we walked in a circle holding hands (each child had a red, yellow or blue star on their shirt) and walked to the center when our color was called to do some specified motion - wiggling, shaking, tapping foot and clapping, etc.
Then it was bathroom break and my turn to talk to the kids! Will named himself my assistant and stood up front with me, interjecting his own tidbits, pointing to things and holding papers. He answered almost every question I asked before anyone got a chance :) so I had to whisper to him to give the other kids a chance to answer and Mrs. Skees helped me call on the kids with raised hands. We talked about food groups and which foods belong to which groups. (This poster board was the one Will and I made last summer out of grocery ad clippings and construction paper.)
Then we talked about how each of these food groups belong on our plates each day and how half of our plate should be fruits and vegetables!
I brought in a small stack of food-related children's books and read a couple of them and left the rest out to share. I was only planning to read this first one (which I sort of skimmed for my favorite parts), but we ended up reading a second one, which was more of a story than an information book.
Notice Will's position. I had to scooch him around to the bench I was sitting on so everyone could see.
The main reason I chose this book was for this part. It's an absolutely perfect concept for people to consider when thinking about the foods they eat, and it's simple enough for children."Everyday foods" and "sometimes foods" - and we discussed many examples of each.
Following that, I was finished with what I had planned, but was requested to read one more book - Handa's Surprise - before closing. This is one of Will's favorite books and the kids seemed to really enjoy it too. It involves fruit and animals... what's not to love?!?!
Afterwards, Will helped me set out the snack while the other kids had some play time and clean up time.
I started with this... and LOTS of kids asked for seconds (& thirds) of various things. It just amazes me how so many kids immediately start with "I don't liiiike _____" (mostly the green pepper). ;-)
Following snack, the kids worked on a couple of different organized crafts related to nutrition... and the color WHITE! They painted "milk" onto cups:
And they created their own "My Plate" on large pieces of card stock paper with paper plates (marked with My Plate divisions) and a plastic fork taped on top. ;-) The kids used grocery store ads to cut and glue foods from different groups onto their plates.
Will with one of his closest pals, Jacob, working on their My Plate craft:
And finally, our school day closed with circle time and the goodbye song. Will and I ate our packed lunches together and then I drove him to the sitters for nap before heading off to work for the second half of the day.
Following that, I was finished with what I had planned, but was requested to read one more book - Handa's Surprise - before closing. This is one of Will's favorite books and the kids seemed to really enjoy it too. It involves fruit and animals... what's not to love?!?!
Afterwards, Will helped me set out the snack while the other kids had some play time and clean up time.
I started with this... and LOTS of kids asked for seconds (& thirds) of various things. It just amazes me how so many kids immediately start with "I don't liiiike _____" (mostly the green pepper). ;-)
Following snack, the kids worked on a couple of different organized crafts related to nutrition... and the color WHITE! They painted "milk" onto cups:
And they created their own "My Plate" on large pieces of card stock paper with paper plates (marked with My Plate divisions) and a plastic fork taped on top. ;-) The kids used grocery store ads to cut and glue foods from different groups onto their plates.
Will with one of his closest pals, Jacob, working on their My Plate craft:
And finally, our school day closed with circle time and the goodbye song. Will and I ate our packed lunches together and then I drove him to the sitters for nap before heading off to work for the second half of the day. Craig will be doing our next two helper days in December (Will's half-birthday) and January, but I'm planning/hoping to be there for the Thanksgiving celebration where the kids help prepare a lunch and the families all eat together in the church hall. And I'm already looking forward to my next helper day in February.
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