When I began this blog, Goodbye Kindergarten, I decided to subtitle it, "A Retiring Kindergarten Teacher's Favorite Lessons and Reflections on a Rewarding Career." Looking back over 62 posts, I believe I've almost accomplished my goal. I've written what I've felt and thought and learned about young children over my long career. I've shared ideas about teaching all subjects from reading to writing to math to social studies and science. I've offered my opinions on some of the controversies in kindergarten education (Common Core, play-based vs academically-oriented curriculums, Dr. Seuss, and Thanksgiving Feasts, to name a few.)
However, I have NOT yet shared my truly favorite lessons, those into which I poured heart and soul, and those which many former students seem to remember most fondly.
Let me start with my Country Fair lesson. I think many early childhood programs include a unit on farms, farm animals, and/or rural communities. I used to teach this unit in the fall but other teachers have found spring is a good time to offer a farm unit. I'm not going to outline such a unit here except to say that our unit included reading fiction and nonfiction about 5 or 6 farm animals, creating each animal out of construction paper, and learning classic songs about the farm (ie; Old McDonald, The Farmer in the Dell, Will You Feed My Cow?) Most years, we went on a field trip to a local farm or, at least, an apple orchard or pumpkin patch.
The Big Idea behind the farm unit was that "farm=food," and, yes, my students did slowly understand that the chicken on the dinner table was once a chicken on a farm!
The Country Fair was the culminating activity in our farm unit. Our room was decorated with our many farm animal craft projects, the children had practiced the "country music," small groups were ready to share what they had learned about the different animals. A week before the event, I sent a note home to parents inviting them to come to our Country Fair. I also invited them to contribute home-baked goods for a Bake-Off competition at the Country Fair, promising all who entered would get a blue-ribbon!
I realize that times have changed and it is difficult to get many working parents to attend events during the school day. You have to know your community to know whether you can invite parents to the event. Please consider inviting another class to your Country Fair or even the principal and some support staff. However, you can just have the Country Fair for your own class and that can be fun, too. Also, nowadays there are rules in some school districts about serving homemade food or any food at all. You may not include the Bake-0ff or maybe ask for store-bought baked goods, or focus on the fruits and vegetables that our farms give us instead. After all, a Blue Ribbon carrot is a sight to behold!
My students were encouraged to dress in blue jeans or overalls, if they had them. They could wear bandanas and hats, too, if they wanted. Dress-up is always a fun activity for young children...and it can be fun for their teachers, too!
After our guests arrived, we all gathered to sing our songs about farms. Many of our guests were able to join in singing these familiar tunes. Each small group would stand in front of one of the farm animal displays. If there were capable readers, they would read a few lines while the others would point to the animals they described. If not, I would share the relevant facts while the children pointed. As we know, it's a good experience for children to even just "stand" in front of an audience. And, at the very end of our Country Fair, I would lay out blue ribbons for each of the baked-goods and everyone would have a little treat.
I hope you will consider having a Country Fair at the end of your next farm unit. Here is a copy of the letter that I sent home to parents explaining the Country Fair. You can click on download and change it to make it your own!
