I said, “Well, youcan’t take your baby home from the hospital without a name. I always named my dolls when I waslittle.”
The mother said, “Iguess you only had one doll. Mygirls have so many they can’t name them all.”
That strikes me assad somehow. Less is more. I had one baby doll (Tiny Tears) and Iadored her!
My own childrenalways named their stuffed animals and dolls when they were little. That’s such an easy thing to encourageyour children to do if they bring a toy to school or talk about a doll. It somehow brings a toy to life andmakes the connection more personal.
Another simplething you can do is ask your students to name their artwork. All famous artists give a title totheir paintings and sculptures, and your children will enjoy doing it as well. I could even connect art to the CommonCore State Standards if I did that!
I’m always lookingfor creative bridges to the Standards. You just have to think outside the box a little for possibilities. What do your students enjoy? Games, art, music, drama? How can you tap into what they enjoyand integrate some skills and standards? A spoonful of sugar always makes the medicine go down!
How I got fromnaming baby dolls to putting sugar on skills I’ll never know! But there are a few gems in today’sblog if you look for them!
