slush and centers!

Slush is our classroom mascot I guess you could say.  I introduced you to him in one of my first blogs.  You can refresh your memory here.  Centers have become one of my favorite things because the students enjoy working together and exploring the different things I have in our classroom.  Every morning they ask what time we are going to do centers!  It also allows me to get a couple of things done.  My assistant is GREAT and helps out with the art center a lot of times.  I don't always have art centers though.  Most of the time my centers consist of math, blocks, reading, art, handwriting, play dough, and sometimes other little things that we need to get done in smaller groups.  I have 5 different groups and about 4 or 5 in each group.  I feel like I have done a good job with discussing our behavior in centers and the clean up process.  I have a center monitor as one of the classroom jobs who makes sure the centers are cleaned up just the way I like them!!!  I told them at the beginning of the year that if they do not clean up the way I have shown them and asked them to then we will not play with those things anymore.  I really hated to do it but it happened.....the puzzles are gone.  They had just put the pieces of the puzzle on top of puzzle and then back on the shelf.  I put them away and I am not sure how long they will be gone from our center but I do want to make sure I make my point!!!!!  Since this is my first year I do want to make sure I follow through with my classroom discipline. 

Last week during centers one of my students came up and asked if he could read to Slush.  I thought it would be really cute so I could not say no!  He got Slush and another frog stuffed animal I have on top of my book shelf and sat in my rocker put the animals in his lap and started reading.  It was one of the sweetest things.  He also made sure to show the animals each picture!  After he finished the book I guess he decided that Slush wasn't finished in the reading center because I looked in the center and saw this....

They love listening to all my books on tape!  I hope Slush did too!!!!