Vivian pulls me to the side during recess on Thursday and whispers, “Ms. Goodloe, I can’t wait for you to see my fancy dress tomorrow for Fun Friday!” Nothing about Fun Friday requires extravagant attire, but Vivian’s excitement points to the special event it has become in our classroom. We abandon the regularity of our routines, stepping outside of normalcy with cross-curricular activities that spark creativity, joy, and usually a little bit of a mess. I often hear from colleagues and friends that I’m lucky to be able to teach Kindergarten because we have so much more time and freedom for fun. Although I adore the open minds and unfettered excitement of Kindergarteners, I don’t think that having fun at school is just for our youngest learners. Let me take you through a Fun Friday in hopes that you might find a way to join us in the joy.
Fun Friday always kicks off with a visit from our 4th-grade book buddies. We squeeze in tight to fit all 47 students on the carpet. We read Strictly No Elephants, a heart-warming story about a little boy and his pet elephant who are rejected from the neighborhood pet club. He bands together with the other kids who have misfit animals to create their own pet club, open to all. As we read, Melanie noticed how the illustrator used darker colors when the character felt left out and brighter colors when he was happy. Tucker noticed that the story structure offered both a problem and a solution when he commented that the boy helped all the misfit animals by creating a new pet club. Sebastian understood the author’s purpose as he observed that we can be friends with people who are different from us.
Then, we sent the book buddy pairs off to their STEM challenge: create your own pet club tree-house. As I tiptoe around the pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks covering the floor, I am amazed how Melanie and Stacy apply their knowledge of animal habitats to create a slide for their seal to exit the tree-house. Danna, a language learner, tries out new vocabulary as she tells me about the pool they built on the roof for their octopus. As I talk with each pair, I see strengths and skills in my students that I would not have seen had we spent the morning in our usual Daily five centers. I see them strategizing, building and problem solving, skills that sound more like a resume than a report card.
Next on the schedule is our guest reader! Sutton’s mom reads The Pink Refrigerator. As she reads this family favorite, Shaye notices an onomatopoeia. Mason notices the elements of fiction as he comments that it is a magical refrigerator because a refrigerator can’t fill up with different supplies by itself. Most of all, students end the read aloud with a round of applause and a booming “Thank you!”. We’ve engaged literacy skills, practiced respectful listening skills, and built a love for reading.
In math, we complete the Oreo Challenge. Small groups of students work together to create the tallest, free-standing stack of Oreos. As each tower falls, students count and record the number of Oreos their team was able to stack. A few students start talking strategy about balanced placement and a straight stack. I hear Marcos defending his group’s tower as the tallest because he knows that 16 is greater than 12. Many students are comparing quantities and practicing writing their teen numbers. It is also a great opportunity for students to practice one-to-one correspondence as they push and count their Oreos. All students, regardless of their level of experience, have the opportunity to engage in mathematical thinking. Fun Friday activities like this give all students an access point and a successful learning experience.
We wrap up our Fun Friday by rewriting the end of our shared reading text, The Wheels on the Bike. We giggle as we brainstorm all the ways we could end this story about a ragtag group of animals on their way to the circus. Jayden comes up to add his newly acquired sight word into our interactive writing piece. Bayleigh adds “way” to our text, noticing that it has the “ay” vowel team, just like her name! Then, we pull out the paints, and each student creates an animal or a piece of the setting to add to our mural. We proudly hang our writing on the wall and re-read it together,
solidifying our collective identity as authors and illustrators. As we walk out to buses, I hear students continuing to generate more verses for the wheels on the bike, mimicking the familiar pattern of the wheels on the bus song. These students have not only applied their letter-sound knowledge in writing but also transferred their understanding of a patterned text to create their own verses. Even after the bell has rung, these students are choosing to engage in learning. That’s exactly why Fun Friday matters. When learning is fun, it isn’t something that is contained in the four walls of our classroom.
There is little independence and lots of energy in a kindergarten classroom. I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t tired by the end of the week, but Fun Fridays refresh and revive all of us. Students enter with the expectation of excitement and engagement. As a teacher, it challenges me each week to plan activities for them that allow them to apply their learning in a variety of contexts. But, all of the preparation is worthwhile as I see five-year-olds engaging in the skills they will need as 25-year-olds. Armed with qualities like flexibility, creativity, and cooperation, I know these little humans will make tremendous impacts on our world.
