Feed Me Books Friday: Hip Hip Hooray For Teachers!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Teacher Appreciation Week: May 2-6
I can tell you from experience, being appreciated by a student or her parent feels almost as spectacular as being appreciated by a child or spouse. I firmly believe our appreciation for the educators in our children’s lives should not be limited to one celebrated week, but expressed all year long. However, teacher appreciation week is a fun reminder to let that person who is shaping your child’s development know how grateful you are. A Poem of Honor
B and I have been brainstorming ideas to show our appreciation to his preschool teacher next week. So far, we’ve considered painting her a picture, taking her some flowers from our garden, baking cookies for her, and getting her a new book. (any other suggestions?) For some inspiration (and to squeeze a few more poems into the last days of poetry month) we read some selections from Kalli Dakos’ Mrs. Cole on an Onion Roll and Other School Poems
. Most of the poems in this book are more suited to the elementary set, who can appreciate the humor and relate to the experiences better than my preschooler. However, he enjoyed plenty of them and enjoying the rhyme and rhythm of poetry builds language and cognitive muscle. Our favorite was titled, “Hip Hip Hooray.” Each stanza identifies a student and a gift bestowed upon the teacher (Sally brings flowers, Byron brings an apple) and the teacher responds to each gift by yelling, “Hip Hip Hooray!” until the Ben brings a radish, and the teacher queries, “Why a radish?” 
And Ben said,
“Because I love radishes!”
Ben brought a radish
For the teacher today,
And the teacher yelled,
“Hip Hip Hooray!”
I love the message that Ben shares a gift that he really loves, and the message that the teacher is grateful for Ben sharing something important to him. It’s simple text but rich with meaning given a little consideration.
Appropriate for: preschoolers, primary grades
If you’re enjoying poetry with your child this month, or if you want some ideas to squeeze in a little before month’s end, head over to Brimful Curiosities poetry challenge or Poetry Friday hosted by Tabatha Yeatts.
photos courtesy www.freefoto.com and www.capl.washjeff.edu
7 comments:
Thank you for hosting. My mother was a teacher for 22 years before she changed careers...being a homeschooling mom, I hope the kids appreciate me! lol
I think the best gifts are perishable (so the teacher doesn't have to store it--unless it's a book!) or intangible--words, etc. I taught high school primarily, and real appreciation is the most coveted gift.
I hope it's okay that I linked up two books today! I'd love to have you join me for Read Aloud Thursday (again) some week!
One of the BEST gifts I received when i was a teacher in the public school system was a set of pretty paper plates, cups, napkins and plastic-ware. The note attached told me to "take the night off" from doing the dishes for all the hard work I had been doing as a teacher. It was LOVELY... :0)
You peeked my interest in this book. I am going to see if I can get it!
As far as teacher gifts, gift cards are always appreciated. If you are going to get a book, go with someething from Karma Wilson. By far, I get more searches for her books on my website--the "Bear" series, Animals Strike at the Zoo, and Never Ever Shout at the Zoo.
The PTO at my daughter's school always arranges special theme days during the week. On Monday kids can give a special note, Tuesday some fruit and so on. I think you should send along some radishes with that poem! What a unique gift that would make.
We love poems, so I have to read for this book. I didn't know that Teacher Appreciation week is next week, for some reason our preschool celebrates Teacher Appreciation closer to the end of the school year in late May.
That sounds like a wonderful book! Thanks for the reminder to appreciate our children's teachers!
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