The first week of kindergarten, Mrs. Bell had the students listen to a sentence and then write down what they heard. The sentence was, "I like to ride the bus to school with my sister." This is how Elisabeth wrote that sentence in August:
In the beginning of the year, it was common for the kids to write down the sounds that they heard in each word as a first step to learning to write. As they learned the rules of reading and writing, they made noticeable progress. Here's how Elisabeth wrote the same sentence in January:
And finally, here's how she wrote it in May with only one misspelled word:
It's amazing how much she has learned in the past year! Elisabeth has had a successful year in so many ways. She has made lots of new friends, she is a strong reader, Mrs. Bell always tells us how wonderful she is doing, and she made it through the entire school year without getting any behavior write-ups. She got to celebrate that accomplishment at a special luau hosted by her principal last week (and she was quick to point out all the kids in her class who didn't get an invitation to the luau). She and her old buddy Gwen have re-connected as pen-pals (Grandma and Grandpa H. are also faithful pen-pals!); it's always exciting to check the mail to see if any new letters have arrived so she can write her pen-pals back.
She loves to write letters and stories. I often find sweet notes from her in my work bag like this one:
She wrote her first riddle the other day:
I am green. And I radl (rattle). I eat mic (mice). I shed my skin. Skin is andre (under) my old skin. I slivre (slither). I liv (live) in Colorado. You can find me by the rowde (road). Or by the feldes (fields). I am poisionous (poisonous). What am I?When I was in kindergarten, I was learning the alphabet with the letter people, not writing riddles!
Do you remember way back in October 2008 when Elisabeth decided she wanted to be invisible so she posted a sign on her bedroom door that simply said "No"? (Click here to re-read that story.) She still likes to post signs on her bedroom door. The other day, this is the sign that greeted me:
Here's a close-up in case you can't read it: 
Hey, even that's progress over the simple "No" sign, right?!There are all kinds of exciting things planned for the final 4 days of kindergarten: Beach day, rollerskating party, Pajama day and read-in, Movie and Munchies day, and finally a party on the last day. Grandma M. is also coming to visit this week so she'll be here to help celebrate the end to a terrific school year! Congratulations, Elisabeth! We're so proud of you and we love you so much!
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