graduation

	Little Giraffes Teaching Ideas
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We begin with a poem called Kindergarten, where one or two kids hold up the letters and each recites one line. Then we sing several songs, including one to the Addams' Family tune; First Grade, First Grade; and America to Me by Jack Hartman.

KINDERGARTEN Poem Each child (or pair of children) hold a large letter and have one line to say. I send their line home for parents to help with the memorization. K is for Kindergarten---hip, hip, hooray. I is for imagination we use everyday. N is for numbers—we know one, two, three. D is for drawing, the best you can see! E is for exercise to keep our bodies strong. R is for reading books all day long. G is for good friends. We made more each day. A is for the alphabet we know how to say. R is for remembering everything we learned. T is for treats every Friday we earned. E is for excitement. This year we’ve had some. N is for next year. First grade here we come.

Addams’ Family Song (tune of Addams’ Family-snap fingers on the “clicks”) Duh-duh-duh-duh, click, click Duh-duh-duh-duh, click, click Duh-duh-duh-duh, Duh-duh-duh-duh, Duh-duh-duh-duh, click, click We learned our ABC’s And counting 1, 2, 3’s. And now we know all these, The kindergarten class. And we learned how to share. And we learned how to care. Just ask us if you dare, The kindergarten class. Duh-duh-duh-duh, click, click Duh-duh-duh-duh, click, click Duh-duh-duh-duh, Duh-duh-duh-duh, Duh-duh-duh-duh, click, click It seems we’ve just begun And now we’re almost done. This year’s been so much fun! The kindergarten class. But we must say so long. With this our little song. But we’ll be back ‘fore long. The kindergarten class. Duh-duh-duh-duh, click, click Duh-duh-duh-duh, click, click Duh-duh-duh-duh, Duh-duh-duh-duh, Duh-duh-duh-duh, click, click

First Grade, First Grade (Sing to the tune of New York, New York. It ends with a kickline.) `Start spreading the news.` `We're leaving today.` `We want to be a part of it,` `First Grade, First Grade.` `We're ready to go.` `We've worked very hard.` `We want to be a part of it,` `First Grade, First Grade.` `We know our ABCs and 123s so well.` `We've worked at sounding out words` `And stories to tell.` `Just ask us to rhyme.` `We'll say "tens" and "pens".` `We've learned to share and get along` `With all our friends.` `So now we've made it here,` `We'll make it anywhere.` `We're on our way` `First Grade, First Grade.`


We usually do the songs first. Then we go back out the door, put on our mortarboards (they would have fallen off during the kickline) and parade back in to the graduation song. I give each child an award and a diploma. I end by saying, "I'd like to present the Class of 2016." That usually gets a big laugh. Afterward, we have a small "reception" with some goodies. I bring the drink and cookies, but I ask parents to help with the snacks. The program probably takes 20-30 minutes and another 15 for the food. I always do it at the end of the day so the kids can leave with their parents when they want. Also, keeping it short means some parents can use it as their lunch time from work and don't have to miss work. I also do it a week or two before the end of school because it is just too much to organize on that very last day of school.

Make graduation hat cookies to serve. The base are chocolate covered marshmallow cookies. Use chocolate frosting to "glue" on a chocolate covered graham cracker (square shape if you can find it). Then use more frosting to attach the string licorice tassels.