salsa anyone

When Grad School and Elementary School Collide

It was magic. Today when my kinders finished their language arts assessment I told them that I had a surprise for them. They had to clean up their table spaces and then come sit with me at my round table. When they sat down we talked about how they had homework every night to help them get smarter. Then I told them that I had homework to do to for my school. When I told them that they were going to help me with my homework I received some anxious looks. Then I told them that my homework was to have them taste different kinds of salsa. Those worried looks went away pretty quickly.

I pulled out our salsas one by one. They evaluated the appearance, the texture, the taste and the spiciness. Some students started out saying that they didn't like salsa, but when their friends kept on saying how good they were, almost everyone jumped on the salsa train. Some salsas they liked, some they did not, but whatever their response to the salsas, they loved the tortilla chips.

After they evaluated four different kinds of salsa, I set the bowls of salsa and chips on another table and let them go at it. Today marked progress reports day, so I thought it was a bit of a celebration. We're half way through the first quarter of school and they have worked extra hard. Today, we played ate hard.

Some of the best comments from my kiddos during the thirty minutes of salsa party madness:

"Ewwww! That looks like poop!" ~5 year old boy responding to the appearance of salsa verde

"Mrs. Hall! I can tell my dad that I like salsa now!" ~5 year old girl after eating chips heaping with salsas of all flavors

"Mrs. Hall, you're the best teacher ever!" ~Numerous kiddos slurring through their salsa high

Needless to say, the day was pretty rad. 100% of students scored 80% or better on their language arts assessment. More than 50% scored 80% or better on their reading assessment. Roughly 90% scored 80% or better on their math assessment. We ate chips and salsa. One student had asked his mom if he could bring a snack for all of his friends in class, so we also ate Goldfish at the end of the day. And the kiddos earned playtime at the end of the day (after eating Goldfish). Yeah, that's how every Friday should be!