I was the Shining Star

I got to be the Shining Star on Thursday! Through out the school year, each student has had the opportunity to be the Shining Star. Last Thursday, much to my surprise, was my day. This is a way for the kindergarten class to welcome people into their class and help them feel a sense of belonging. 

When you are the Shining Star, you get to sit in front of the class. Each student writes your name on the top of their special paper then draws your picture. They work through the drawing together on the SMARTBoard. The Shining Star is drawn and colored just as they look that day - including how their hair looks, what clothes they are wearing, any jewelry they are wearing etc. on that specific day. 

(Picture of the drawing done on the SMARTBoard the class followed along with)

When it is time for Shining Star, a song is played. The students know what the song means and quietly get their clipboard and a piece of the special Shining Star paper. I had no idea what the song meant or what the students were going to get; but the students sure did! They all had huge smiles stretched across their faces as they tried not to tell me what was going on. Finally, one student was asked to please explain to me what being the Shining Star entailed.

To start, the shining star spells their name as the class writes it down. I had the students spell my whole last night. They are use to calling me “Ms. U” and couldn’t believe how many letters were in “Miss Uhlenkamp”!   

Here are some of the students drawings. I had a hard time narrowing down which ones to post as I love all of them! Each one was just adorable.