Thank You Mrs. Sharp!

Oh , what a busy couple of weeks we have had!  Last week saw us welcoming Mrs. Sharp into our classroom on Monday, a trip to the Capitol Center for the Arts on Tuesday, Mrs. Broome telling us a trickster tale on Wednesday, a Library visit on Thursday and mask making at the Minot Sleeper Library on Friday! Ahh, no wonder we are feeling a little sluggish this week after recovering from Halloween!

The children are still talking about Mrs. Sharp and the witch, so I thought I might formally introduce her to you. Mrs. Sharp is a very dear, teacher friend from my time in Danbury.  She was a Title 1 teacher, in my classroom, my very first year teaching and later she taught Kindergarten.  Mrs. Sharp has a true talent for teaching children to read and to be enthusiastic over literature.  She also has a real knack for turning into a witch on Halloween.  Mrs. Sharp has been turning into a witch on Halloween for the last 50 years! Ever since her mother made her a Halloween witch costume when she was a wee little girl (part of that original costume is still part of her witch attire today.  Isn't that amazing?)

Mrs. Sharp has begun volunteering in our classroom.  The children enjoy getting to sit with her and chat while they do their work.  She has lots of helpful hints about handwriting and letter sounds and even how to start your own worm farm!  The children love to visit with her and show her all that they can do!  The children were especially excited to see her this Monday, but not long after she arrived she began to have this strange tickle in her throat and we thought that she was actually starting to turn a little green!  After closer inspection we discovered that her fingernails were indeed turning green, and we thought she should definitely go home and spend the rest of the day in bed!  She made some horrible hiccupping noises and told us that this always happens on Halloween!

Mrs. Sharp went home, and the children chatted amongst themselves about what might be wrong with her.  One young man said he thought that if she came back next week and she was still green, he was going to tell her that she should better go to the doctors!  Another wondered if she was really turning into a witch?  Poor Mrs. Sharp was the general consensus in the group.

Just as we were settling in for closing circle, this rickety, old, green witch, with a cat around her neck and a bat hanging from her crooked cane came in the front door.  The room was silent!  Mouths dropped, eyes widened! The witch came right into circle and made herself at home.  No one had much to say.  

One little boy had borrowed the Monster Mash from his Grandma Karen. He was holding the book in his hands when the witch asked if she could read a book to them.  The little guy got up and slowly walked up to her... standing about three feet from her, he slowly handed her the book.  His eyes were as big as saucepans.

This skeptical crowd really just did not know what to think as this old witch read aloud to them.  They were so stunned that even when the witch invited them to get up and dance with her, they just sat there!

Mrs. Sharp is a great sport!  We had a wonderful morning with her and are so glad that she is part of our community!  Thank you Mrs. Sharp!