I cannot believe another year of teaching has been added to my resume. I am going to miss this group incredibly. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to have a group of students who are kind, cooperative, and ultimately care for one another. They deserved something special for the last day of school, and in my last post I explained that I had chosen a theme centered around the book Matilda, by Roald Dahl. My kids fell head over heels for Matilda, Miss Honey, Lavender, and even the little boy named Nigel who couldn’t spell ‘what’ correctly. We watched the movie and they made sure to come up and let me know if ANYTHING had veered away from the book version. Ah, how I love introducing to children the concept of THE BOOK CAME FIRST.
I had so much fun coming up with and making the goodies for this last day. The entire day was filled with Matilda references, and my kids got a big kick out of them! I love instilling in children a love for literature. It is so fulfilling to know that you helped ignite that flame or kept it burning. If I can tell anything to new parents-begin reading to your children as soon as they are born and never stop. As my kids will tell you, “Read Voraciously!”
So there is a part in the book where the students hide a salamander in the evil Ms. Trunchbull’s drinking water. It sends her screaming out of the room, red-faced and madder than ever. The label reads Ms. Trunchbull’s words, “Oh, it’s disgusting! It’s a crocodile! It’s a snake! It’s an alligator!” And my friend Shana gave me the idea of the plastic lizards. They were a HUGE hit!
So Miss Honey is the delightfully sweet teacher who shows a great interest in Matilda. So we had ‘honey’ flavored Teddy Grahams in cups that quoted Miss Honey’s words about Matilda: “She’s a spectacularly wonderful child, and I love her.” And I love all of my kids just the same. (Awwww, Ariel’s SO cheesy!!!)
So if you’ve read the book or seen the movie you’ll remember Bruce Bogtrotter. The evil principal, Ms. Trunchbull, forces Bruce to eat an entire chocolate cake in front of the whole school because he stole a piece from her refrigerator. When he is about to give up Matilda yells out, “You can do it, Brucey!” And that is what the cake toppers say for the chocolate cupcakes.
I made each child a gift bag as well that included a letter from me, a MAD LIB booklet (we do these ALL the time-great 5 minute time savers that work on parts of speech!) a list of comments each student wrote about them, and a magnet I made that has the ‘whole hog’ quote and a piece of chalk glued to it (in the story Matilda overcomes The Trunchbull by writing on the board with chalk using her mind, making The Trunchbull think it is a ghost from her past, thoroughly freaking her out and creating a happy ending. 🙂 On the front of the bag it reads, “This child, Miss Honey told herself, seems to be interested in everything. When one is with her it is impossible to be bored. I love it.” I thought that said it perfectly.
“Never do anything by halves if you wnat to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog.”
– Matilda
There was laughter, there were tears, and I would be lying if I said there were no teachers doing the ‘sprinkler’ dance in the hallways after the final bell. All in all, a great day for some really great kids. Now, can someone say SUMMER?!
6 Comments
Congrats on making it through another one, Ariel! Each school year presents new challenges, and new young people to love. Teaching is a crazy job, but one of the most rewarding.
Enjoy your summer!
EJ
You are truly the best teacher ever. You were born that way and it is obvious you are pursuing your calling! I love you!
Sis
I know that this is an old post, but I absolutely love it! I am going to do this for my party at the end of this month. Is there any way that you would share your file for the cupcake toppers and bottle wrappers?
this is adorable…are you willing to share your templates?
Precious!! I love it!! My family LOVES Matilda, have you see the Broadway show? You must if you love it!! I am looking forward to moving to 2nd next year to do this!
Hi Jennifer! I have not but I would LOVE to! I’m such a music theater nerd, so that is right up my alley. I’ll have to look out for it! Thanks for stopping by!