Carnival, Art and Poetry

For school budget day my children's school always hosts parent/student activities in every classroom.  I love this day because gives me the opportunity to go into my children's classrooms and see them in a different environment.  It's nice to interact with them, their teachers and other students too.
Every year they have the book fair going on and an art show in the gym.  They also added a night carnival a few days before. I really wish I had brought my camera and taken pictures to share.  I was proud of how well the PTO ran it.  The first one ever.  It's sure to be a hit for years to come.  My kids were already talking about next year.  Tickets were 4 for $1 and all games were 1 ticket. All the students were given 4 tickets for free the morning of the event. Most of the event was in the gym (half of it was the book fair) and the rest was in the lower level hallway.  My kids were able to "fish" for a prize, make and toss a paper airplane, color wheel spin (guess the color the needle would land on), Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus game, bean bag toss and so much more.  There were about a dozen games and everyone won a prize no matter what.  I wasn't able to help out with this year's event but hope to help next year (if we're still living here).
The classroom events for budget day are scheduled throughout the day by grade and setup so as not to overlap.  I went to my son's classroom (third grade) first where they were doing a "Poetry Slam".  This was interesting and highly entertaining.  The kids were just starting to learn about poetry and how to write it.  Their poems were "freestyle" as the teacher called it.  Each child's poem was put on screen and they went up to the front of the class to read it.  I was surprised with how at ease most of them were. There were poems about baseball, friendship, animals and much more.
Here's my son's:

Way to paint mommy as the bad guy.  lol  I just shook my head and laughed it off.  Gotta love that boy.  I'm sure there's worse things he says and I don't think I really want to know.
After the poetry reading we were invited to stay for refreshments.  You do realize that what this really means is that the kids overindulge in goodies and will be hyper the rest of the day at home.  Sigh.  I can't say I love my son's teachers but I do give them credit for being able to handle 27 kids in a small classroom (there's is one of the smallest, with the most kids).  I just wish there was more education going on, especially for the kids (like my son) who need a bit more personalized instruction (hearing disability with unofficial APD). 
I signed my son out early so he could attend my daughter's program with me.  There was only 40 minutes left in the day and most of the parents were taking their kids home.  In my daughter's class (first grade) we did Parent Buddy Reading.  This is where we got to sit with our child and read with them.  We picked an area on the reading carpet and took turns reading.  It was wonderful seeing my two kids reading together.  We had the most fun reading Ten Apples Up on Top by Dr Seuss.  My daughter got really silly with all the rhyming.  It was great fun.
At the end of the day we went down to the gym and walked around the Art Extravaganza.  Every student has at least one piece of artwork on display.
Here's my son's:

I just love the little sea horse at the bottom of the picture.  It's my favorite part. 

Here's my daughter's:

I love how big and fat the pig is and how tiny the fence is. 

And here's her colorful butterfly. 

I love the Art Show.  It gives the kids a sense of pride having their work shown off for all to see.  My kids love art and it shows.  I'm so proud of them.