"I Think I Can. . . I Think I Can. . ."

The Little Engine that Could. It is a favorite story for most. The idea and reality of telling yourself over and over that you can do it- you can climb that mountain, you can reach that goal- is one that is motivating and true. Telling yourself that you can do something gets you that much closer to actually doing it.

Our first week of school, this book was the focus of our Language activities. I wanted to set a tone of encouragement for the school year- I wanted to tell my children over and over that they can accomplish anything they put their mind to.

On the first day, we read the story. We took pictures of each of us with our "conductors cap" on. We mapped the story and became acquainted with each of the characters.

The next day we painted "train cars". We talked about all the things we think we can do. . . and most importantly we had a funeral. I gave each child a card with the words "I can't" on it. We talked about these words and how they are sad words. We put our cards in an envelope and buried them in the backyard- they won't come into our home again! :) The kids loved digging the hole, and I feel like they really got the concept.

Our last day, the girls helped me tell the story. Again, we talked about the characters and then we put together our own "Little train" on the wall in our classroom.

Here is to a year of thinking and believing that we can do ANYTHING!