Dear Cat

One of my favorite parts of teaching kindergarten was decifering their writing.  When I moved up to teach first grade I was worried that it wouldn't be there and that I would miss it.  Well, there are still a lot of decifering skills needed with first grade writing but first graders are able to get more complete thoughts on paper as the year progresses. A kindergartener might write: I love mom, I like dogs, or I like my friends (friends would be spelled frns).  Today Elijah came to me during math time and asked if he could write a message to his kitty.  He had spent 20 minutes on math games and he was ready to move on so I said sure. He came back about 5 minutes later with this (see picture).  Just in case your first grade writing decifering skills are rusty, I'll translate for you:
Dear Cat,
I know you don't like getting caught to go in my bed but I can't sleep without you. 
Love,
Elijah. 
Words are a window to the soul!  I have enjoyed getting to know Elijah these past few weeks.  He is bright, inquisitive, and sweet. But reading these words told me more about Elijah than I had gathered since school started.  As high level as his thinking is, he's still just a six year old little boy that can't sleep without the comfort of his beloved kitty.  Somehow this note helped me see Elijah and love him like his teacher should.  Oh, and I love that cat, too!