Margret Stöckler
Where does Oups travel on the weekend?
Children love to take their class mascot home with them. This has become a very common ritual in many classes. At the end of the week, Oups hops into his travel bag and comes home with me first.
On Sunday evening, I write in a small Oups notebook what Oups has experienced. I write from Oups' perspective, which gives the stories a wonderful vibrancy, and the children are always very excited to hear what our little friend has experienced...
Depending on the children's abilities, small drawings with accompanying texts by parents or older siblings are created at the beginning. Over the course of a school year, you can see what has been learned by flipping through the booklet, and month by month the texts get longer and longer.
I kept this ritual for 3 years in my last Oups class. Not even my fourth graders wanted to miss Oups' weekend stories. I thought it was nice that often even the "writing grumblers" enthusiastically designed their entries and proudly read their stories aloud.
Oups opens our school week
Every Monday, when Oups is still sleeping in his travel bag and class begins, the children are "called" to their seats with my little bell.
Then "all the children fall asleep" and comfortably wait - with their heads in the crook of their arm and closed eyes - to be woken up... When it's very quiet in the classroom, Oups is taken out of his bag and, one by one, the children are brought into the Monday circle with a gentle touch and a whispered "Good morning".
When all the children are seated, we start the storytelling round with Oups' weekend report.
Oups passes from one child's lap to the next, thereby showing everyone whose turn it is, who is allowed to speak, and where everyone should look and listen carefully.
How do you organize your Monday morning? I look forward to your ideas and suggestions!
This project has evolved and a download has been created from it: The Oups Travel Diary
This download is also available with Oupsinchen and once with Oups and Oupsinchen together: 
You can find more lovely downloads in our Oups-Shop. 
