Cupid shot his romantic arrow through the alphabet at Odenville Elementary School last week on Valentine’s Day. Once the arrow landed, some 20 kindergarten couples were married and the marriage had everything to do with learning blended consonants and how to talk correctly.B married R to make “broom,” while C married L forming “clear.” C married H to make the heart in their “chest” flutter. S agreed to hook up with C so they could ride to “school” together, while S married T in the “State” of Alabama.
Then F married L so he picked her some “flowers”, and at the same time C also married R to “create” unity. When T and R got married, they rode off into the sunset in their new “truck.”
All in all, some 40 kindergarten students at OES said ‘we do’ and had the time of their lives while learning at the same time.
It is the second consecutive year for kindergarten students to participate in the ceremony, and teachers Rhonda Smith and Maribeth Cobb came up with the idea of having the blended consonants marriage ceremony.
“A blend is two consonants that come together to make one sound,” Smith said. “We thought it would be so much fun to do this on Valentine’s Day. It was a huge success. We had parents and grandparents come out. Everyone in the school has been so excited to see the little brides walk down the hall.”
One little kindergarten bride was 5-year-old Katie McDougal, and her mother, Alea, was in tears when the group of students started singing love songs.
“It means a lot to me to see my daughter participate in something like this,” McDougal said. “It is a different and unique way for them to learn how to form consonants and learn how to read.”
OES Principal Christa Urban said it is very important for students to know how to put letters together to blend and make sounds in order to read.
“We appreciate these two teachers and the hard work they have put in to plan this,” Urban said. “This is an event the students will always remember and reflect back on when they are continuing to read, learning to be successful students in the years to come.”
