Building Confident Writers

I am always amazed at how skilled young children can be at writing once they know that their words mean something to other people.  In our early days of daily Writing Workshop we worked on building each child's stamina and confidence in putting pencil to paper and conveying meaning through their drawing and writing of words to match.  The most thrilling part is to read in front of peers and receive their support.  Many days we use the document camera to project their writing to read.  They even know how to take a moment to ensure their paper is properly aligned on the screen at the computer as seen in the last set of images here.  This early work has led to writers now working on one piece for days, using different strategies and elements taught each day until they have their own story book ready to read to an audience.  Can you tell how proud I am of them?!  It shows in their faces, too!

 

 

Early Math Experiences Support Counting and Geometry

What a joy it is to see how this class loves math and mathematical thinking throughout their day. Whether it is counting, working with shapes and understanding patterns, we are striving to understand how these concepts and numbers are used in everyday life.  We started early with exploring numbers and shapes in our school and how they are used... numbers on doors help us know where to find teachers, numbers on the printer help us make the right number of copies.   We practiced how to count large groups of objects with the "doorbell" and "pull away" strategies. Matching amounts of objects to numerical symbols led to ordering numbers and understanding concepts of more than and less than.  And more...

 

Using ten frames to count and add smaller numbers to make a ten.

 

Explaining our thinking when we have one number and add one more...what happens and why?

 

Describing and comparing attributes of shapes.  Creating, extending patterns and describing patterns.

Knowing how to write numbers correctly and with smooth strokes will increase their accuracy with computation.  Understanding what makes a "ten" and what is a "one" in two digit numbers.

Early Alphabet Work Supports Early Readers

At the beginning of a new school year it is not uncommon to hear kindergarteners exclaim, " I want to learn to read!"  They are eager to move from from being read to by an adult to unlocking the code themselves and reading exactly what is on the page.  The start to this school year was no different; I could see the desire in their eyes and so began our reading work with letters and sounds.  Reading is more than knowing the names of the letters and their sounds; it is knowing how to play with sounds, match sounds to pictures, and write letter characters to match sounds they hear and produce orally.   Developing a firm foundation with letter work was key the work we are doing now with rhyming, syllable segmentation and site words in guided reading groups.  The key was also having fun with reading to strive for life long lovers of reading.

 

 

Three Ways to Read A Book

Kindergartners want to learn to read. I begin by teaching them that there are three ways to read a book: read the pictures, read the words, and retell the story. I model these three ways in whole group shared reading time over three successive days. Over the course of our first three days of school we used the book Hairy Bear, reading it in each of the three ways. On the first day we read the pictures, using the illustrations to figure out what the characters are experiencing and predicting what may happen from page to page. On the second day I read the text, and to their delight many of the events they described through the pictures were very close to the text words. On the third day we retold the story in our own words, adding more details and elaborating on the plot. In this way children begin to learn the power in using the illustrations to support their reading and that reading the words is not the only way to read a book.

Shared reading is a powerful learning time as I introduce many reading strategies and skills. As you will see in this collage, on the last page the children added their own text to the story which I wrote with a wipe off marker. They were curious about the "word bubble" in the text showing what a character was saying. They also noticed the "thinking bubbles" to better understand what the character is thinking in that moment and predict what might happen next.  I used this teachable moment to show them that when they write their own narrative stories during Writing Workshop, that they, too, can use word and thinking bubbles in their stories.  I was thrilled to see their excitement and thirst for learning reading skills.

We have read In a Dark Dark Wood, The Carrot Seed and The Three Billy Goats Gruff in a similar fashion, focusing on new reading strategies, building their repertoire of ways to solve problems when reading.  I pair this with reading lessons from Lucy Calkins and use the cues: We can look. We can think. We can read.  We can learn.

Welcome

Welcome Kindergarten Class of 2016-2017!

Here is where it all begins... in kindergarten.  Friendship, fun, laughter, mindfulness, empathy, learning, inquiry, discovery, creativity, stamina, rigor, kindness, bravery, community, and a love of learning.  We are off to a great start! 

First Full Day of School

Here are some highlights from a busy and successful first full day of Kindergarten.


We launched into Writing Workshop by drawing/writing/telling an experience at school on the first day.  While we focused on a story about our own self, the underlying lesson was about how to sit at a work table quietly for sustained minutes, working independently and taking care of school materials. Each child received their own box of crayons for which they are responsible for taking care of and storing in their cubby.  Learning to wait for a teacher to help and knowing what to do while they wait was another skill we practiced.  

In math we focused on ways to measure and vocabulary surrounding length.  Students were challenged with finding another child with a paper strip that was their exact same length and describing how those matched.

Choice time is a perfect way to learn how to play with materials, share, create and discover.

Kindergarten Smart Start

During Smart Start Kindergarten we read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn to give students support in the big step of going to school all on their own.  Like Chester, each child said goodbye to their parent and began their brave journey into Kindergarten.  They explored their school and classroom, met new teachers and classmates and had lunch in the cafeteria.  Each child made their own kissing hand as a reminder of their parent's love that they carry with them in the school days ahead.