Jay Mathews, a columnist for the Washington Post, recently wrote an article questioning the need for recess in elementary and middle schools. He notes that in urban schools, where students are often one to two grade levels behind their suburban peers and drastically in need of academic intervention, recess may simply be more hassle than it's worth. The unstructured time is a breeding ground for disputes, accidents, and general unpleasantness, and it does not typically accomplish an academic purpose.
As a teacher in an urban school, I can understand where Mathews is coming from. I have seen the nurse's office filled with scraped knees, the Principal's office occupied by students writing apology letters to peers and teachers, and the bathrooms abuzz with gossip about what happened on the playground that day. But despite all of these challenges, I believe that recess -- if structured appropriately -- is a critical part of a child's school day. Many students at my school live in a neighborhood where it is not safe to go outside and play, and they have limited opportunities to move and interact freely with their peers. Plus, some of my students arrive at school at 8am and don't leave until 6:30pm; they simply do not have time to play outside at home.
Now I'm not necessarily advocating for the standard "free for all" type of recess that I know is common in many schools. I agree with Mathews that this is can be an unproductive use of time that in some cases can detract from classroom learning. However, a more structured recess time, where students are offered games and provided assistance with solving social problems is highly deslirable. In my classroom, I plan at least one structured activity for recess each day -- everything from "red light, green light" to animal races (earlier this month students ran like the different animals mentioned in Time to Sleepby Denise Fleming), to painting with water on the sidewalk. Students do not have to join the activity, but the option is there if they choose to do so. I also provide materials, such as chalk, balls, cars, etc. to enhance their outdoor play. Finally, our classroom norms for interaction and problem solving still apply when we are outside. I teach my students how to use all of the materials, play games, and be safe, while talking explicitly about how we should interact with one another while outside. With this foundation, recess is an invaluable time to reinforce social skills, extend academic learning, and build gross motor muscles.
I understand that my exact method for implementing recess in pre-k is not necessarily applicable to teachers in upper grades, but I do believe that the underlying principles are valid. Teachers need to teach students how to interact during recess, just as they teach them algebra or how to walk through the hallways. And when students do not learn or behave as teachers expect, teachers need to figure out why and reteach - not simply abandon the process all together.
There are some children's books that can completely captivate a class. Students are eager to read them again and again, incorporate them into their play, while making connections between the books and their lives. The Gingerbread Boy is one such book.
Some of my students from last year remembered the story. As soon as I showed the cover, Makiera commented, "It's like we read last week! The fox is going to trick him!" Now granted, we read the story last January, not not last week, but she remembered the most important part of the book! I encouraged Makiera and others who were familiar with the story to try to remember the characters who chase the gingerbread boy. My new students were completely captivated as I read. They actually gasped in surprise when the fox finally swallowed the gingerbread boy!
In addition to reading the book by Paul Galdone, we also read a version of the story by Richard Egielski. We completed a Venn diagram of similarities and differences between the stories, and my students charted wonderful connections. Everything from specific quotes ("Gingerbread Man" vs. "Gingerbread Boy") to characters (there is a fox in both stories, only the Egielski version has a police officer) to plot events (both Gingerbread Boys have to cross water) were recalled in their observations.
We also played "Gingerbread Boy" outside, made patterns by gluing pictures of the gingerbread boy and the fox, retold the story using props, choral read the repetitive text, found sight words in the repetitive text, made a graph of which character students liked the most, discussed our favorite version of the story, and finally, on Thursday, we baked our very own gingerbread boys! My students rolled the dough and assembled the gingerbread boys, then we all walked down to the kitchen to put them in the oven. My students went outside to play while the gingerbread boys baked, but when they came back inside they were shocked to find that the gingerbread boys had escaped! We then proceeded to go on a gingerbread boy hunt around the school; I had prepared teachers to give us clues about where the gingerbread boys might be, and my students were beyond eager to follow the directions and find their cookies! They ran from one classroom to the next, searching for the cookies, and explaining their quest to anyone who would listen. When we finally arrived in the main office we could smell the cookies. My students searched all over until finally Aaliyah spotted them. Julia was so excited that she literally couldn't stop jumping up and down!
We took the cookies back to our classroom and enjoyed a (surprisingly tasty) snack, then brought cookies to everyone who had helped us in our search. We completed one more graph -- "Which part of the gingerbread boy did you eat first?" -- and then settled in for a class retelling of the story.
By incorporating The Gingerbread Boy into so many aspects of our classroom, my students had countless opportunities to comprehend and interpret the text. This increased their interest in the book, which allowed them to fully engage in all of the learning opportunities I had planned. It's amazing how much power one book can have over a week's worth of curriculum!
Do you have other recommendations for fabulous books that you have read with your students? If so, please leave them in the comments section so that we can all benefit!
Malcolm Gladwell, one of my favorite thinkers, published an article about hiring teachers in the New Yorker. I found it when Eduwonkette responded to Gladwell's article. Gladwell uses the first bad metaphor I have ever seen him write. I am a big fan of Gladwell's work, but it seems like he hasn't talked to as many teachers as researchers before writing this article. In it he compares teaching to being a professional football player. I am sure that all of the women I work with will appreciate being compared to a 6' 2" football player but the part that is really bad about the metaphor is how it portrays the circumstances. Gladwell compares watching players in college to watching teachers in student teaching. He then compares playing pro ball to becoming a real teacher. The metaphor breaks down because one reason many players can't transition to the big leagues is that the game changes. It becomes more complex and harder in the pros.
Teaching isn't hierarchical in its demands, like college to professional football, and schools are not organized so that the same types of practices are needed to be successful in each.
The truth is that in some schools, you can teach like a high school quarterback and be fine, and in others you have to teach like professional quarterback to be successful. The real difference is that you get paid better in professional football if you are successful whereas in teaching, the high school quarterbacks and the professional quarterbacks all get paid the same.
The good news about Gladwell's article is that it highlights the role of Bob Pianta's work. I have been a fan of Pianta's work for years. I know that he would not say that teaching should be open to anyone with a pulse but he would agree that the traits of successful teachers can be found in anyone. In the article, Pianta highlights what a preschool teacher does that is good teaching--allowing students to show engagement through movement. He also points out what she could have done that would have supported more learning. This is where the profession can be taught how to maximize learning situations. The teacher does maximize the learning by responding "creatively" to the situation, as in she creates more learning using what is out of her control instead of shutting it down. The section of the article about Pianta's CLASS system is some of the best description of the demands and practice of teaching preschool I have ever read. Here is a brief snippet but please read the rest by going to the orginal article and scrolling down to the large font P.
Picture a young
preschool teacher, sitting on a classroom floor surrounded by seven
children. She is holding an alphabet book, and working through the
letters with the children, one by one: “ ‘A’ is for apple. . . . ‘C’ is for cow.”
The session was taped, and the videotape is being watched by a group of
experts, who are charting and grading each of the teacher’s moves.
After thirty seconds, the leader of the
group—Bob Pianta, the dean of the University of Virginia’s Curry School
of Education—stops the tape. He points to two little girls on the right
side of the circle. They are unusually active, leaning into the circle
and reaching out to touch the book.
“What I’m struck by is how lively the
affect is in this room,” Pianta said. “One of the things the teacher is
doing is creating a holding space for that. And what distinguishes her
from other teachers is that she flexibly allows the kids to move and
point to the book. She’s not rigidly forcing the kids to sit back.”
Pianta’s team has developed a system
for evaluating various competencies relating to student-teacher
interaction. Among them is “regard for student perspective”; that is, a
teacher’s knack for allowing students some flexibility in how they
become engaged in the classroom. Pianta stopped and rewound the tape
twice, until what the teacher had managed to achieve became plain: the
children were active, but somehow the class hadn’t become a
free-for-all.
“A lesser teacher would have responded
to the kids’ leaning over as misbehavior,” Pianta went on. “ ‘We can’t
do this right now. You need to be sitting still.’ She would have turned
this off.”
What are some other things that preschool teachers do that might help teachers be more effective at higher grade levels?
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The holiday season is upon us. Along with the festivities and excitement, there is an awareness and sensitivity to all kinds of families who celebrate different holidays. Our school readiness classes are doing some great things to encourage awareness and acceptance of families that celebrate traditions throughout the year.
Here are a few of the ways we encourage our students and their families.
1. Each December we send home a large piece of construction paper with a note. Families are encouraged to work together to show their families’traditions. They can draw, write, cut and paste or make a collage. We then invite each child to show their work to the class. We ask questions and share comments and learn about each other.
2. On the last day of our semester we invite families to come to school with their child for a family celebration. The parents spend time in a parent education class where they can get to know other families. Then we perform a short play and sing some songs. We end our time together with a pot luck. Families are encouraged to bring a traditional dish to
share with their classmates. I bring lefse every year!
3. As a team of teachers, we have decided that it is important to teach the facts about holidays that our families might want to know about. We arevery clear to families that it is not our job to celebrate holidays at school but we can always learn something new! We have come up with language that is inclusive. For example: “Some families celebrate Christmas. Each person may celebrate in a different way.” We try to highlight some of the more major holidays throughout the year, recognizing that many of them do not happen in December.
4. We are very committed to using our families as a resource. Who better to explain about a tradition or holiday than someone who celebrates it?
For the most part, our families are very open and accepting to learning about different cultures and traditions. It is great to have a supportive environment where adults and children know that their lives are valued. It makes people more willing to learn about and experience different walks of life.
We hope that you enjoyed this year’s
National Conference Broadcast, “Breaking down Barriers to Quality Pre-K”.
We know that a 20-minute site discussion break to cover complex topics like community
collaboration, partnering, and professional development was hardly sufficient,
but are hoping to capture your insightful post-conference comments and ideas on
our Inside Pre-K Blog.
To continue the conversation, click on the
orange Comments link underneath
this post and follow the provided instructions.
We are talking about families and family traditions in my class throughout the month of December. This week, I added a dollhouse, furniture and many different kinds of dolls. Thankfully our school has a diverse assortment of dolls. I was able to find grandparents, parents, and children (including babies!) of many different nationalities.
Before our free choice time, I explained how we use the dollhouse. Most importantly, we decided that there should be two people playing in this area at one time. We have been working on playing with friends that we might not know as well and I thought this would be a good venue.
As a class we talked about why it is important to interact with each other while playing with the dollhouse. It is much more fun for your dolls to talk and play with each other!
As students were called to pick work areas, I strategically invited two students to play with each other at the dollhouse. Let me paint the picture: Yangchen is a Tibetan girl with limited English skills and Aaron love cars, Spiderman and cartoons and does not like to sit still. To my amazement, they worked so well together! Not only were they playing with each other but they were also using verbal and nonverbal cues to communicate. Aaron would show Yangchen a piece of furniture and ask where they should put it. When their house was ready, they each chose dolls and started to role play. Pretty soon they were laughing and enjoying each other as their dolls cooked dinner, went to bed, took a bath and walked the dog.
My favorite part of this experience actually came after we cleaned up. After snack we gather to read a story and do calendar work. I observed as Aaron called to Yangchen, “Hey! Come sit here!” I could not have been more excited! What a great way to practice our social skills! I am hoping the addition of the dollhouse and my strategic maneuvers will encourage even more stories throughout the rest of the month.
Last weekend I got into a thought provoking discussion with several of my peers about the expectation of pre-k students to be able to write their names. The teachers of four-year-olds said almost unanimously that by the end of pre-k, their students should be able to legibly write their first name. Some of the letters may be backwards, and the name may be a mix of upper and lowercase letters, but in general, an outside observer should be able to read the child’s writing. The teachers of three-year-olds were a bit less decisive; some very firmly believed that – after a full year of school – a three-year-old should be able to legibly write his/her name. Others were vehemently against the idea.
Personally, I believe that if three-year-olds are given appropriate learning opportunities, it is completely appropriate to expect them to write their name after a year of school. Now let me be clear, by “appropriate learning opportunities,” I do not mean that students should be required to trace their name, write perfectly, or write before they are ready. I mean that students should:
· See their name in print everywhere in the classroom. They should see their name on their belongings, on job charts [link to classroom helpers post], in books made in class, on their work, etc.
· Be given ample opportunities to play with letters and explore the shapes of letters. Magnetic letters, alphabet puzzles, letter cards, alphabet books, etc. should be readily available throughout the classroom.
· Write with a variety of materials. They should be able to write with their fingers at the sand table, with paintbrushes at the easel, with their fingers in shaving cream, etc.
· Have opportunities to write for authentic purposes. Students should be encouraged to label work with their name, sign letters, write their names on graphs, etc.
· Receive genuine encouragement from teachers, peers, and family members. Excitement about writing is contagious, and successes – regardless of how large or small they are – should be celebrated.
Under these circumstances, learning to write your name is a natural, fun process. It will not happen in the same way or at the same time for every student, and that is completely fine. Having the opportunity to explore letters and get excited about writing is what matters the most. The actual writing skills will come naturally from there.
The ABC news organization, 20/20 has announced they are planning to do a story on parents' experiences with pre-k. They are looking for viewers like you to submit their stories. It's so important that the American public see the value of pre-k so please take a moment to submit a story. Here is the story I will submit.
Every year, I seem to have a student who has the capacity to become something great. This key child also has, if I allow him or her to fail, the power to bring the achievement of my entire class crashing down around us. One of these students was Isaac. Isaac was a feisty and intelligent 5 year old boy with a smile that could make flowers grow. When he came to school at age 3, he had never been in a structured environment before. He started off well, but after winter break, each morning for three weeks, he refused to get off of the school bus. He hit, kicked, and cursed at adults who tried to move him, at one point telling me, “I hate this &#@$! school!” Isaac had enormous potential as a student, but it would take the patience of a mountain to make him see it. Slowly, over two years as my student, Isaac has seen what I saw in him. Isaac’s mother said, “Your dedication has turned a potentially traumatic time into a smooth and fun-filled transition for me as well as my son.” I am glad she thought it was smooth, but it wasn't. She may have forgotten crying on my shoulder with frustration about his behavior at school. She may have forgotten when I visited his apartment in Gilpin Court - a turning point for Isaac. He told all his friends, “Mr. H. came to my house!”
Now Isaac has no limits. He passed his Phonemic Awareness Literacy Screening, recognizing all of the upper-case, lower-case, and letter sounds. He scored above his peers on his High Scope Child Observation Record. He can solve problems, like when he helped Rasheed and Teshawna share crayons so that they both had more colors. He is great at conflict resolution, even when he is the cause. And, he loves to learn. When Isaac left my classroom he could read unfamiliar three letter words, create a growing pattern, count as high as he needed, do simple addition and subtraction, and ask questions about why things happen in the world.
This is just one story. It could have been a different story if I hadn't been his teacher. It could also have been different if Isaac's family had shut me out of their lives, if I didn't have the ability to gain Isaac's trust, or if I didn't respect Isaac for who he was and really "see" and value him. I bring up this story because this is just the kind of story that ABC News is looking for about public pre-K. It seems that the investigative news organization 20/20 wants to learn about parent's experiences with pre-k.
Was your child's experience in public Pre-K good or bad? Was your public school prepared to handle the wants and needs of 4-year-olds? Do you think the government should also pay for younger children as well?
ABC News wants to talk to parents whose children are in, or have been in, government-funded Pre-K.
If you were unhappy or happy with your child's experience in public Pre-K we want to hear from you. Please fill out the form below and a producer may contact you.
This will be a timely story for America. When Barack Obama was campaigning he said early childhood education would be a major issue for his education platform. This was a smart move on Obama's part since early childhood is one of the issues that conservatives and liberals can agree on. According to a Pre-K Now survey of 802 registered voters, 7 out of 10 voters support federal grants to support and expand state funded high quality pre-k programs. Another telling statistic was this question on the survey. Perhaps ABC will find that parents agree that high quality pre-k is a change we can build a dream on.
How important do you think it is for four-year-old children to spend time in a learning program outside the home?
Our dramatic play center has turned into a restaurant for the month of December. The table has a tablecloth, the waiters wear aprons and carry trays, and there is so much literacy development I can barely contain it!
Today was the first day the restaurant was open. Immediately four of my Spanish-speaking students took their spots. One was working the cash register and taking orders, two friends were in the kitchen and one was patiently waiting for their food to be delivered. I overheard several phrases in Spanish as a “waitress” called to the cook. As the customer settled into his meal I noticed the waitress with the pad of paper and pencil. She copied the letters and pictures that are on the menu, gave it to the customer and exclaimed “DOS!” Which I am assuming meant he owed her two dollars.
Later during our choice time, I noticed one of my most active and distracted students had made his way into our restaurant. I, again, went to observe. Normally this child would last 2-3 minutes at an activity like this. There wasn’t quite enough structure. However, with his notepad and pencil in hand we added meals to the Chef’s Special board, whipped up a batch of brownies, organized the beverages and planned some recipes. I was really impressed. He wasn’t ready to clean up at the end of our choice time! With some negotiating we agreed to work on our recipes tomorrow.
The learning opportunities in a dramatic play area are so genuine and so experiential. This, however, does take time and effort as a teacher. I make sure dramatic play is stocked with the essentials of a restaurant: food, trays, table, aprons, chef’s hat, menus notepads and pencils. Our menus and signs have picture cues and many of them can be written on with dry erase markers. We talk everyday about the expectations of each students while they play.
I could make my students sit at a desk and practice their letters and drill them on early literacy concepts. But I can assure you that what they learn through play is much more meaningful.
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education and advocacy organization that advances high-quality, voluntary
pre-kindergarten for all three and four year olds.
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