Read alouds are one of my favorite activities of our school day. There is nothing quite like a group of three- and four-year-olds sitting in rapt attention trying to figure out what will happen next in a story, making connections between a book and their own lives, or even taking on the perspective of a character from a book. I primarily use read alouds to teach thematic content (e.g. we read books about grocery stores during our Markets and Food unit), reading comprehension skills (e.g. making predictions), and vocabulary. This year, I have designed my schedule to accomodate four read alouds per day -- one in the morning, one before lunch, one before nap, and one at the end of the day.
I've developed a fairly good sense of what types of books will appeal to my students and encourage them to think critically about topics, however, my students still surprise me sometimes. This happened just last week when we read Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Typeby Doreen Cronin. I was reading the book with a focus on the idea that different people can have different ideas about the same situation, and the following conversation transpired:
Text: "'Cows that type. Hens on strike! Whoever heard of such a thing? How can I run a farm with no milk and no eggs!' Farmer brown was furious."
Me: "Farmer Brown was so angry! He didn't want to compromise with the animals, he just wanted everything his way."
Suniah: "That's actually no way to solve a problem."
Aaliyah: "Yeah, you have to share."
Makiera: "Or you can trade." (pointing to our sign that says "Friends can...share, trade, and take turns")
We usually read the same book at least two or three times over the course of a week in order to focus on different skills and comprehension strategies, and I wasn't planning on focusing on problem sovling until the next read aloud, but my students were already attuned to the major problem and potential soultions in the book. I took my students' insightful comments as an opporunity to touch on problem solving and why it is so important, while still addressing the underlying need to consider the perspectives of other people. Ultimately, this read aloud encouraged my students to make connections between a book and their lives, think critically about problems and solutions, and build off the ideas of their peers. It also provided a venue for a valuable lesson about social-emotional skills. And in the end, Makiera was pleased to learn that Farmer Brown did indeed decide to trade with the cows.
Recently, during Reading Workshop, my students proved to me how easy it is for four year olds to think "outside the box." While that expression has worn thin with overuse, it still represents an important skill: the ability to look at problems from a variety of perspectives and, thus, solve them more quickly and efficiently. If children really are our future, as the song claims, then thinking outside the box is a crucial skill to foster while they are young.
Our lesson was about problems and solutions in our current genre of nursery rhymes. I pre-selected the nursery rhyme Little Miss Muffet to use for this lesson because it had a clear problem and it was from our genre. I began by explaining what a problem was:
Me: Remember when we had a fire drill last month and the fire alarm wouldn't turn off afterwards? That was a problem; we had to wait outside for a long time. What was our solution to that problem, does anybody remember?
Cesar (after raising his hand): "The principal said we should pretend the alarm turned off and come back inside... but it was loud!" (Cesar covers his ears with his hands and rolls his eyes for effect.)
The students nod in agreement and begin to share some other examples of real world problems they have encountered in their daily lives.
Yesenia: "My big brother eats breakfast too slow and makes me late."
Jesus: "My baby brother cries a lot, it's loud."
Next, we discussed some real world solutions to their problems.
Peyton (to Yesenia): "You should eat breakfast at school because the teachers in the cafeteria won't let you be late."
Francisco: "Maybe Jesus' baby brother wants his mommy to get him a new diaper, that's what my little brother does when he wants a new diaper."
Of course, this drew all sorts of giggles from the audience.
We then read the nursery rhyme Little Miss Muffet together as a class and we identified Miss Muffet's problem: she was scared of spiders. The solutions my students thought of were much better than any that had occurred to me. I assumed they would say something along the lines of "Miss Muffet should move away from the tree so the spider won't sit down next to her," but I got much more than that...
"Choice Time" is a critical time for pre-k students to grow academically and socially. During choice time in my classroom, the children can go to any of ten interest areas that provide a wide range of opportunities for learning through hands-on, experiential activities. Each area has labeled materials and books pertinent to that area (e.g., Blocks has books about building and transportation; Dramatic Play has cooking and career books; Art has books of art with famous paintings). These materials help teach how literacy permeates all areas of life.
Here is a glimpse into choice time in Pre-k 114:
Blocks Area – Quite logically, the blocks area contains different types of blocks - wooden and plastic, large and small. In addition, we have worker hats, transportation toys, animal toys, and people figurines. We put illustrated labels on all toys to help make children aware of letters and words and how we use print in a functional way. When this photo was taken David and Samar were trying to construct a tunnel through which the car could pass. I asked them to recall what the tunnel looked like in the book we read. They found the book and discovered they were missing the top part of the tunnel. They also learned about cause and effect when they pushed a car through their construction project too fast and the tall sides fell in.
Dramatic Play – This area includes everything from plastic fruit to a medical kit. The children take on pretend roles ranging from mommies and daddies to doctors and waiters. We expose them to different functions of print by including real maps, menus, recipe books, and bus schedules to support their play. I often engage students with open ended questions that build their vocabulary and target their individual needs. In the "doctor's office," I asked Doctor Tyrique whether he was going to fill out a prescription for my medicine. He responded by grabbing a notepad and writing my name. We worked on listening for the sounds in Pappas and connecting those sound to letters. In the photo, Tyrone is writing a grocery list for his family.
Art Area – This area includes a wide range of materials intended to spark the children's creativity and invite constructive and open-ended dialogue between the teacher and student. Rather than tell children exactly what to make, we give them tools such as water color paint, paint markers, hard and soft clay, and collage materials. We provide an example, and then encourage them to express themselves with their tools. The symmetrical paintings shown on the back wall in the photo exemplify this process. I showed students how to paint on one side and make a mirror image on the other side by folding their paper. They then made their own paintings and, in the process, learned about symmetry.
These examples reveal the successful results of learning through play, or what I would deem constructive play. Teachers create interest areas with opportunities for children to explore and grow in various content areas. They then use choice time as a chance to target individual student needs identified through ongoing, performance-based assessments, and analysis. As children explore and discover, teachers can seize teachable moments and move their students forward.
Karen's grandmother told me from day one that she was concerned about her granddaughter's social skills. She had never been to school before and spent most of her time around adults: uncles, grandparents, and cousins. Karen already excelled in basic literacy and math skills after working with her great grandmother, a retired school teacher, one-on-one for the past year. Her transformation into a highly sociable member of our classroom community highlights the benefits of pre-k, even for those children who can attain academic readiness at home.
Karen's experiences made her quite focused on reading, writing, and interacting with Ms. Morrison and me in the fall. She chose to read in the Library, play with Table Toys, or paint by herself during Choice Time. Like David she was quite hesitant to join her fellow four year olds in more social areas such as Dramatic Play and Blocks. Yet she listened to and comprehended stories read on the rug, could write her name, and was starting to make connections between letters and their sounds. While I kept challenging her with her academics, I knew the real challenge for Karen would be developing relationships with her peers.
I exposed Karen to the same community building lessons as David. But whole group songs about our friends and puppet role plays did not motivate Karen to socialize with her friends. She would cheer on her friends and participate in role plays at the rug, but then continue to play on her own during choice time. I needed to use a more proactive and involved approach that both reflected Karen's current comfort level and built on that comfort level to further her social development.
Karen gravitated toward and listened to me because I was an adult. So, I invited her to play with me and then suggested we either join her peers or invite them to play with us. She agreed and, over time, discovered how much fun her friends could be! I remember her laughing with Samar in the Discovery Area while they tested magnets with various materials. She even started problem solving independently with her friends in December.
Karen has come a long way since September. Just this week, she chose to go to Dramatic Play and was soon taking her friends' orders at our pretend restaurant. She and her friends joked about changing their names in the Sand Area last month. She still sometimes prefers "alone time," like when she became adamant about separating the seal and the alligator in the Water Area so the seal would be safe, as shown in the picture. Yet she frequently experiences the very social interactions that will help her build and nurture relationships for years to come.
After reading the reports about the link between childcare and negative behavior problems later on, I thought it might be helpful to hear a parent’s take on the effect of pre-k on her son’s development. I decided to interview Ravon’s mother (“RM” for the remainder of the interview).
Ms. Pappas: Why did you decide to enroll Ravon in pre-k?
RM: I didn’t want a lot of play for Ravon. My younger brother was in your class the previous year, and I always liked the way you involved the parents in the homework assignments. I like the interaction with me and Ravon because I know what he is learning and we can work on further developing his listening and language skills together. Also, you still let them play in your classroom, but they learn through the play. Daycare was just play, play, color, color, all day long, but not enough learning.
Ms. Pappas: What do you think about recent studies that link childcare programs with negative behavior later on?
RM: Well, I used to work in daycare, so I agree. They tend to baby the kids instead of giving them ways to solve problems when they misbehave. They don’t explain things as much. The regular elementary school pre-k is different. You explain to the child why they are wrong and how they can correct themselves.
Ms. Pappas: How much education do you think a pre-k teacher needs in order to benefit children?
RM: I think experience goes a long way, often more than education. Some people with experience over education can deal with children better. My grandmother had no education and kept eight children in line.
Ms. Pappas: What are the benefits of pre-k?
RM: I have seen so much growth with Ravon. He’s expressing himself better. He’s more disciplined, and he wants to come to school. He doesn’t want to miss a day. My husband and I are so happy.
Ms. Pappas: What are your hopes for Ravon?
RM: Ravon can write, express himself more, interpret things better, read at least on his level.
Ms. Pappas: What about in the long run?
RM: I want my son to go to college. I want him to have a very decent job. I want him to enjoy what he does. It's not as much about the money. I really want him to be happy.
She did it! After three weeks on her individualized behavior contract, Aniyah finally earned enough points to present a special cheering show in front of the whole class.
As she stepped into the spotlight, Aniyah was surprisingly shy, unlike her attitude when giving frequent, disruptive cheers at inappropriate times. This “command performance” cheer was a bit more subdued. Yet as her friends cheered her on, her face brightened, and you could hear a sense of pride reverberating through her voice.
She cheered while clapping out each letter, “A-N-I-Y-A-H, A-N-I-Y-A-H, Aniyah, Aniyah, I am Aniyah! Aniyah, Aniyah, Aniyah!”
When I shared news of Aniyah’s show with her brother and mother the following day, the pride became contagious. Her family members smiled widely and seemed relieved that Aniyah was showing progress.
Aniyah’s road to victory was not quick and easy. She initially responded to the point system just as she had to our whole class color card behavior system, asking me angrily why I gave her a one or a two or a yellow or blue card instead of connecting her behavior to the negative consequence.
As we had one-on-one conversations each day, focused on her specific behaviors and the number of points that corresponded with them, she began to grasp the relationship between her choices and the consequences. Towards the second week, I would ask her how many points she thought she earned for the day, and she could usually guess correctly based on her own assessment of her behavior.
What does Aniyah’s behavior look like on the rug now? She usually listens to her friends and me attentively and rarely creates a disturbance by calling out. We, of course, still have our cheering moments, but these have become exceptions.
Perhaps best of all, Aniyah’s behavioral improvements have facilitated intellectual growth. She engages more actively in discussion during stories, making predictions and thinking critically about how to solve the characters’ problems. Just last week, she posed the “water car” solution to the problem in Leo Lionni’s classic, Swimmy. After losing his school of fish to one deep sea predator, Swimmy found another school of small fish so petrified of big tuna fish that they would not swim around the ocean. Aniyah’s solution required the small fish to drive a water car out of the ocean away from the big tuna fish. Aniyah was so focused that she not only suggested the idea but also wrote “wtr car” on our solutions list without guidance from me.
Her behavioral and academic progress have gone hand in hand, and I look forward to more improvements in the months ahead. This is one contract that both sides of the table are happy with.
Last week, I had another round of bilateral talks - a.k.a. parent-teacher conferences - which again revealed the importance for pre-k teachers to possess good “diplomatic skills.”
Going into the conferences, I was enthused about discussing my children’s progress. Tanasia, who had struggled to come out of her shell, is now participating throughout the day and moving forward in basic math and literacy skills. A look at David’s writing folder demonstrates clear and constant growth, progressing from self-portraits he labeled with the letter “D” to short sentences written with little guidance using invented spelling.
I grew concerned, though, as I considered a few remaining difficulties with two family members in particular: Kevin’s grandmother, who emphatically disapproves of our literacy program; and Tyrique’s mother, who after more than five attempts to reschedule during the last cycle of conferences still never came.
Despite my efforts to engage her, Kevin’s grandmother had barely spoken to me since our confrontation in January. She had, however, continued to complain to Ms. Morrison during the after-school program proclaiming, “I can’t wait until this year is over.” While this round of conferences focused more heavily on social development and an explanation of a new assessment, I decided to start off our conversation with positive comments relating to her primary concern: literacy. I began by discussing Kevin’s ability to read short sentences with little guidance from me (for example, he can read, “I like to see the fat cat run on the mat.”). I showed her a short, teacher-made assessment I gave to Kevin the day before and modeled how he used his knowledge of letters, letter sounds, and sight words to read. She was so overjoyed with this positive communication that I was able to shift gears and discuss Kevin’s need for further development in other skill areas, such as taking on roles in Dramatic Play, taking turns, and using words to solve conflicts.
Given her absence from the previous conference, I did not expect Tyrique’s mother to respond to the school’s formal efforts to set up conferences for this round. I therefore made plans to reach out to her informally about two weeks before. In addition to mentioning something positive about Tyrique’s performance each time she came in, I would say that I couldn’t wait to talk more about it and show her his great work at the conferences. The day of the conferences she said she couldn’t stay, but we rescheduled for the next morning. I made a comment about celebrating Tyrique over muffins in the morning. She laughed and at 7:45 the next morning was at my door. We had a productive conference and even discussed some behavioral issues which she too has noticed at home.
In both of these cases, I believe it was my ability to talk with parents about their children in a positive light that helped us get past indifference and hostility. It goes to show that, even when parents and teachers don’t see eye to eye or see each other frequently, communication between a child’s home and school is achievable and beneficial to all.
Like any good professional educator, I spend hours and hours designing lesson plans. In pre-k, it is especially important that lessons excite and center on the children’s four-year-old interests. Yet my planning is not complete until I also determine how to transition my children from one lesson activity to the next.
Why are transitions so important in pre-k? Well, take an example from my first year of pre-k teaching. On a typical morning, my students read independently after breakfast, and when that less structured activity was over I struggled to motivate the class to clean up and get focused for the more structured whole-group circle time that followed. I noticed that I spent, on average, 10-15 minutes transitioning the children between the two activities - precious minutes that could have been instructional time.
I reflected on how to minimize time lost to off-task behavior and learned that simple songs and rewards kept the children engaged and attentive as they put away their books or play materials and prepared for the next lesson. Among the little ditties we now sing are:
• “Read, read, read a book, we are getting smart” (to the tune of “Row, Row, Row, Your Boat”) • “Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere, clean up, clean up, everybody do your share.” • “Clap, clap, clap, snap, snap, snap, now it’s time to take a nap.”
I also began providing incentives like short “dance parties,” a parent visitor, or a fruit we hadn’t yet tried in return for the class consistently getting ready and focused before I could count down from 10 to zero.
Before long, my class was able to clean up and be ready for our morning meeting in less than one minute. Reclaiming those ten minutes each day for the entire year adds up to 1,800 minutes of instructional time. Think of what you could teach in 1,800 minutes?! And that’s just one transition time among eight or nine in a given day.
But time saved is just one benefit of an effective transition. When four year olds are standing around while their teacher scrambles to move to the next part of the day, they are apt to fill that vacuum with undesirable behavior. By laying out behavioral expectations at all times, including transitions, and designing transitions that meet students’ developmental needs for plenty of movement and singing, transitions help curb those undesirable behaviors. For instance, Ravon, who swung his arms and legs aggressively in the beginning of the year, is far less likely to engage in such behavior now because he knows what is expected at all times.
Transitions can also reinforce the concepts and skills we learn throughout the day. As in the examples above, we use counting skills to get ready for circle time and rhyming skills to get ready for nap and to clean up. Instead of just saying “line up,” we line up in a pattern. Individually, the songs and counting just seem like normal pre-k classroom sounds, but, together, they ensure that the children and I get the most out of each day.
Ahh, the weekend…after exploring fantastical literary worlds for five days with old ladies swallowing flies, purple crayon drawn hot air balloons, and wild things at every corner, I get to delve into my weekly collection of non-fiction, “adult” content at a local café.
As I briefly step away from my pre-k teacher mentality to reflect on the latest 2008 presidential contender or the Ethiopian presence in Somalia, I consider one unifying theme in each of the articles: problems. Regardless of your political affiliation, job sector, or daily blogger of choice, it is clear that current and future generations face a wide range of political, economic, social, and technological problems. So what are we doing in Pre-k 114 to provide our society with proactive problem solvers?
One, we are creating a problem-solving culture in the classroom. Whether the problem is spilled milk, a friend crying, or someone saying they “can’t” do something, we respond with efforts to fix the problem. Initially, the children said, “ooooooh” and pointed instead. We then showed puppets in similar situations, brainstormed with the children about how to fix problems, and adopted the phrase, “We don’t say ‘oooh,’ we fix the problem.”
We also don’t give up. We learned from the Little Engine to keep chugging while saying, “I think I can” and asking for help from our peers. We receive positive recognition for going out of our way to help others fix problems. Students who got to purple last week included David and Tanasia for helping each other fold up their blankets after naptime, Awana for assisting Tyrone with his spilled juice, and Kevin for comforting Karen when she was upset.
A second step is to foster critical thinking skills. Like my favorite adult publications, children’s literature is filled with characters that have problems. We use these scenarios as a starting point for thinking about ways to solve problems. Here is an excerpt from a problem solving discussion we had last Friday over breakfast, as we looked at a picture of Jack (of “Jack Be Nimble” fame) jumping over the candlestick.
Ms. Pappas: What’s the problem? Sierra: His pants could catch on fire. Ms. Pappas: So what should he do? Sierra: Call 911 to put the fire out. Ms. Pappas: Great idea. What if he doesn’t have a phone? Tyrique: I could put his foot in the sink. Ms. Pappas: Excellent idea. What if the sink in his house doesn’t work? Tyrone: I could take him to your house and put his foot in the toilet. Ms. Pappas: How will you get to my house? Tyrone: I will take a cab. Ms. Pappas: What if I’m not home? Ravon: He could take Jack to the supermarket for some water. Awana: No, he not going to be on fire. He jumped over the candle. He was quick.
“And chances are if the mouse asks for a glass of milk, he’s going to want a cookie to go with it.”
Ahh, the end of story time, right after lunch and before nap-time…a time when most of the children are relaxing, flirting with the decision to crash prematurely on the rug before retiring to the comfort of their individual mats, or contemplating the complexities highlighted in the literary masterpiece just presented to them, in this case the enigmatic cyclical nature of Laura Numeroff’s classic, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
Yet, for Kevin, this point in the day used to be filled will anxiety, frustration, and sometimes pure anger if he was not chosen to help me pass out the mats. Not anymore.
Unlike the other children, our key phrase –“Oh well, I’ll get picked next time.” –did not work for Kevin. Ms. Morrison and I decided to individualize our approach to Kevin’s struggle with taking turns and build on his visual learning style and interest in taking on greater responsibility. Each day, after we complete our post-story discussion, Kevin walks over to Ms. Morrison’s table and figures out who should have a turn to distribute the mats by reviewing a list of his classmates who have helped over the course of the past two weeks. He then announces the person picked for the day to the entire class. Since we have developed the system Kevin has not cried or thrown a tantrum once during this transition time.
We still have some difficulties in other parts of the day; for instance, if he doesn’t get picked during a discussion or game on the rug. Yet the intensity of his responses has subsided, and he is better able to manage his anger without much direct attention from me. He will sometimes turn his back to the group to weep silently or just breathe deeply. He either comes back to the group on his own in a few minutes or responds to me praising others or engaging him with an interesting activity. He even occasionally uses our “Oh well” message.
We have certainly made progress in working with Kevin and understanding how to continue improving his behavior in the future. His ability to stay focused and calm even when he is not chosen or he does not get what he wants will undoubtedly help him grow both academically as a learner and socially as a member of our classroom community.
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Blocks Area – Quite logically, the blocks area contains different types of blocks - wooden and plastic, large and small. In addition, we have worker hats, transportation toys, animal toys, and people figurines. We put illustrated labels on all toys to help make children aware of letters and words and how we use print in a functional way. When this photo was taken David and Samar were trying to construct a tunnel through which the car could pass. I asked them to recall what the tunnel looked like in the book we read. They found the book and discovered they were missing the top part of the tunnel. They also learned about cause and effect when they pushed a car through their construction project too fast and the tall sides fell in.
Dramatic Play – This area includes everything from plastic fruit to a medical kit. The children take on pretend roles ranging from mommies and daddies to doctors and waiters. We expose them to different functions of print by including real maps, menus, recipe books, and bus schedules to support their play. I often engage students with open ended questions that build their vocabulary and target their individual needs. In the "doctor's office," I asked Doctor Tyrique whether he was going to fill out a prescription for my medicine. He responded by grabbing a notepad and writing my name. We worked on listening for the sounds in Pappas and connecting those sound to letters. In the photo, Tyrone is writing a grocery list for his family.
Art Area – This area includes a wide range of materials intended to spark the children's creativity and invite constructive and open-ended dialogue between the teacher and student. Rather than tell children exactly what to make, we give them tools such as water color paint, paint markers, hard and soft clay, and collage materials. We provide an example, and then encourage them to express themselves with their tools. The symmetrical paintings shown on the back wall in the photo exemplify this process. I showed students how to paint on one side and make a mirror image on the other side by folding their paper. They then made their own paintings and, in the process, learned about symmetry.
Karen has come a long way since September. Just this week, she chose to go to Dramatic Play and was soon taking her friends' orders at our pretend restaurant. She and her friends joked about changing their names in the Sand Area last month. She still sometimes prefers "alone time," like when she became adamant about separating the seal and the alligator in the Water Area so the seal would be safe, as shown in the picture. Yet she frequently experiences the very social interactions that will help her build and nurture relationships for years to come.
