My last post focused on an important aspect of the Kindergarten curriculum known as Reader’s Workshop. As one of the summer school teachers for our pre-kindergarten students, I am also spending two days of our week on Writer’s Workshop.
On Tuesday and Thursday, our main focus is on writing. Writer’s Workshop allows our students to learn basic skills and get practical experience with writing. On Tuesday, my co-teacher gave a mini lesson on writing. Our class discussed how and why we use a pencil when we write and how to use our writing folders. Each student has a folder with a “stop” side and a “keep going” side. When a student thinks they have done all the work they can on a story, it is kept on the “stop” side until the final editing and publishing days. During their work time, about half of the students wanted to be finished after drawing one simple picture. As we conference with each student, we helped them think about their favorite story or book. Does that have just one picture or one thought? Usually stories have a beginning, middle and an end. Most of our students flourished! Several were even using beginning sounds to try spelling words for their stories. I was thrilled!
On Thursday, I led a mini lesson that asked the important question: Why do writers write? Again, we put together a very nice list.
Writer write…
Because they have something to say
Because they read things
Because they want to
Because they are illustrators and writers
Because they want to teach someone something
Because it is fun
Because they are funny
As a pre-kindergarten teacher it is always a mix of emotions when Kindergarten rolls around. I will miss the students – each of their idiosyncrasies has a specific spot in my heart. However, it is great to be able to say with confidence that they are ready. Those students who have had the opportunity to experience early childhood education have a solid foundation. Not only are they able to sound out words because they know letters and letter sounds, but they have learned HOW to do school. They have practiced learning in large groups. They have tested their endurance and perseverance and have prevailed. Most importantly, they have developed positive relationships with adults and peers and have sparked an excitement for learning. What could be better than that?
Bridges to Kindergarten, my summer school class, has finished week one of three! We are already on the road to a seamless transition from pre-kindergarten to Kindergarten.
In our summer class we are introducing key components of the Kindergarten curriculum in small ways. Monday and Wednesday are devoted to Reader’s Workshop. This week we discussed how we care for our books and what good readers do. My coordinating teacher presented a mini lesson on book care. She encouraged students to notice what her body looks like, sounds like and feels like when she is reading a book. They also discussed where the books are stored in our classroom and why. I love watching four and five year olds really take on responsibility of themselves and our classroom materials. On Wednesday I posted a question to our class: “What do good readers do?” Our list was plentiful.
Good readers:
read because they like to
read because they want to learn something
read because they like books
read when they want to rest
read when they want to laugh
read because they wrote it
read because their mom and dad do
read because there are boxes of books
read because there are Sponge Bob books
Each student spent 15 minutes reading. They are allowed to read as many books as they would like as many times as they would like but they “keep reading until we stop!” It is fun to watch some students get a slow start, but then not want to put their books away! After our free reading time students are invited to share their favorite book with the class. This non-threatening sharing opportunity helps students become comfortable with sharing their work with others – an important social and academic skill.
Writer’s Workshop is another key component to our district’s kindergarten curriculum. Look for more information about Writer’s Workshop in my next post.
Routine, routine, routine. It is practically shoved down a parent’s throat these days! A consistent bedtime routine helps to encourage healthy sleeping patterns. A daily schedule, chore chart or list can help a day run smoothly. In my work with our students this summer, I have learned that for some, learning to break the routine is just as important.
I use many songs and rhyming chants to help us navigate through our day. After two to three weeks most students are singing along. The amount of language and literacy development is off the charts!
Here comes the tricky part. Two of my Early Childhood Special Education students are now stuck. It is difficult for either of them to complete a task if the routine has been changed. For example, during morning meeting the students are asked to find their written name and then their picture, which is hanging on a bulletin board. They are then supposed to turn around to greet their friends by name. My co-teacher and I have noticed in the past few days that Mia, one of our routine loving students, is not listening to the words we are saying, but going through the motions by heart. We decided that we would help Mia practice her adaptability skills by adding to, subtracting from or changing the routine.
It is amazing to watch how one little change can throw off a child like Mia. I am thankful that she feels safe and welcome in school. These big learning opportunities would not be possible if she did not trust her teachers. The first time we tried a change in routine, we asked Mia to sit down before finding her picture. From the moment the words left my mouth, Mia looked stressed and attempted to ignore my directions. I asked her to stop what she was doing and really listening to my words. With much patient practice we are slowly getting used to using our ears to hear and our brains to process important information!
Any experienced early education teacher will tell you there are three key ingredients that go into creating every recipe for classroom success: blood, sweat, and tears. Just like any good chef, good teachers add their own flair, spices, and secret ingredients to their classrooms to make the flavor “just right”. No two classrooms are the same because no two chefs teachers are the same. What separates me from Ms. Hoffman the fifth grade teacher down the hall and Chef Boyardee culinary extraordinaire is music.
As a pre-k teacher, I'm continually thinking of ways to motivate my students to learn, while keeping them focused on the activity at hand. Learning the lesson is only one piece of the puzzle; ensuring the concept being taught is retained for future application is where success lies. I have found music to be the most engaging, beneficial way to give my students memorable and meaningful learning experiences while keeping them alert and on task. Simply singing or playing the first few beats of a particular song can allay dangerous daydreaming and classroom catastrophes. I incorporate music in my classroom as often as I incorporate technology – which is constantly.
Here are just a few examples of songs I use to teach skills and concepts in the classroom:
Dr. Jean’s Rise and Shine song = good morning ritual
Sweet Honey in the Rock “Oh My Goodness Look at This Mess” = clean-up routines and procedures
Dr. Jean’s Good-bye Friends song = good-bye ritual
No discussion about music in early childhood education would be complete without a mention of visuals. For an auditory lesson to have maximum impact, singing a song is just not enough. Visual aids accommodate students of different learning styles while introducing students to new skills and reinforcing thier knowledge retention. Another obvious benefit, imagery assists ESL learners in easily grasping otherwise difficult English language concepts. Examples of visual props to use with music include:
Clip-Art: Pictures that go with a song (i.e. pictures of the animals to go with the song I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly)
Stuffed animals or puppets (i.e. a stuffed dog or dog puppet to go with the song B-I-N-G-O)
Toys (i.e. a toy boat to go with the song Row, Row, Row, Your Boat)
Actions: Using simple actions to accompany songs such as dance movements to Jack Hartmann’s Rhymin’ to the Beat Nursery Rhymes
To the trained musical ear, auditory lessons might not be considered “music” at all. And while This Old Man and Down by the Bay aren’t the revered works of Bach or Beethoven, they are effective tools that promote fun learning to otherwise un-captive 3 and 4-year-old audiences. Integral to any early education lesson is the ingredient music. There’s always room for a sprinkle of Raffi or dash of Rachmaninoff in a delicious pre-k recipe.
The beginning of this semester brought in a few new students to our classes. Adding new students is always a challenge. There are routines, expectations, new language, and much more to learn. Now that we are finding a groove again, I decided to add some new things to our circle time.
A normal circle time in my classroom includes an opportunity to greet everyone in class (including those that are not with us on that day), to choose our jobs for the day, and to do some sort of music or movement activity. Recently, I added an opportunity to practice counting as a whole class. Before we greet our friends, we count how many people are sitting in our circle which, incidently, “Is not a circle! It’s an oval!” Keri reminds us.
Each day I pick a new ball to pass around. We have an assortment of small, spiky, bumpy, smooth, shiny, colored, and even twisted balls. As we pass the ball each student says their number. When we first started this activity, most of my students were able to make it from one to ten. As we continued to practice, the pattern of the “-teens” began to make sense. Raul and Maggie still sometimes say “three-teen” or “five-teen,” but the idea is there! Now, we are able to make it to 17 and even 21 without much help.
It is fun to see these activities transfer to other aspects of classroom life throughout the day. When deciding what game to play at the end of our day last Tuesday, Nicoletta suggested, “I want to play duck duck duck grey duck!” Keri resounded, “Me too!” Which was followed by “Me three!" "Me four!" "Me five!" "Me six!" "Me seven!" "Me eight!” - coming from others in our class.
This daily practice has really made each of my students aware of the concept of counting and how it can and will apply to their real lives. I know that by the end of the school year, Raul and Maggie will have no trouble with 13 or 15!
Each year pre-k teachers are faced with the task of teaching their students self-help skills. Part of our job as pre-k teachers is to foster independence in our students to prepare them for kindergarten. Our students need to be taught how to do things for themselves such as wash their hands. It seems that teaching simple tasks would be easy; all one would have to do is show the students once and then students can do it perfectly. One would be terribly wrong!
This year, my class is having a difficult time learning how to wash their hands. Apparently the phrase “wash your hands” and “take a bath” were confusing to them--they often emerged from the bathroom dripping wet with soap bubbles in their hair. I finally decided to create a step-by-step multi-media slideshow in Photo Story titled "How to Wash Your Hands" (see below) that I could show to the class daily. While it did help cut down on bathtime, their hands were still dirty and soapy when they exited the bathroom.
I had a "light bulb moment" when I realized they weren’t rubbing their hands together hard enough or long enough to rinse off soap or dirt. On-line, I stumbled across an idea about having the students sing the ABC song while they washed their hands. The song is long enough that once they are done singing, their hands are clean. I thought this was a fantastic idea--they can practice letters and learn how to wash their hands simultaneously.
At first, it worked wonders. Everybody's hands were clean. But one day in December, as I stood in the hallway between the restrooms, the singing stopped. I poked my head in the girls' restroom to see what happened.
Me: Why isn’t anybody singing?
Alondra: Everybody knows the ABC song now, that’s for babies.
The gaggle of girls around the sink all nodded their heads in agreement. Alondra is a real pack leader--if she says it’s for babies, then all the other students agree.
There was no singing from the boys' restroom either. I was approached by Octavio who showed me the soap bubbles on his hands, so I sent him back to the restroom to wash again. Octavio must have noticed the defeated look on my face because after a moment, we heard loud singing coming from the boys restroom. I peeked past the door and saw Octavio washing his hands while singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer at the top of his lungs.The students started giggling and singing along in the hallway. This quickly turned into a hit and soon the kids were looking for excuses to wash their hands and sing. I guess we’ll try Frosty the Snowman this month.
I was concerned last week when a recent report linking child care to later behavioral problems in children grabbed headlines. I can only imagine the guilt that parents who have children in such programs felt upon hearing this news. But the reality is far from the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” picture painted in the media.
High quality pre-k offers the chance for young children to learn how to express themselves appropriately in a wide range of social interactions, how to solve conflicts with peers, and how to function productively in a structured school environment.
The first thing my children learn is how to follow set routines. Many come in without any previous childcare experience. Their first week behaviors have included children leaving the class to run down the hallway laughing and screaming and others simply wandering the classroom unresponsive to my efforts to give directions. I consistently implement classroom procedures and routines designed to make the students capable of working on their own and with others.
By the end of September they could do everything from sitting on the rug to disposing their lunch tray. They also knew what would happen if they did or did not follow our classroom rules, why it was important to follow the rules, and how to “use their words” to solve conflicts. Their awareness of what to expect, desire to receive positive praise, and investment in our “we are all friends” classroom culture curbed negative behavior. Moreover, our emphasis on the rationale behind wise choices such as peaceful conflict resolution made our teaching more lasting.
Parents can certainly also teach their children about solving problems and behaving appropriately. Yet pre-k offers the opportunity for young children to practice these strategies with a large and diverse group of their peers on a daily basis. Kevin, aka “the anti-sharer,” who frequently threw temper tantrums when he did not get a turn at something, frequently exhibited similar behavior at home. Pre-k gave Kevin the chance to practice working out problems with other children, a skill that will help him in school and at home. Moreover, we used our knowledge of his learning style based on our extensive anecdotes to develop an outlet for his negative energy and an opportunity for him to take ownership of the solution within the context of our daily routines.
High-quality pre-k offers high-quality teachers focused on analyzing student behavioral problems and implementing enduring solutions. Without such attention, I could see the problems getting worse and producing the kind of results captured by this latest research. For me, this study and my experiences are a call for educators, parents, and policymakers to support efforts to make all early care and education programs high quality.
“Hello, my name is Tanasia Britch from Pre-k 114. We will now sing Dr. King,”
Tanasia exclaimed loud and clear for everyone, grades pre-k through two, to hear.
She did it! After a tough transition in the beginning of the year, Tanasia slowly began to participate in classroom activities without much encouragement from me or her peers. Moreover, rather than repeatedly crying and inquiring about the time of her mother’s return, she now focuses on a wide range of subjects including bears and cars. The more she shares with us in terms of her thoughts and interests, the better able I am to chart her academic growth. Her gradual progress culminated in her widely acclaimed introduction of our class performance during the school assembly commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Her other accomplishments during the past two weeks include:
Counting each of her friends for snack time in a clear and loud voice without skipping anyone;
Identifying and chanting out the letters in the word "like" in our modeled morning message for the first time; and
Choosing to read books to and with her friends rather than reading alone. Tanasia even encouraged her friend to read with her when she saw her friend crying.
As I reflect on her growth, I consider two major reasons for Ms. Morrison’s and my success with Tanasia:
Student-Driven Instruction: We took the time to understand Tanasia's interests and provided opportunities for her to talk about and make things for her family. Our discussions at the rug, during lunch, and at choice time included plenty of open-ended questions which allowed Tanasia to speak openly about what was on her mind: her sisters, mother, father, and auntie. If the mouse ate cookies and asked for some milk, we learned about how happy Tanasia feels when she eats cookies and drinks milk with her sister at home. In addition, while Tanasia first hesitated to join her friends during choice time, she began to gravitate towards the Art and Writing areas once she learned that she could take home her finished products. Tanasia may have been physically separated from her family, but since she had the chance to talk about and make things for her siblings and parents, she still felt connected to them while in school; and
Classroom Culture of High Expectations: We consistently responded to Tanasia’s crying with the expectation that she would eventually become more of an active and enthusiastic member of our classroom community. Rather than excuse her from class activities or call her family to pick her up, we taught her all of the routines and rules like the rest of the children. If she needed to cry when she first came in, she could, but she still needed to unpack, put her Math Homelink journal in the bin, wash her hands, and get her own breakfast.
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