It is not easy being married to a kindergarten teacher. As I share the events of the day with my husband he often smiles and says, "Honey, I don't need the Genesis version." (You know - In the beginning...) He also reminds me, "I'm not five. You only have to tell me once." In his honor I am not going to give you a Biblical narrative, but the Dragnet version - just the facts. For our young emergent readers to grow in skill and fluency they need to read, read, read! An apology to my husband for repeating, but this time it is necessary. Just as a marathon runner must run each day and a championship basketball player must practice 3-pointers, our emergent readers need to practice reading. Encourage your child to take time each day to read. Our beginning readers need to read simple repetitive texts that will build skill and confidence. They also need to hear good reading modeled, so take time to read to your child. Just like we practice the skills to nail that gymnastics move or to hit that soccer goal, good readers must also practice their reading skills.
One of my greatest joys is to hear a kindergartner proudly say, "I read that!"
Class News
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Self-Reliance
This week I have thought a great
deal about how to make our kindergartners more self-reliant learners. As a teacher I want to facilitate learning,
model appropriate behaviors, and guide students in developing strategies that
help them become competent readers, writers, and problem solvers. Striking a balance between allowing them to
be independent learners and knowing when to step in to help can be
difficult. I want to provide the balance
that allows children to become self-confident and self-sufficient while still
feeling supported and mentored.
It is often
more important for me to ask questions to guide thinking rather than to provide
quick easy answers. “What do you think? How would
you solve that problem? What should we
do first?” Asking leading questions
and brainstorming together can help stimulate thinking. Modeling good questioning techniques provides
young children with some strategies to attack problems on their own.
As parents and
teachers we have to encourage our children to take risks in their work and let
them know that it is okay to make a mistake or two along the way towards
greater independence. As adults it is
hard to let go of our idea of perfection.
It is definitely quicker (and more skillfully done) to complete tasks
for our children instead of allowing them the time to complete them on their
own. When hanging up coats or packing bookbags
on their own our children see they are responsible for taking care of their belongings. When a child says, “What’s that word?” or “How
do you spell…?” It is so easy to give the quick answer. I know I am guilty of this during a time
crunch, but this makes my students continue to depend on me. My goal should be to nurture the persistence and
inquisitive spirit needed to find answers independently. I want our children to know they are capable of
solving problems and that making a mistake is not the end of the world.
We need to
model responsibility and self-reliance in what we say and do. Our children rely on us and watch carefully to
see how we react to life’s situations. I
have often been guilty of wanting to rush in and shield children from
disappointment or failure, but by doing this I deny them a chance to develop some
important life skills like self-reliance and self-confidence. Our children are depending on us to teach
them how the world works and how we should work in the world. Sometimes that means they learn from us and
other times it means we encourage them to work it out on their own.
.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Questions
Life is an unanswered question, but let's still believe in the
dignity and importance of the question.
- Tennessee
Williams
Questions, questions, questions! Skillful readers ask themselves questions as they
read to build understanding. Often
children read and save the questions for the end. To better understand a text a
reader needs to ask questions before, while, and after they read. As a parent
you can help your child become a more proficient reader by modeling this
process and encouraging your child to use this technique when reading
independently.
As our young readers begin, encourage them to examine the
book’s cover. Talk about the title,
browse through and discuss the pictures, and make some predictions about what
might happen.
While reading together model questions - “What do you think the problem might be in this story? Often characters
have a problem they have to solve. How
do you think they will solve it?”
Encourage children to use prior knowledge (what they know about the
world around them) and think about what they would do in a character’s situation. After reading on, model how you use evidence
from the text to show what the character actually did in the story. Children love to talk about stories and share
their insights. This practice helps the
text become more meaningful and promotes better understanding.
Here is a list of just a few discussion items you might use
while reading together:
- Do you think
this story is fiction (make-believe) or nonfiction (fact)?
- Describe the
character using details from the story.
- Where does the
story take place? Describe the
setting.
- Where did that
happen? How do you know?
- Using a
picture on a page describe how you think a character feels.
- Why do you
think he/she feels like that?
- What was the
problem? Why is that a
problem?
- What would you
do if that happened to you?
- What do you
think will happen next?
After reading you might ask some of these questions:
- Did the story
end the way you predicted?
- What would you
have done if you were that character?
- How did the
character change throughout the story?
- If you could
rename this book, what would you call it?
Why?
- What lesson
did this story teach?
- What did you
learn from this story?
- Does this
story remind you of anything that has ever happened to you?
- How did you
feel at the beginning of the story?
- How do you
feel at the end of the story?
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
The Character of Characters
– Developing Greater Understanding
Our emergent readers are working with simple predictable
texts to develop appropriate reading behaviors, extend word recognition, and
increase decoding skills. These texts
are perfect for our young ones as they develop fluency, but are limited in how
they can be used to increase comprehension skills. This is where we as parents and teachers can
help build the higher level thinking skills of our young readers. Reading
to children is one of the most important things we can do to increase literacy
skills, broaden vocabulary, and help children acquire strategies for greater
understanding of a text. A great place
to start is to examine the characters in a story.
As you meet characters in books discuss who they are. Use rich language that describes physical
traits and personality. Reading researcher
Steven Stahl states, “A richer vocabulary
does not just mean that you know more words, but that we have more complex and
exact ways of talking about the world, and of understanding ways that more
complex thinkers see the world.”
Examine the roles of the characters. The protagonist is the
“good guy,” the main character. The
antagonist, the bad guy, usually provides some type of challenge for the
hero. Discuss how the characters develop
through the story and how problems are solved.
How do the characters change over time and through experiences? Make connections between the text and
familiar real world events. Encourage
children to use their background knowledge – what they know about the world
around them – and the information in the text to make predictions about what
will happen in the story. When we have
meaningful discussions about the characters we model strategies for our
children to use and help them develop tools to gain greater understanding.
Check out the link below to find some wonderful stories read
by members of the Screen Actors’ Guild.
Watch, read together, and discuss the story elements. Sharing quality time and insights about good
books will strengthen our children’s desire to read and develop their depth of
understanding.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Promoting Math Problem Solving Skills in Young Children
The Common Core encourages us to build our students’ math
problem solving skills – focusing on the process as much as the outcome. Modeling math problem solving strategies and
talking about the process is a great first step. In class we work to find the teachable moment
and help our children see math problem solving is an integral part of so many
of the things we encounter each day at school, at home, or wherever we
are. We start simply, use rich math
language, and strive to build a firm foundation. Here are some things you as parents can do to
help your child put their problem solving strategies to work:
·
Look for and point out examples of mathematics
all around. It is almost everywhere.
·
Examine patterns in the calendar, the days of
the week, months of the year, and seasons.
·
Count objects.
Play games and use dice to count and move. Discuss the numbers and what move is greater
or less than another.
·
Count in a variety of ways – by ones, twos, fives,
or tens.
·
Use manipulatives to help solve problems. (pennies, rocks, marbles, or any object that
you can use to manipulate and solve a problem)
·
Act out problem solving situations. If I see two bare feet, how many toes do I
see? How would we model that with math
language? 5 + 5 = 10
·
Find shapes in the environment and discuss how
they are alike and different. How many
sides do you see? How many corners? (or
vertices – great math language!)
·
Measure and compare when cooking or working on
projects.
·
Talk about how you solve problems. Having discussions about the problem solving
process helps your child develop strategies to attack problems
independently.
·
Ask your child, “How did you solve that
problem? Can you show me?” Encourage children to use pictures, numbers,
words, or manipulative to show what they know.
·
Use hints to guide children in their problem
solving rather than giving them the answer.
·
Celebrate success, encourage perseverance, and help
build self-confidence in your child.
It is amazing the problem-solving abilities
that our young students possess. As
facilitators of their learning we need to model and provide multiple
opportunities to enrich and expand their good problem solving skills and work
to create a desire to be a lifelong learner.
“Learning is experience. Everything else is just information.” - Albert Einstein
Friday, October 4, 2013
The Kindergarten Experience
Robert Fulghum
wrote, “All I really need to know I
learned in kindergarten.”
As a kindergarten
teacher I find that statement incredibly inspiring and do believe kindergarten
is the place where a firm foundation and a love for learning are formed. Kindergarten has truly evolved over the years
and with this evolution came more rigorous academic expectations. The good news is that children are ready to
meet these challenges. Young learners
are naturally curious and eager to explore the world around them. When examining a quality kindergarten
experience today one should see:
- · Children actively engaged in a variety of real life learning activities (not just completing worksheets).
- · Flexible and meaningful instruction that is ongoing and differentiated to meet individual student’s needs.
- · A safe and encouraging environment that supports and extends the development of the whole child – academically, socially, emotionally, and physically.
- · Rich language experiences! Reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills are modeled, practiced, and valued daily.
- · Collaboration and the sharing of ideas and strategies. The problem solving process is valued as much as the solution.
- · Exploration and a deep understanding of math, science, social studies, and the arts are developed and celebrated.
- · A place where diverse activities are the norm. Children are engaged in large and small skill groups, teacher lead and child-initiated experiences, direct instruction and discovery, and meaningful individual and peer group learning opportunities.
- · Children realizing, celebrating, and developing their unique gifts and talents. “How am I smart?” - rather than – “How smart am I?” (Dr. Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences) http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/education/ed_mi_overview.html
We should combine
the knowledge of what is developmentally appropriate with the rigor of the
Common Core’s Curriculum that strives to make children college and career
ready. The greatest thing I believe we
can do as we work to build the foundation for our kindergartners is to create a
love for lifelong learning. After all .
. .
“The Universe is one great kindergarten for
man. Everything that exists has brought
with it its own peculiar lesson.” -
Orson Swett Marden
Thursday, September 26, 2013
One Little Way to Enlarge Your Child's World
"There are many little ways to
enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all."
— Jacqueline Kennedy
Research has shown that
one of the most important things a parent can do to help instill a love of
learning in their child is to read to them every day. When children are immersed in a
great story with rich language their vocabulary is enriched, speaking and
listening skills expand, and they develop a desire to become readers. Reading exposes your child to correct speech
patterns, creates awareness of how print works, and demonstrates the excitement
that reading can bring. Books should be
an integral part of our children's daily lives.
Here are a few tips for
reading with your child:
·
Before you read, check out the cover. - Read the
title, look at the pictures, and make some predictions together.
·
Read aloud from easy predictable books and point
to each word. Next ask your child to
read and point to the words. This gives practice
matching the spoken word with the print on the page.
·
Use expression as you read and make the story
come alive!
·
Ask questions like, “What do you think is going
to happen?” “How do you think that
character feels right now?”
·
Encourage your child to use the pictures to gain
clues about the text.
·
When you listen to your child read make sure
they are reading a “good fit” book. If
your child is making more than 2 mistakes in every 10 words, the text is
too hard. Choose an easier one.
·
Praise your child’s efforts! Reading is difficult and language can be confusing. Encourage your child to try to figure out a
tricky word by using the letter sounds, picture clues, and by asking what would
make sense.
·
After reading, talk about the book. Make connections about the text and real
world experiences. This helps children learn to draw on their background knowledge.
·
Re-read the books your child enjoys. Encourage your emergent reader to read the pictures, read words they have
mastered, and “pretend” read the text. You are setting them up for success as a
developing reader.
Children's author Emilie Buchwald said, "Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."
What a great gift to give a child!
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