Monday, April 21, 2014
Great Giveaway!
I have used math journals this year and have fallen in love with them. Not only do the kids LOVE them, but it provides a wonderful "portfolio" of each student's progress and learning. Check out the blog post from Mrs. Wills kindergarten. She is giving away all her interactive math units!! It would be a great way to incorporate math journals in your classroom next year!! How much easier can it get? Of course, I would love to win the pack myself.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Live, Love, Laugh Everyday in Kindergarten: Chapter 1 "Things To Think About" {Guided Reading ...
Live, Love, Laugh Everyday in Kindergarten: Chapter 1 "Things To Think About" {Guided Reading ...:
1. Getting things done in the allotted time: I think this is probably the hardest part about Reader's Workshop. I have found it useful to use a timer early in the year. I set up a timeframe for my morning with all the components I want to include. Last year, it looked something like this:
8:45-9:00- SRA Phonemic Awareness
9:00-9:15- Phonics Instruction- letters/sounds, family words, Systematic, Sequential Phonics, etc.
9:15-9:30- Systematic Sight Words
9:30-10:15- Small groups/Centers/Seatwork
You have to learn to let it go and remember that it is important to teach skills in a short time period but every day repetition.
2. Noise Level: This must be addressed when I am modeling early in the year. It takes a lot of practice and reinforcement. I also have 1 group with me, 1 group at centers, and 1 group working at their seat. That means there are only 6-8 students up at a time. Also, including listening center and computer center with earphones is a big help.
3. Interruptions: Again, this is reinforced and rewarded early and often. We meet and discuss HOW the problem was solved without having to talk to me. Early on, I circulate and facilitate whenever a problem arises and we can talk about how to solve the problem. I find that if I am consistent, it is not a big problem. I also do a "walkabout: between each group so I can talk to whoever had a problem.
4. How do I know the students are reading their self selected books?: Each morning, I choose 2-3 students to get a book out of their book box and read it to me. They never know when I will pull their name. If they read it with no mistakes, they may read it to the class later in the day. They sit in my rocking chair and have "storytime". Having each child read to me also gives me a chance to do a running record or make anecdotal notes on every child at least twice a month.
1. Getting things done in the allotted time: I think this is probably the hardest part about Reader's Workshop. I have found it useful to use a timer early in the year. I set up a timeframe for my morning with all the components I want to include. Last year, it looked something like this:
8:45-9:00- SRA Phonemic Awareness
9:00-9:15- Phonics Instruction- letters/sounds, family words, Systematic, Sequential Phonics, etc.
9:15-9:30- Systematic Sight Words
9:30-10:15- Small groups/Centers/Seatwork
You have to learn to let it go and remember that it is important to teach skills in a short time period but every day repetition.
2. Noise Level: This must be addressed when I am modeling early in the year. It takes a lot of practice and reinforcement. I also have 1 group with me, 1 group at centers, and 1 group working at their seat. That means there are only 6-8 students up at a time. Also, including listening center and computer center with earphones is a big help.
3. Interruptions: Again, this is reinforced and rewarded early and often. We meet and discuss HOW the problem was solved without having to talk to me. Early on, I circulate and facilitate whenever a problem arises and we can talk about how to solve the problem. I find that if I am consistent, it is not a big problem. I also do a "walkabout: between each group so I can talk to whoever had a problem.
4. How do I know the students are reading their self selected books?: Each morning, I choose 2-3 students to get a book out of their book box and read it to me. They never know when I will pull their name. If they read it with no mistakes, they may read it to the class later in the day. They sit in my rocking chair and have "storytime". Having each child read to me also gives me a chance to do a running record or make anecdotal notes on every child at least twice a month.
Well, this is my attempt to "Teach an old dog new tricks!" I have been teaching for 40 years. I retired for a year and tried working as a substitute. Although I have a renewed respect for a good sub, I realized that I was not yet ready to give up having a classroom of my own. Last year, I was lucky enough to have a principal who believed in me enough to hire me as a kindergarten teacher. So, now I'm trying to catch up on all the new technology. I would love to start a blog, but just don't know if I can. LOL! Anyway, here is a post (random as it is!) about a measurement activity that we did this past spring. We discussed whether we could measure items with our feet, and if so, would we all come up with the same answer. So, we practiced with everyone taking 3 giant steps. Did we all end up in the same place? Why not? We took turns measuring our rug with our footsteps and made a chart on how many steps long the rug was for each child. Why are they different numbers? Then, we traced our foot and cut it out. We compared our footprints with our friends and discussed whose was shorter/longer and shortest/longest. My class had difficulty with this vocabulary and wanted to say everything was bigger or smaller. Do yours do that? Then, I set out different units of nonstandard measurement at each table. I used paper clips, pattern block squares, pattern block hexagons, and 1' tiles. The children rotated to each table, measured and recorded how many of each object it took. I walked around and asked questions such as, "Do you think it will take more hexagons or more paper clips? Why?" After all was done, we got together and discussed our results and why it turned out that way. Okay, my first "test" post!!
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Jumping in!
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