For any student (and teacher, 'cause let's be honest here...) the first few days and weeks of school are a tough period of transition. I think this is especially true for Kindergartners--they're young, the summer was blissful, the routines are new and highly structured while also being "ziggle zaggled" from assemblies and half days, the expectations are high, the excitement and anticipation are abundant, and everyone is immediately tired. But we were lucky that we got to ease ourselves into the year with a 3, 4, and then 5 day week. This helped us settle into routines, build our classroom community, and balance out the work of starting a new year with lots of fun.
Much of our first 3 days were about getting to know each other, as well as familiarizing the kids with the school. For most of the kids in our class, this was their first experience at CKS. And for a few kiddos, this was their first "school" experience at all. So that means there was a lot to cover. We practiced our safety procedures, established classroom expectations, and learned all about the important places in the building. But perhaps most importantly, we learned all about the things our classroom had to offer!
The kids explored different activities that they would do each morning during center time, practiced writing names and words around the room, and browsed the classroom library!
**Blog Navigation Tip: Be sure to scroll over the photos to see if I've added a caption...I often do!**
Much of our first 3 days were about getting to know each other, as well as familiarizing the kids with the school. For most of the kids in our class, this was their first experience at CKS. And for a few kiddos, this was their first "school" experience at all. So that means there was a lot to cover. We practiced our safety procedures, established classroom expectations, and learned all about the important places in the building. But perhaps most importantly, we learned all about the things our classroom had to offer!
The kids explored different activities that they would do each morning during center time, practiced writing names and words around the room, and browsed the classroom library!
**Blog Navigation Tip: Be sure to scroll over the photos to see if I've added a caption...I often do!**
As I mentioned in one of my Open House talks, Kindergarten is often a big and challenging year for students. On top of the academics, there is a learning curve when it comes to discovering the ins and outs of day-to-day school life. I've talked to the kids about this, too. We've discussed how, like every muscle in our body, our brain grows and its limits stretch when we work hard at using it. Sometimes in our day, we will approach things that seem difficult or scary or hard, but we will have a community of learners in our room that will support each other, and who will do their best every day. Some days we might struggle and the results may not be what we want, but we will learn from that and try again. And soon we will surprise ourselves and succeed! Other times, we will do the hard thing and succeed right away...but we won't know until we try. In education circles, we refer to this as the Growth Mindset. Instead of assuming that we will fail and letting that fear stop us from trying new and difficult things, we will do our best to work through the tough spots and see where it takes us. This year, the Growth Mindset will play a huge role in my approach to teaching and supporting the kids as they try new things each day!
So, somewhere along the way in our 3 or 4 day week (they're all a blur!), we did one of my favorite activities so far. After our talk about how simply trying your best each day is something we will work towards and be proud of, we painted what I have dubbed our classroom motto. "We can do HARD things" And it's true! With practice, dedication, bravery, and a supportive environment, there is no limit to what we can do--and kindergarten is no exception!
So, somewhere along the way in our 3 or 4 day week (they're all a blur!), we did one of my favorite activities so far. After our talk about how simply trying your best each day is something we will work towards and be proud of, we painted what I have dubbed our classroom motto. "We can do HARD things" And it's true! With practice, dedication, bravery, and a supportive environment, there is no limit to what we can do--and kindergarten is no exception!
To help the kids transition into school life, I decided to put our supposed-to-be first Social Studies unit on families on the back burner. Instead, we began our year with a unit on Where We Live, which largely includes information on schools. We discussed what schools are like and why they're an important part of communities. We compared and contrasted our school to other schools, noticing mainly that our school is lucky enough to have a church which many others don't have. Beyond that, we discussed the many people who work in schools and how their jobs are essential to them running smoothly.
To make our discussions more meaningful and interactive (goal 1 of many for the year), Mr. Laverty, our technology teacher, helped me come up with a fun way to document what the kids have already learned about "school jobs". We added a technology element to the unit (goal 2 for the year) and filmed the kids on a blue screen discussing different jobs in a school and their importance to us. They came out so well! The kids shared their knowledge "in" the space their their "job" occupies in our building! Their videos were uploaded to YouTube, linked to QR codes, and hung on maps of the school on our bulletin board. Success!
To make our discussions more meaningful and interactive (goal 1 of many for the year), Mr. Laverty, our technology teacher, helped me come up with a fun way to document what the kids have already learned about "school jobs". We added a technology element to the unit (goal 2 for the year) and filmed the kids on a blue screen discussing different jobs in a school and their importance to us. They came out so well! The kids shared their knowledge "in" the space their their "job" occupies in our building! Their videos were uploaded to YouTube, linked to QR codes, and hung on maps of the school on our bulletin board. Success!
We have also begun our first units in both math and Religion, and have started learning all about the procedures of Daily 5.
So far in math, we've been working on the handwriting techniques for the numbers 0-5. Each of the numbers that the kiddos are learning to write are being taught to them with some rhymes to help them remember the proper formation of the digit. All of the rhymes I'm teaching them are actually ones that I learned when I was in kindergarten and first grade! They worked for the kiddos last year, so I decided to use these mnemonic devices again in hopes that they would be helpful this year, too. I bet that, when homework starts up soon, if you ask them to teach you the rhymes as they write, they'll be able to recite them right away!
We've also begun our math centers, which the kids really seem to like so far. Typically, I will teach the beginning lesson or two of a new unit or concept to the whole class on the projector. This isn't usually all that differentiated, but it is a good way to introduce an idea in a blanketed way. I keep engagement high through participation questions, but mostly by having the kids come up to the board to write on my worksheet or on the whiteboard itself. Since this isn't an ideal teaching strategy, however, I then move the subsequent lessons into math centers. There are 3 differentiated centers each day: the center with me learning the skill on a deeper level; the center with Mrs. O'Keefe where they clarify and practice the skill; and the game center which is a fun way of reinforcing the skill.
In Religion, we're already well into the first unit of the year. We started by reading the beginning of Genesis, learning about God's creation of heaven and Earth. We discussed the many gifts we have been given, as well as how to take care of these gifts. One of my favorite activities was when we talked about prayer. After discussing what prayer is and reasons for praying, the kids drew pictures of some of God's gifts that they are most thankful for. Then, one at a time, we said a prayer of thanks for these gifts. It was a fun and simple lesson, but it was also so meaningful!
To start the year of Daily 5, we learned and practiced the rules and routines of the Read to Self center. The kids learned about the importance of starting to work right away, sitting alone and quietly, working the whole time, and staying in one spot, in order to improve their reading stamina. We learned what stamina is and why it is an important skill to grow as readers. The goal for the week was set: by the end of the week, we would be able to sit and "read" books from our bins independently for 10 minutes without interruptions. This meant no talking, no moving around the room, and no getting distracted by the things around us/breaking our concentration from our books. This is a tall order! But with lots of practice, reviewing the skills, discussing what we were doing really well/could use a little extra work on, and modeling of the behaviors, we actually met our goal a whole day early! On Thursday, we had decided that we would try to read for 9 minutes, 2 minutes more than the day before. As my stop watch approached 9 minutes and everyone was still incredibly focused, I decided to secretly let them keep going. And they made it to 10:04 before I decided to stop them--they deserved a break! Plus our D5 rotations typically only go a bit over 10 minutes, so they're already in great shape!
________
To wrap up our first long week of school, we got to celebrate a special "holiday" surrounding one of my favorite children's books, The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds. The book is about a little girl named Vashti, who is frustrated by what she views as her lack of artistic talents. After Vashti's art teacher tells her to just "make a mark", Vashti jabs her marker into the page, taking the advice literally. The teacher has Vashti sign her work, as every great artist must, and frames the paper. Vashti is inspired to create more artwork which creates a great ripple effect in her life, and eventually passes her new confidence along to a friend.
There are several morals of the story, and I find them all to be incredibly inspiring and beautiful: what you see as a small mark may change your whole world; you are capable of more than you may have ever thought possible; even small children can do big and important things; and every person can be artistic if they just try!
This book has created its own major ripple effect, sparking a global phenomenon and holiday: International Dot Day. There is no way that participating in this special day wasn't going to happen in room 202! So we started our day on Friday by reading and discussing the book. Then, throughout the day, we did different activities related to dots. Some of them were coupled with our academic plans, and others were simply meant for creative release!
In math, the kids used watercolors (just like Vashti) to reveal "hidden" numbers on a page that I had written in white crayon. After they found the numbers, they wrote them down on a piece of paper, practicing their best number writing penmanship.
So far in math, we've been working on the handwriting techniques for the numbers 0-5. Each of the numbers that the kiddos are learning to write are being taught to them with some rhymes to help them remember the proper formation of the digit. All of the rhymes I'm teaching them are actually ones that I learned when I was in kindergarten and first grade! They worked for the kiddos last year, so I decided to use these mnemonic devices again in hopes that they would be helpful this year, too. I bet that, when homework starts up soon, if you ask them to teach you the rhymes as they write, they'll be able to recite them right away!
We've also begun our math centers, which the kids really seem to like so far. Typically, I will teach the beginning lesson or two of a new unit or concept to the whole class on the projector. This isn't usually all that differentiated, but it is a good way to introduce an idea in a blanketed way. I keep engagement high through participation questions, but mostly by having the kids come up to the board to write on my worksheet or on the whiteboard itself. Since this isn't an ideal teaching strategy, however, I then move the subsequent lessons into math centers. There are 3 differentiated centers each day: the center with me learning the skill on a deeper level; the center with Mrs. O'Keefe where they clarify and practice the skill; and the game center which is a fun way of reinforcing the skill.
In Religion, we're already well into the first unit of the year. We started by reading the beginning of Genesis, learning about God's creation of heaven and Earth. We discussed the many gifts we have been given, as well as how to take care of these gifts. One of my favorite activities was when we talked about prayer. After discussing what prayer is and reasons for praying, the kids drew pictures of some of God's gifts that they are most thankful for. Then, one at a time, we said a prayer of thanks for these gifts. It was a fun and simple lesson, but it was also so meaningful!
To start the year of Daily 5, we learned and practiced the rules and routines of the Read to Self center. The kids learned about the importance of starting to work right away, sitting alone and quietly, working the whole time, and staying in one spot, in order to improve their reading stamina. We learned what stamina is and why it is an important skill to grow as readers. The goal for the week was set: by the end of the week, we would be able to sit and "read" books from our bins independently for 10 minutes without interruptions. This meant no talking, no moving around the room, and no getting distracted by the things around us/breaking our concentration from our books. This is a tall order! But with lots of practice, reviewing the skills, discussing what we were doing really well/could use a little extra work on, and modeling of the behaviors, we actually met our goal a whole day early! On Thursday, we had decided that we would try to read for 9 minutes, 2 minutes more than the day before. As my stop watch approached 9 minutes and everyone was still incredibly focused, I decided to secretly let them keep going. And they made it to 10:04 before I decided to stop them--they deserved a break! Plus our D5 rotations typically only go a bit over 10 minutes, so they're already in great shape!
________
To wrap up our first long week of school, we got to celebrate a special "holiday" surrounding one of my favorite children's books, The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds. The book is about a little girl named Vashti, who is frustrated by what she views as her lack of artistic talents. After Vashti's art teacher tells her to just "make a mark", Vashti jabs her marker into the page, taking the advice literally. The teacher has Vashti sign her work, as every great artist must, and frames the paper. Vashti is inspired to create more artwork which creates a great ripple effect in her life, and eventually passes her new confidence along to a friend.
There are several morals of the story, and I find them all to be incredibly inspiring and beautiful: what you see as a small mark may change your whole world; you are capable of more than you may have ever thought possible; even small children can do big and important things; and every person can be artistic if they just try!
This book has created its own major ripple effect, sparking a global phenomenon and holiday: International Dot Day. There is no way that participating in this special day wasn't going to happen in room 202! So we started our day on Friday by reading and discussing the book. Then, throughout the day, we did different activities related to dots. Some of them were coupled with our academic plans, and others were simply meant for creative release!
In math, the kids used watercolors (just like Vashti) to reveal "hidden" numbers on a page that I had written in white crayon. After they found the numbers, they wrote them down on a piece of paper, practicing their best number writing penmanship.
During writing, the kids were given lined papers with a picture box at the top. In the picture box, I had put a single black marker jab. The kids then used their imaginations and turned the dot into something...it had to transform into something, and couldn't just be the starting point for a line in a drawing. Then, they wrote about the item using both copied writing from the white board and inventive spelling. The results were so incredible! Each picture was incredibly unique and creative. Well done, Kinder Crew!
For one of the fun activities, the kids all colored in coffee filters with markers. Later in the day, they put the filter on paper and sprayed it with water. The ink runs off the filter and onto the paper, creating a tie-dye effect on the paper and a sort of sun catcher effect on the filter itself.
Another of the activities was making a 3D abstract dot with colorful paper strips and circles. Each one, again, was very unique...each kiddo was so deliberate with their color choices or placement of each paper. With this activity, they also learned my rhyme for making sure they don't use too much glue. It was also a great fine motor activity, with paper folding and twisting, and careful glue application--a double whammy of fun and learning!
Another of the activities was making a 3D abstract dot with colorful paper strips and circles. Each one, again, was very unique...each kiddo was so deliberate with their color choices or placement of each paper. With this activity, they also learned my rhyme for making sure they don't use too much glue. It was also a great fine motor activity, with paper folding and twisting, and careful glue application--a double whammy of fun and learning!
So with that, I think it's pretty easy to call the first 12 days of school a resounding success. We have already learned so much and have had so much fun together. This is such a fun class, and I can't wait to see where the next 168 days take us!