Kindergartners READING & WRITING at the Beginning of the Year! Part 2

 

My kindergartners read and write and LOVE IT!


Let's talk about READING today.  On day 1 of kindergarten we begin with our first big book, "I Like Me" and have lots of fun with it.  The students do what their good at - getting up on their feet and acting it out.  We focus on comprehension and using our "Eagle Eyes" (StrategiesPosters” by Hope King, free on TeachersPayTeachers.com) to look at the pictures as a reading strategy.  My students get a little paper book to take home that they can read.  We have a blast reading it together a couple times during the day as they color it.  Of course they don't really know what they are doing, especially if they don't have one-to-one tracking yet, but they use the pictures and their "Eagle Eyes" and feel like a "Million Bucks".   For the past 2 years I've used a free book off of TPT called, I Like School (free at TPT from – Can-You-Read-It-Yes-We-Can) but it doesn't matter what book you choose. In this book I write in the word I, with a yellow highlighter, on the blank lines, so they can trace it or just leave it alone, depending on their abilities. 

Day 2 - first month we do the same: shared/close reading, guided reading with little paper take home books, and lots of read-alouds. Our beginning reading strategies include "Eagle Eyes" and  one-to-one tracking, using all different pointers on big books, our chart writing, the wall (projected books), little books, poems, and anything else we can find. We begin having fun with phonological awareness, playing sound games with; syllables, rhymes, alliteration, and more.  At the same time, we are beginning to learn a few sight words: I, a, am, can.  "Knowing a few words" is the key to understanding concepts of print, as the students learn that words have a space on both sides, words are read left to right and top to bottom, and words are made up of letters in a special order.  Through our reading (and writing), we are learning letters and their sounds at all different rates, based on the students' abilities.  By the fourth week, it is usually time to introduce another reading strategy called, "Fish Lips" (I can use my fish lips and get my mouth ready to read by making the first sound of words).  This is important because, by now, there are a few students that know their letters and sounds and are ready to read with beginning phonics.  It is also time to model for all the students what you can do when you know your letters and sounds.  During this first month everything is wrapped around FUN, without boring worksheets.  Magnetic letters, individual white boards, sand writing, letter fishing, magic boards, mini chalkboards, and more are used to practice letters and words in context.  Lots of acting, role playing, crazy voices, masks, video, and pictures are used for comprehension.  There is no stress and the students are praised for every baby step, even if they are very slow.  Students are told over and over again, all they know how to do and what good readers they are becoming.  There is no homework and parents are informed weekly of what we are working on and what to expect and not expect.

Second month and beyond we continue the same as above, refining our reading strategies, building phonological awareness, beginning phonics, and adding more and more reading strategies.  At this point the students are beginning to show their many different levels of learning, so they are grouped differently and work on what they need (not what I want).  I begin using leveled little books (not paper) and our at home reading program begins. I now have a helper (parent, grandparent, community member) come in every day to listen to each child read his/her book and then take it home.  Again I have a handout for the parents that explains what reading strategies we are working on, and what ones we are not yet ready for (Stretchy Snake - sounding out words).  It is awesome!  The students get to pick their own "real" book out of their leveled bin to read and take home. (I'll explain in a different post how to set up an at-home reading program; purchasing the books, forms, and how to get the help). Students publish their own little books (more on this in the writing post) and read these to everyone. 

For the past two years I've been working on matching my shared/close reading books to 9 different concepts and all of the common core ELA standards.  I'm now working on fine tuning these to sell on TeachersPayTeachers.com (TPT).  My first - third concepts, "No One is Just Like Me", "Color Words Tell More" and "Sequencing is Easy Using Numbers" are for sale now for $4.00 each.  They each contain 32 pages and at least 4 weeks of instruction covering all of the common core ELA standards.  The rest (all 9 units) will be for sale within a month.  Download the preview and let me know what you think. 

Have Fun REAING!

Kindergartners READING & WRITING at the Beginning of the Year! Part 1

Kindergartners READING & WRITING at the Beginning of the Year!  Part 1

Reading and Writing at the beginning of Kindergarten is FUN!

I start reading and writing the first week of school and my kiddos LOVE IT!  The reason kindergartners want to come to school is to learn how to read and write, so why wait? They start out so excited and passionate.  I use a balanced program where the students learn to read and write, communicate, become phonological aware and phonetic experts all together.  I don't do the traditional, one letter a day or week, and when you know enough to spell a couple words you can finally read and write a simple, "The fat cat sat on a mat" book using 100% phonics.  That is boring, and we are not the only ones that know it.  By the time the students have learned 26 letters and all of their sounds and filled out 26+ worksheets, they are no longer excited about reading and writing. 

This is why there are so many articles floating around the internet on topics such as, "Report: Requiring kindergartners to read - as Common Core does - may harm some".  This is one article that really got me thinking.  My class is not like this at all.  We are not worksheet based, do not sit at the tables all day, and actually learn to read because it's fun.  I think the kindergartners are able to learn (all of the standards easily) in a fun environment where teaching is direct, but interactive.  Kindergartners naturally LOVE school, and I think that if we can keep that, these children benefit.  I don't believe it's "when" these children have to learn, but rather, "how" they have to learn.

We learn so much about reading when we write and about writing when we read!

 

I finally found an article to debunk the previous one, called,"No Time to Lose: Common Core critics are wrong about whether kindergarten reading goals are harmful." The standards in kindergarten are not too much and for most students are EASILY and QUICKLY met.  Our problem is with the curriculum.  Most complaint comes from the over-use of worksheets and drill and kill.  It doesn't have to be that way.  It can be fun, with the right kinds of books (throw the phonics readers away) and with a good balance of play.  

Next time I will share how ALL of my kindergartners learn how to read and write EASILY and ENJOYABLY by the end of kindergarten and LOVE IT.

Did you make a calendar with your kindergartners this year?

I did and it was wonderful!
It was the first year that it worked beautifully.  I printed the full calendar and bound it together with the binding machine at the beginning of the year.  At the end of each month I passed it out to my students and we filled it out together. They used the classroom calendar as the model. 


 I used the filled out version for August and we circled and put a star on the first day of school and my birthday. YEA!  They thought that was great. We had read, "The Kissing Hand" that first month, so our art was just a simple hand print (using the giant stamp pads from Lakeshore) with a heart sticker in the middle.

At the end of September, the students were looking forward to seeing their calendar again.  This time the students tried writing their numbers to ten.  Some needed help, but that was okay.  We marked our special days again with stars and did our hand print art. This time it was a leaf, but the ideas, when googled, are endless.

When October and November came to an end, the students wrote their numbers to ten again and had a blast stamping their hands and making a pumpkin and turkey.

By the end of December most of the students were able to write their numbers to twenty, so that is what we did for it, along with January and February.   The hand prints were turned into Santa, a snowflake, and the cutest penguin ever. 

To end the school year, we filled in the whole calendar for March, April, and May.  The hand prints turned into 4 leaf clovers, flowers, and butterflies.  I am so sad that I didn't take more pictures, but I will this year.


My 2016 - 2017 SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR with Art is ready.  It is on sale for $3.00.  I developed this for all grade levels; PK - 6th.  The monthly pages come in three versions: completely filled in, 10 or 20 days blank, or completely blank.  This makes it easy to individualize each class.  There are cover sheets for each grade level along with an art page.  Click here to go to my TPT store to check out the calendar.

I'm Back! Let the Summer Begin!

After 25 years of teaching K - 3rd grade, and 11 of those being in Kindergarten, I've learned a few things.  I think it's time to share, and summer is the best time for that.  It's truly about, "Let's move it --- to learn it!" 

It might take a little bit for me to figure this out again, but before long, I hope to be adding pictures, freebies, and lots of helpful advice.  Of course. this will cause me to follow many other amazing teachers out there, and I can't wait to get started.

Everything in my TPT store will be 20% off on August 4-5th. Check out my "World According to Humphrey" unit or "writing framework for emergent writers" among others.  I have many free items also. This will be a great school year - let's get ready!

School Year Calendar

Available in PK - 6th grade

Do your students make a monthly calendar?

I do the calendar with my students every year, no matter what grade I teach.  With third graders there was just as much to learn as there is now with my kindergartners.  I always had my third graders make a personal calendar and this I now plan on doing with my kindergartners. I searched for a calendar that I could use with my kinders that is pretty easy, but I couldn't find one, so I made my own.  I wanted some to be labeled with numbers for the beginning of the year and others to be blank so that my students could fill in the numbers they've learned.  I also wanted holidays written in and a blank page each month for student handprint art.  I just bought the large stamp pads from Lakeshore and can't wait to use them.  I've always done paint hands in the past, and because of the time involved, I couldn't do it very often.  Now I can do it every month, making a great keepsake at the end of the year.  I'll post pictures this school year.  If you want to check out my calendars go to my TPT store and see what you think. I have them on sale for $2.00 for the beginning of the year. I also planning on updating this every year and am willing to add holidays or make changes as customers need.  Let me know what you think.

Class Pets?

Molly Lou

What's your opinion on class pets?


I've always had class pets including; goldfish, guppies, mice, frogs, and rats, but my favorite are rats.  Our newest pet is a rat named Molly Lou, after the book, "Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon".  That's a great book and she is a great rat.  She makes sure to visit all of the children in the morning.  When the students come into the classroom every day they kick off their shoes against the wall and when all have arrived they let her out.  The pet monitor makes sure to check on food and water and let her in and out of her cage.  In our class we make sure to put her away after about 30 - 45 minutes so that she doesn't go and find a cozy corner to nap in. According to the research, rats are one of the smartest rodents, learn quickly, and are very social.  In just half a school year, Molly Lou has learned to come when the students rub their fingers on the floor making a scratching noise.  During the morning meeting she makes sure to visit each child for lots of little pets. 


If your wondering about a class pet this year, give it a try.  I've bought my sweet rats at Pet Smart for many years.  If you have any questions leave me a comment and I'll be sure to reply.

Here is the letter I send home for family visits.  Grab it for free if you'd like.