Teaching Kids to be Kids!

I am so excited to be writing my first post on the Kinder Tribe Blog!!!! I love the unity that this tribe has brought me and the happiness I have gained from being able to be a part of such a strong, determined, and crazy (the good kind!) group of amazing teachers!!

I am just entering my second year of teaching and even though kindergarten is the only grade I have taught, I know it is where I am meant to be. There is something so magical and amazing about teaching kindergarten!!

Reflecting on my own experience in kindergarten, I remember how my teacher made me feel comfortable and always managed to make learning fun. She engaged us and let us learn while still letting us be kids. This is a concept that I try to incorporate on a daily basis.

Teaching a kid to be a kid. What a concept! I love the sound of it and I love depth behind it even more. Most of my little rays are five with the exception of two who recently turned six. Plain and simple, I teach CHILDREN. The last thing I want to do is take their childlike experiences away from them. I want them to explore, be adventurous, and silly. I want them to sing and dance and play with each other just like I did when I was in kindergarten.

What I do to keep my little rays excited to learn and remain the children that they are is simple. I teach them how to learn to be a kid. I teach them how to explore mathematics, literature, science, and all other topics with excitement and adventure. I take every opportunity I can to make a lesson an experience.

When whole group reading begins, I could just have my kids sit in their spots on the carpet. Instead of just simply sitting, we sing a song to get our bodies quiet and read to learn. When it is time to line up, I could have the kids line up quietly and leave it at that. To add some fun, once we are in line we giggle as we get those marshmallow toes ready for the hallway! Is it simple to make a transition more fun? YES! I even have kiddos who remind me if I forget! "Wait! Miss K, our toes haven't become marshmallows yet!!" When it is time to dance during our guided movement time, I get on the carpet with them and break out into Pop-See-Ko. I don't do it because I want to (lies: I TOTALLY want to!!) but I do it because I want them to see that it is okay to be silly. It is okay to let loose and be FIVE! They are so worried about getting in trouble or being told that they are doing something wrong that they lose their silliness. I never want to let that happen, rather, I want to ignite their inner child. I want to bring out the eagerness to learn and to grow.

When we started our unit on apples, we didn't have to do apple tasting. We didn't have to make applesauce. We could have stuck with the expectations and learned only about their lifecycle and read a book or two about them. It would be way less work, but would it be enjoyable?? Would my kids walk away from the week and be excited? Would they be talking about it in a few weeks? Nope. By making activities and opportunities for the kinders to explore and learn in multiple ways, they are BOUND to remember it.

In the end, it may not matter to some how their students learned. But to me, what is important is if they enjoyed learning it. If they were challenged, if they were encouraged, and if they were excited. As a kindergarten teacher, I want to make a difference. Not just in teaching my kids academics, but in teaching them what they need to know through being a kid.

It is my wish that every teacher remembers who they teach. CHILDREN. Take the opportunities to go above and beyond a simple lesson.

How is that for some Monday reflection???

Molly

Literacy Centers and Organization

Hi Everyone!

I am Meghan from Meghan's Pad.  I wanted to give you all a sneak peek at what I am doing during my literacy center/guided reading time this year, and how I have it all organized.

This week {tomorrow} I will have a new class of Kinders that will begin their year with me.  Each year, I feel the need to revamp an area of my curriculum.  This year, it's my center time!  

Centers are a great way, as we all know, to engage students in learning by providing them with hands on learning materials and the opportunity to regulate their learning needs.

This year, I am jumping back on the center wagon, and I couldn't be more excited!  The past few years I have struggled with having to use the district mandated curriculum, knowing that Kinders need more hands on, play based learning.  I have struggled with the early finishers, the no matter what I give you to do, you are going to refuse to do it, and the different learning styles and needs.

After much reflection, I have come up with a format that I think I am going to like, and a format that I hope my kinders will like as well.  Here it goes...

Each day I will gather the children on the rug for a small mini-lesson.  These mini-lessons are going to be based on the needs of Kinders.  These lessons can include alphabet, sounds, building words, rhyming, segmenting, strategies, digraphs, consonant blends, vowel blends, and the list goes on.  I will then have a "have to" activity that the children will need to do each day.  During the literacy block it can be an alphabet center, letter writing center, building word center, reading center, phonemic center.  Each day their have to center will switch, so by the end of the week each child has completed all the have tos.  

After the "have to" center is complete they will either turn it in, or will fill out a small exit slip, so I can quickly review their understanding, along with hold them accountable for doing the center.  Then the children will choose a "can do" center.  These centers will be a combination of old "have tos" and other centers that help to support that centers "have to."

Have I lost you??  I know it's confusing!  Here is an example:  A student on Monday will go to the alphabet center and complete the "have to" center.  Once they are done, they fill out and turn in their exit slip.  They then go to the alphabet "can do" drawer and grab a center, take it back to their seat {not assigned, just where they were working} and complete that center.  Once they have completed all the "can dos" that they want, then they can go to the alphabet "now what" drawer to work on those activities.

The "now whats" are going to be more independent activities that can include "worksheets," or reading.

My hope is that children will continue to be engaged, and will find the learning method that they prefer.

So now, the storage!  I love to organize, and love to buy bins.go inside of bins.  So these are PERFECT!  

         

I love to find bins that I found these bins at Joann Fabrics, and have been in love with them.  Each center fits perfectly inside these 4X6 photo cases {materials and all}!  

        

I am currently putting each center into a small container, and then each container into a drawer system.  This picture was taken before I labeled the drawers.  I have the "can do" centers in one of the drawers and the "now whats" in the drawer directly under.  Each is labeled with the center {alphabet, letter writing, word building, etc.}, and a number {either 2 or 3 for "can do" and "now what"}.

        

I am currently working on setting up something similar for math and our phonics time.

I would love to know how you do centers in your room?  What do the children do when you are in a small group?  I can't wait to hear all the great ideas!!

Teaching Back to School Procedures and a FREEBIE!

Hi Everyone!

   It's Cori from Mrs. B's Beehive!  Today I wanted to talk to you about teaching procedures at the beginning of the school year.

We all know how important it is to set the tone, and clearly communicate our expectations at the beginning of the year.  At the end of the year, your class will be running like a well oiled machine.

By May, I've got all my little teacher helpers organizing things for me just the way that I like them.  I often forget, (probably on purpose) just how much time it takes to get them to that point!  There are so many little pieces of information that I need my students to understand to make sure that the day is focused on learning, and that I am not spending my time running around behind them cleaning and correcting.

I wanted to share with you what my first week's schedule looks like:

Like most other teachers, I read a lot of back to school books. I do a lot of activities around those books and start my preliminary assessments.  In between all of those activities, is the teaching of procedure after procedure.  In the first week I try to prioritize my most important procedures, and go over the ones that will be most effective in establishing a smooth running classroom. (Don't touch the fire alarm!).  Even a simple task such as entering the classroom in the morning, has many different components.


To help myself remember everything that I need to teach them, I made this procedure checklist.  I keep it right next to my first week (and second and third week) lesson plans.  As I teach a procedure, I check it off the list.

There are many times that I find an extra minute here or there in the first couple of weeks, and I quickly scan over my procedures list, and see if there is any information that I can squeeze in to a lesson, to make sure that the students fully understand my expectations.

If you would like a free copy of this Back to School Procedures Checklist, click HERE, or on any of the pictures above.

This list has worked well for me over the last couple of years, and I hope it is something that you will find useful as well as you gear up for back to school!

Daily 5 in Kindergarten- The Basics

Hey everyone!  It's Katie from Miss Kate's Desk.  Today I want to give you a little peek of how I do Daily 5 literacy stations in my classroom.

Let's back up to my first year of teaching.  I had 10 stations.  Yes, you saw that correctly...10!  I was overwhelmed.  I was constantly having to change activities in the different stations, find room for all the stations, and nag nag nag at kids not on task.  I always had at least one or two at my table for a break to calm down and try again.

I felt like Arnold some days after stations.  Key word, felt.  I hope I didn't look like that!

After my first year I just knew I couldn't do that again.  I started doing Daily 5.  It is one of the best decisions I have made the past 3 years of teaching.  The only station I have to change activities in is Word Work, and that usually isn't a whole lot.  The others stay the same all year.  I am also not having to nag at kids and it's pretty stinkin' rare to have a student at my table to take a break and try again.

Now, I do not conference with students during this time.  If you read the Daily 5 book, she talks about conferencing.  I just keep doing my normal small groups.  I conference for writing and this year will start in Math.

Here's the 5 main Daily 5 stations:
Read to Self
Read to Someone
Work on Writing
Word Work
Listening to Reading

Now I'll show you some pictures of those areas the students work and also some that shows some activities or how I organize it.

I let my students choose for each of the 3 or 4 rounds we do (depending on our schedule that day) where they want to go.  Daily 5 is big on choice.

Yes, you read correctly up there...they choose!  I have some posters from Kristen Smith (A Day in First Grade...she's now in kinder!) that are a freebie in her store that I use for students to take a clip and clip it to a sticker on the poster.  That means they are working at that station for that round.  If all the stickers are full of clips, that shows the kids that station is full and to find an open one.  When we switch and do another round, the students go back to the carpet with their clips and I call tables to go find a new station to put their clip at.  They can't visit the same area again if they've already been there that day.  Also, they are reminded every day to think about a station they haven't been to in a day or so and try it.  If I notice someone is never going to a certain station I may call them up to chat and encourage, but that's rare.

You can see to the right the poster (it's cut off some) and the green stickers.  That's where the kids would put their clip with their name to show they are working there.  

Don't let choice scare you! It may make you a little nervous at first, but they are SO MOTIVATED BECAUSE THEY CHOSE THAT STATION.  Before Daily 5 I was constantly stopping my groups to give a bunch of warnings, or call kids up to talk about what they were doing.  Now, it's rare.  Maybe once a week...sometimes less.  

Think about us as adults, if someone tells you to do something and doesn't give you choices...you may do it but not well or to the extent if you decided to do it without being told.  You'd be more excited about what you are doing and put in more effort.  It's the same with five and six year olds.

I store the clips on a poster hung up with magnets on a file cabinet. I just made a background and put Daily 5 and that's where the clips live when not in use.  

Alrighty!  Here's the stations!

Read to Self

 Students find a book and read in this big carpet area.  They can read on the bench, on those red back pillows, or sprawl out on the floor.  We practice the week we learn procedures our reading stamina as a class.  I start a timer and when someone isn't reading or starts talking we start over.  They love doing this and trying to get a higher time.  It helps in the long run with practicing reading the pictures, reading words (if we can this early on), or telling a story (in our heads of course).  The beginning of the year our rounds are about 6-8 mins each and gradually work up to about 15 mins each.  This helps build stamina too!

We always talk at the beginning of the year about getting comfy because readers read in all sorts of places and ways.  I tell them I do in the bathtub but that's dangerous if I drop my book in the water.  :/  They get a kick out of that and I'm sure tell their family that I read in the tub.  

Read to Someone (or Read With a Friend)

Students can grab the cushions under my desk and read anywhere in this large area in the front of the room.  We go over EEKK (elbow to elbow knee to knee) with the book in the middle so both can see.  We model and practice a lot how to do this and share the book in the middle.  Both students pick a book.

Pretty decent EEKK.  This year I'm going to have a tub by the cushions of books that I have that are doubles if they choose.

Listening to Reading

I use LeapReader pens.  I've slowly invested in these the last 4 years as well as the books that go with them.  I have tried CDs before but it's always been a huge problem regardless how many times I teach how to use the cd players.  They are much more focused with these pens and books.  If you've never heard of them, go on Leap Frog's website and check them out.  I use headphones so the kids do not hear the pens reading.

Work on Writing

At one of the tables is the writing station.  Students grab paper of their choosing (changes throughout the year and the variety) off that little writing center by the file cabinet, a pencil, and a container of crayons. I let them choose what they want to write about. 

We had a major Fly Guy obsession last school year. 

Word Work

This is just one little snapshot of the area in the back of my classroom.  Students can sit at this counter and play word games (in those drawers), write word lists (on the Boogie Boards), or not pictured I have 2 large pocket chart stands and also a big whiteboard to play word games on or practice writing words on the whiteboard.  This year I've put up sight words (like usual), but added CVC word lists.  I plan to staple up some more words as well.  This is the only station that I put new things in the drawers, maybe once every few weeks.  

If you're one who has 10 stations like I had, bless you.  :)  Haha!  It just didn't work for me and my kids.  This year will be my 3rd year of doing Daily 5 stations and I love it.  It just always amazes me how quick they catch on to how stations work (after a week), how I can easily do my small groups, and how focused the students are at their station.  

Giving students choice is scary at first but it's amazing.  They work so much harder and enjoy it!

Sorry for the LOONG post.  I could go on and on.  Hope this gave you a little bit of insight into what Daily 5 looks like in K.  Feel free to email or comment if you have questions!  I'll be doing a more in depth look at each of the 5 stations soon on my blog.

-Katie : Miss Kate's Desk