Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Learning Centres

The ideas on the page are examples of kindergarten activities from our classroom.
Just PlayingAuthor Unknown
When I'm building in the block area,Please don't say I'm "Just Playing."
For, you see, I'm learning as I play: about balance and shapes.
Who knows, I may be an architect someday.

When I'm getting all dressed up, setting the table, caring for the babies,
Don't get the idea I'm, "Just Playing."
For, you see, I'm learning as I play:
I may be a mother or a father someday.

When you see me up to my elbows in paint, or standing at an easel, or molding
and shaping the clay,
Please don't let me hear you say, "He's Just Playing."
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm expressing myself and being creative.
I may be an artist or an inventor someday.

When you see me sitting in a chair "reading" to an imaginary audience,
Please don't laugh and think I'm "Just Playing."
For you see, I'm learning as I play.
I may be a teacher someday.

When you see me combing the bushes for bugs, or packing my pockets with
choice things I find,
Don't pass it off as "Just Playing."
For, you see, I 'm learning as I play.
I may be a scientist someday.

When you see me engrossed in a puzzle or some plaything at my school,
Please don't feel the time is wasted in "Play."
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm learning to solve problems and concentrate.
I may be in business someday.

When you see me cooking to tasting foods,
Please don't think that because I enjoy it, it is "Just Playing."
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm learning to follow directions and see differences.
I may be a cook someday.

When you see me learning to skip, hop, run, and move my body,
Please don't say I'm "Just Playing."
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm learning how my body works.
I may be a doctor, nurse, or an athlete someday.

When you ask me what I've done at school today, and I say, "I Just Played,"
Please don't misunderstand me.
For, you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm learning to enjoy and be successful in my work,
I'm preparing for tomorrow.
Today, I am a child and my work IS play



Art Table
The art center activities are always changing.  The projects are usually
based on our units of study and incorporate use of line and color, as
well as technique.  We try to vary the media and methods as much as
possible.

Computers
The computer center is used to reinforce  skills:
*keyboard/mouse handling
*language concepts (through software)
*math concepts (through software)
*independent thinking/problem-solving
*publishing student works










Drama Centre
"Do you have a house center?"
"Do you think children really need a house center to play in?"
"How does the home center fit into an 'academic' kindergarten?"
We get these questions all the time...... from other teachers, parents, and administrators.   They're easy to answer when you
stop and think about what the students are practicing while in the
home center.

The home center is a great place to:
*solve problems
*build language/vocabulary
*develop social skills
*read a cookbook
*look up numbers in the phonebook
*take "phone messages"
*write grocery lists
*pretend!

Of course, pretending builds creativity and imagination, which
lead to great storytelling/writing and problem solving!  All of
which sound very "academic"...... Let's face it, everything we do in
kindergarten is academic because it leads to learning!

Students are naturally drawn to this center in the beginning of
the year, mostly out of familiarity.  We find that as the year
progresses and as their learning needs change, students tend to
gravitate toward the other centers and the home center "fades"
away. In order for the home centre to still hold an interest, we tend to change it into something else (e.g., flower shop, restaurant, doctors office, post office, music store, birthday centre etc) The children vote and we create the room.


Playdough
This is a favourite center at the beginning of the year.  It's great for working fine motor muscles, detail development, and creativity.
Students create:
*animals
*homes
*things
*people
*shapes
*letters
*names/words


Reading CentreEveryone loves the reading center!   There are so many options, too!  
Here are a few ideas:
*Read around the room- Students do just that... they grab a pointer,
put on reading glasses (party-glasses with coloured lenses) and read all
the environmental print.
Some of our pointers are:
flyswatters with the middle cut out (leaving a "frame"),

rhythm sticks
flashlights
large magnifying glasses
pencils with novelty erasers on the ends
gloves with wiggle eyes on the pointer fingers
dollar store magic wands


*Big books- They LOVE to reread old shared reading books, as well as
big books we've published in response to reading.  They never seem to
tire of the old titles.... and are amazed by what they "discover" in past
shared reading. ("Did you know there's a question mark in this book?!"  
"Look, I found '-ing' on this page!")

*Poetry books- They may also choose to read their poetry books.  
They often make new "discoveries" here, too! Reading their poetry books every weekend when they go home is a great way to review the poems and songs we learn all week

*Pocket charts- Students always seem to love pocket charts...
They may match:
colors to color words,

student photos to names,
number words to numerals/sets,  words to pictures,
individual words to lines of poetry, etc.
They may order:
letters,

number words,
words to make a sentence, etc.
They may also add words to a sentence frame:
I like ____.   
The ____ is _____.
I can ______.  
*Reading- Students just grab a book, find a place, and READ!re
are 


Science Centre 
The science center is the perfect place for students to use their senses as
tools for observation.  We encourage students to record their observations,
just like real scientists, in the science journal.

Some great activities for the science center are:

*Color investigation- Students look through old magazines to find things
that are a specific color.  Then they add the pictures to the color collage.

*Plant investigation- Students observe and record changes in the plants
(pumpkin seeds, beans, apple seeds, etc.) at the science center.

*Nature investigation- Students collect items from outside (during Fall is
best) to observe/record.
*Discovery Bottles- There are numerous discovery bottles to make.  Here
are a few suggestions:
*bottle with students' photographs and/or names.... they shake until they find their own.

*bottle with rice and "hidden trinkets"..... they shake until they find all the treasures.
*wave bottle.... bottle filled with blue-coloured water and baby oil.
*color bottles.... bottles half-filled with coloured-Karo syrup (use food coloring).
*Decomposition investigation- Students observe and record what happens
when things (usually old jack o'lanterns, potatoes, apples, etc.) decompose.

*Animal investigations- Students observe and record growth and changes in
the "live experiments" we'll do this year.  We watch as caterpillars morph
into Monarchs and chicks hatch from eggs.


ABC Table
There are about a million activities to do in the ABC center.
Here are just a few:

*Letter find- Students highlight the "focus letter" or sight word in print using
yellow crayon.  (We use a blown-up page out of the TV guide or classifieds...
lots of letters and sight words!)
*Letter sort- Students sort plastic letters into upper case and lower case, and by colour of the letters.


*Letter/sound match-  Students match up objects and letters.  Pocket
charts are great for sorting pictures by initial sound, too.

*Capital/lowercase match- we used plastic alphabet placemats then we used double-stick to attach them to old cookie sheets. The student use magnetic letters to match capital and lowercase letters.

*Magic letters- Students pull sandpaper letters out of a bag.  They place the
letter under a piece of paper, rub crayons over it, and the letter "magically"
appears.  Then they can illustrate words that begin (or end, for those who are
ready) with that sound.

*Alphabet Puzzles
*ABC memory games
*Alphabet Bingo- After playing this as a class, they become very proficient
at organizing games in small groups.

*Alphabet Flash Cards- We have multiple sets in a box.  They love reading
these, putting them in alphabetical order, sorting into vowels/consonants,
playing "go fish," etc.


*Read around the room-  with partners they play an “I spy” game looking for letters around the room (in poems, labels, books, games, etc)

*Paint Bag Writing

Learning to write letters and numbers can be frustrating for little hands! I like to offer lots of play activities that help build those fine motor skills in a relaxed, fun way. Toddlers and up will enjoy making shapes, swirls, and even letters on a ziploc bag filled with paint!

To make your own paint bag, put some finger paint or tempera paint into a sturdy freezer ziploc bag. Seal it well and smoosh the paint around the entire bag. (You could even add a strip of packing tape across the top if you are worried about your child opening the bag!) That’s it!
paint_bag1
We like to tape ours down to the table so it doesn’t wiggle around too much. Try doodling and writing with your finger first. Your child may also enjoy using a cotton swab to write with. When your tablet is full of scribbles (or sight words for older kids!), smoosh and smear the paint around and start over. No mess, just fun!


Math

Math Tubs
Math Tubs are simply plastic tubs containing games and hands on manipulatives for students to use that focus on a particular math concepts. The tubs can be used as a directed center, one on one skill practice, or for additional reinforcement during free choice time once introduced.  While working with the materials in each tub, students are practicing and developing one to one correspondence, numeral recognition, sorting skills, patterning skills, set recognition, etc.
The math area also contains manipulatives such as size bears, unifix cubes, pattern blocks, plastic chain links, tiles, coloured cubes, plastic animals, tangrams, etc. These are for students to use in conjunction with some of the math tub activities, but also for whole class lessons and free exploration.
Sand/Water
  • exploration and discovery
  • cause and effect
  • measurement
  • problem solving
  • properties of matter
Puppets
  • comprehension/retelling of stories
  • vocabulary development
  • problem solving
  • cooperation and social skills
Painting
  • fine motor skills
  • creative expression
  • colors, shapes, and size relationships
  • exploring materials
  • visual perception


Outdoor Play

Play Time recognizes the importance of daily outdoor play for large muscle development and activity. Our spacious playground is equipped with a variety of climbing, sliding, and riding apparatus for our children’s outdoor fun.  Children play outdoors each day in suitable weather. On inclement weather days, children have indoor large muscle activities through exercise, music and drama lessons.

Numeracy

Math Instructional Ideas

Kindergarten Math
Math in kindergarten should be hands on  - working from concrete experiences, to pictorial, to the abstract as students gain a greater understanding.  Concepts are addressed in a large group setting through small group activities, direct lessons, everyday routines, graphing, sorting, counting rhymes, etc. in relation to the theme or literature being studied, independent and small group work at centers, and one on one skills practice.

Number Sense
Patterning/Counting







1. Above are children learning how to make a simple pattern. Below is a video of the children learning how to make a pattern and extend it beyond the card.


Sorting
Measurement
Graphing
Addition Subtraction
Math Journals


Literacy (Oral, Reading and Writing)


The photos and ideas on the page are examples of kindergarten literacy activities from our classroom


Dolch Word List


These are common words that children should learn how to read and write.  From 50-75% of all words used in school books, library books, newspapers, and magazines are in the Dolch Basic Sight Vocabulary of 220 words (preschool thru Grade 3).  The Dolch word list is made up of "service words" (pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and verbs)
http://www.kidzone.ws/dolch/kindergarten.htm


Oral Language

Language development is one of the main objectives for kindergarten students. At this early stage, language development involves speaking, listening and emergent reading and writing. Our classroom environment includes daily activities where students interact with the teacher and classmates. Formal reading instruction must include "read-alouds" conducted by the teacher and group activities like choral and repetitive reading. All these strategies build children's vocabularies and encourage their language development.
Literacy skills comprise the majority of our instructional day and provide many opportunities for language development. Students improve oral language as they learn how to sound out words, eventually reading simple sentences. They also listen to stories that teachers read aloud, which helps increase their vocabulary, giving them more words for interacting with classmates. Our classroom is a print-rich environment with grade-level books and word walls that children use daily.

Learning Centers

Oral, listening and written language development occurs during informal instruction. Learning centers are an integral part of our classroom. Our centers are usually based on thematic units in the kindergarten curriculum like community helpers, transportation or seasons. At learning centers, students work in small groups to complete cooperative activities. All major subject areas are covered in the center activities. For example, in our two-week unit on seasons, students may draw trees and flowers in full bloom to represent spring in the art center. They could plant seeds in the science center and compose a poem about trees in the writing center. The emphasis is not so much on the various activities, but on the improvement of social skills like conflict resolution and sharing of ideas which are conducive to language development

Examples of some literacy centres

1. Children matching their alphabets











Sharing Experiences
There are many ways to develop oral language skills. In our class, we ask students to talk briefly about a personal experience. Every Friday we have "show and tell".  This allows the students to bring a toy from home, art work, photograph, favourite book that they want to share and talk about with the class. This is a great way to foster the children's oral language skills.


 
Reading

1. One of the first words a child learns is her own name.  Children love playing games with their names and with the names of their friends, and they love putting their names in nonsense rhymes and their favorite poem or song whenever possible..  Research has shown that one of the first things children learn to read at school are their friends' names -- on name tags, on desks, on mailboxes and cubbies, and on papers and artwork hung up for display

2. What is Shared Reading?

Shared Reading is exactly what it sounds like - It is a time for sharing a story and reading together! Shared reading in our kindergarten classroom may include echo reading (students echoing the words after the teacher), choral reading (students reading at the same time as the teacher), or fill in the gap reading (teacher reading the majority of the text and then pausing for students to fill in and say rhyming words or other predictable words in the story).  All of these ways of reading are ways to encourage early reading enjoyment and success with a high level of teacher support.

During shared reading, students focus on both the pictures and the text to make predictions and to generate meaning. Most shared readings begin with a 'picture walk' in which the teacher guides students through a preview of the story, asking questions to elicit words and phrases that are used in the text. The book is then read to students and predictions are checked against the text of the story. The book is revisited among several days.  Further comprehension of the story takes place through questioning and discussion of each story (the author's choice of words and the illustrator's pictures), through acting out the story, making puppets and retelling boards, reviewing elements of the story (setting, characters, problem, solution),  and putting pictures of events of the story in order.

Once students are familiar with the story, we also look more closely at the text.  We mask certain letters and go on word hunts for small high frequency words such as I, the, to, etc. We also play with the sound of the text.  Students might be asked to listen carefully to the story and be asked to round up all the rhyming words they hear or words that begin with a certain sound.  We also frequently brainstorm other words that rhyme or begin with the same sound. They may be asked to determine the number of claps (syllables) in a word or  the number of parts (sounds) in a word.  Sometimes, students will need to listen carefully to a word that is stretched out and put it together to figure out the word from the story.
There are many learning opportunities during shared reading!


During Shared Reading students are learning to....
  • track print from left to right and word by word
  • predict and infer
  • enjoy and participate in reading with a high level of support
  • build a sense of story
  • expand their vocabulary
  • find letters and sounds in context
  • attend to concepts of print (spacing, capitalization, punctuation)
  • sequence the events of a story
  • focus on story elements (characters, setting, beginning, middle, end). 

    Writing


    The Morning Message

    The morning message is a time for our class to think about what is going to be happening during the school day, to reflect on an important event from the day before, or to discuss a meaningful upcoming event.  At the start of the school year, I model  and write for the students. However, as the year progresses, the students begin to take more ownership of this time and write the message with me in a shared writing or interactive writing format.
    Our message is very predictable and most students can quickly help say and/or write the first letters and high frequency or sight words such as 'is', 'the', and a student's name. Students get quite excited about  being able to contribute!


    An example of a morning message we may write on our dry erase board:

     Today is (day of the week). The ABC helper is (student's name)
    or Today is (day of the week).  We will go to the farm tomorrow.


    After agreeing upon what we should write, students help me say the whole message orally. Then I say the first word slowly (stressing especially the first letter early in the school year) and ask students to raise their hand if they know what letter 'Today" starts with. One child comes up and writes the first letter. As he/she gets ready to write, I ask the class or the child "Today – what letter do you think he/she is going to write? Will it be upper case or lowercase, etc." Often, the students also air write the letter as the one child is writing the same letter on the board. Depending on the time of the year, the abilities, and attention span of my students, I will either write the rest of the letters for the word "Today" or say the word again slowly and ask students what letters/sounds they hear next.  If students do not hear the very next letter/sound, but hear a letter that is farther into the word, I will write the missing letters and then the letter that they state. 

    The class reads what we have so far and then we repeat what we want our entire message to say. Then I stress the next word – most of my kindergartners can write this two letter word by the end of the first semester, so when I call on a student I let him/her write the entire word. We continue in this manner until the entire message is written.   Then we reread the entire message. It is usually left on our board until students go home. During free choice time I've spotted a few of my kindergartners going back and trying to point and reread the message.

    On days that I know I will be needing a substitute or on days when our scheduled activities will be tight, I write a message ahead of time for the students to read together and discuss. This message is written in letter format such as below...
    Dear Class,
    Today is (day of the week).  You will cook today.
     Have fun!
    Smiles,
    Mrs. McKenzie
    Even though the message is already written on these days, students still have the opportunity to find letters and small words that they know.



    Why Do We Write A Morning Message?
    By participating in the writing of our morning message, students learn...
    • writing is speech written down
    • proper letter formation
    • upper and lower case letter recognition
    • associating letters and sounds
    • left to right progression
    • differentiate between a letter, a word, and a sentence
    • reading of common sight words
    • spacing
    • punctuation
    • to look for patterns within words (word families)

    Monday, November 14, 2011

    Family Involvement: Volunteering in the Classroom/Borrow a Book Program

    Family Involvement
    Learning actually starts long before children even step into a classroom.  It starts in the most important place of all - the child's home. Family is an integral part of learning.  Therefore, educators can not afford to neglect inviting parents and caregivers to take part once formal schooling begins.  Positive parental participation is essential in order to ensure the best education of each child.

    Families can show the importance of education and of learning  in a myriad of ways - volunteering in the classroom, discussing the day's events, reading class newsletters, attending special school events, etc. I would  like to encourage families to participate in the following activities as well.

    ***Each week there will be a new sign-up sheet on our entry/exit door. This is available to parents who would like to volunteer an hour of their time in our classroom.****

    Some ways to help the teacher:
    -an extra pair of eyes in the classroom and/or outdoor play
    -field trips
    -small reading groups
    -one-on-one with children who need extra help
    -helping with learning skills (identifying numbers, letters, letter sounds etc)
    -facilitating a centre

    Borrow-a-Book
    Just a reminder, borrow a book gets sent home on Monday and returned to the classroom on Thursday. On Thursday, I will be asking the children questions about their book to which they have read for four days. Mrs. Mckenzie will be assessing their comprehension skills. Borrow-a-Book is a great reading resource for your child.

    Websites

    The following are some useful websites
    http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/kindercurrb.pdf (Ministry of Education: Kindergarten Curriculum)

    http://www.starfall.com/ (great reading program)

    http://www.littlegiraffes.com/ (good ideas for themes and resources)

    http://www.enchantedlearning.com/ (good for art ideas)

    http://www.abcteach.com/ (good curriculum resources)

    http://www.playbasedlearning.com.au/about/ (ideas for play based learning)

    http://www.readingrockets.org/audience/parents/ (reading resource)

     
    http://bkflix.grolier.com/splash (online reading resouce with books to watch and or read)
     

    Common Curriculum Goals for Kindergarten

    The following are common curriculum goals for kindergarten students. Remember, Kindergarten is a two year program. Here is the link for the Ontario Kindergarten Curriculum
    http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/kindercurrb.pdf
    Language Arts
    • Identifies front, back, title, and author of a book.
    • Demonstrates top to bottom, left to right progression
    • Distinguishes letters from words and words from sentences
    • Identifies all uppercase and lowercase letters
    • Demonstrates knowledge of beginning sounds by printing correct letter symbols with corresponding pictures
    • Orally tells what sound is heard at the beginning and ending of words  
    • Rhymes
    • Count the number of sounds in a syllable and the number of syllables in a word
    • Reads one syllable ands common words by sight such as "the", "I", "is"
    • Makes predictions
    • Demonstrates comprehension of stories by orally retelling or acting out
    • Identifies characters, setting, and main idea of a story
    • Prints name correctly 
    • Prints alphabet letters legibly without a model
    • Uses writing (letters, pictures, and words) to express own meaning
    • Writes from left to right and from top to bottom
    • Writes some simple words spelled correctly and longer words phonetically (as they sound)
    • Identifies the eight basic colors and reads the corresponding color words
    • Understands and follows one and two step spoken directions
    Mathematics
    • Demonstrates 1 to 1 correspondence
    • Sorts and classifies objects by position, shape, size, color, number of corners, etc.
    • Identifies, copies, extends, and creates patterns
    • Can count to 20 by 1's and encouraged to count higher
    • Identifies the five basic shapes (circle, oval, square, rectangle, triangle)
    • Draws the five basic shapes
    • Identifies numerals (0-10)
    • Labels sets (0-10) with correct numeral
    • Compares sets of objects and uses the terms equal, more than, or less than correctly
    • Identifies coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter)
    • Joins and separates sets of objects  
    • Measures length with a variety of non standard measurements
    • Compares measurements and uses the terms shorter, longer, taller, heavier, warmer, cooler, holds more, etc. correctly
    • Uses positional words to explain location  (left, right, on, off, inside, between, above, below, etc.)
    • Interprets graphs
    Fine Motor Skills
    • Holds pencils and scissors correctly
    • Cuts on lines
    Gross Motor Skills
    • Hops on both feet together
    • Hops on one foot (left and right)
    • Marches
    • Gallops
    • Skips
    Social and Work Habits
    • Puts forth best efforts in work
    • Takes care of school materials
    • Uses self control to follow school rules
    • Works independently  
    • Follows directions
    • Listens attentively to others
    • Willingly participates in activities

    Kindergarten students are introduced to many science topics as well, but are not expected to have mastered these areas.  
    .

    Possible Science Topics
    • Natural Sciences: animals, plants, weather, space, earth science
    • Physical Sciences: magnets, float and sink, etc.
    • Health and Safety: body parts, nutrition and food groups, five senses, backyard bugsetc.

    Welcome!

    Grab hold of a magic pencil
    Open your eyes and mind
    For now begins a journey
    Of the most exciting kind.
    A journey into learning
    A step...a start...a glow,
    And we will be there with you
    To help and watch you grow.
    Author unknown



    Welcome to Room 164, Mrs.Mckenzie's classroom
    We hope you use this site to keep your family up-to-date on what is happening in the classroom.

    Entry Door 4
    Educational Assistant: Mrs.Uppal
    Morning class time: 8:55am to 11:30am
    Afternoon class time: 12:45pm to 3:15pm
    Check the blogg for weekly updates!!!!
    Comments are welcome!!

    Things children need to bring to school
    1. A healthy snack (e.g., fruits, vegetables, bottled water, etc)
    2. A big bag-pack so they can bring home art work, library books, borrow-a-books and important letters
    3. Indoor shoes (during the winter season, children need to bring an extra pair of shoes for the classroom)
    4. Please remember to wear warm clothing during the winter season (jacket, snowpants, hat, scarf, mittens   and boots)