Excellent Monday!

Today was one of those days where everything went right. We began formal journal writing this morning. We read a fun story during the reading block. The kids are really catching on to "answering quickly" when I ask a question. We answer with hand signals so everyone gets a chance to think about their answer. We actually stayed in for half of recess because we were so enjoying an alphabet book of poetry!  Lol. These kids are fun;)

Getting Ready for the Week

Being a teacher is a whole lot more than what happens from 7:30-3:30 on Mondays through Fridays. That is just when you are "on stage". This post is not about the prep work - gathering materials, writing plans, researching curriculum, grading assessments, etc. It is about the necessity of reflection. It's a mental process that, today, looks something like this:  1.  How can I engage early arrivers in authentic learning for a short period of time until the others arrive?  2.  How can I best partner students to work productively in stations?  3.  How can I better incorporate mini-lessons on rhyming and letter recognition throughout the day to provide the needed repetition to select students who need it?  4.  How can I make the day flow better while incorporating more "sing-song" style basic skills review activities?  5.  How can I encourage the quieter students to speak up more and be more expressive?  6.  Even though most students are ready for formal daily entries in a journal, how can I ease the transition for those who are not quite there yet?  7. How can I motivate them to "try their best" in all tasks?  8.  How can I incorporate more meaningful small motor challenges into the daily routine?  9.  How can I differentiate math class better by creating problem- solving activities with higher-level questioning into the daily lesson?  10.  How can I encourage deeper thinking in our discussions?  Now, to begin forming a few ideas... Monday morning is coming!!! 🌞

Sink or float: Explaining it like a scientist

Today we decided whether various items would sink or float. We discussed together how the objects felt, their shape and their weight. We talked about what each object was made of - paper clip, styrofoam, paper cup, plastic counting bear, pencil, Popsicle stick, coins, magnet, foam shape, rubber ball, straw, toothbrush, wooden block and several more. We talked about how scientists ask questions, formulate guesses and test their results. Each child made their prediction before dropping their item on the side of the container they believed it would fit - floaters or sinkers. I love to listen to their descriptive explanations telling if they were "right" or "wrong". We talked about how the wrong guesses are important because they help us discover the right ones!  Fun day :)

Purple Day💜

Today we celebrated the color purple. The big purple grapes were delicious for snack!

Making shapes

Heart

Square

Circle

Understanding a story more deeply

Today I introduced the reading skill of character to the kids. A character is "a person or animal in a story".  We talked about the four characters in FIX IT DUCK by Jez Alborough and how Duck is the main character. Reading comprehension is the result of understanding phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary and fluency in a story. All components work together to increase understanding. Helping young children learn to break down a story into parts and understanding the deeper meaning of each part is successful reading. In kindergarten, the MOST important part of reading to master is the LOVE of stories. That will benefit a child for a lifetime academically as well as emotionally.  Discovering the "magic" of fiction is a key goal in kindergarten!!!

Recess

We are back in our routine after a long, relaxing weekend. The return of recess at KSES has brought several positive changes to kindergarten. Free play encourages creativity and imagination. The social aspects of recess are probably the most important. I love watching them make new friends, talk about things that interest them with others and just plain "play hard".  It's a fact - children have a lot of energy!  I feel more effective as a teacher because we have achieved a healthy balance between low and high activity during the school day. The kids seem to like it, too.  ☺️