Santa's Coming!

I can't even contain my excitement...

We cleared our 'grocery store' shelves today because we had to make room for SANTA'S WORKSHOP!

To set the stage for the transformation of our dramatic play centre ... and of course, to incorporate students' ideas and interests, we started one of our circles with a discussion of 'Christmas'. We closed our eyes and visualized what 'Christmas looks like' then we brainstormed ideas, writing and drawing it out on chart paper. I prompted students by asking, "How can we recognize that it is Christmas in our Kindergarten class?" and low and behold, students responded with, "Let's create a workshop." Of course, there were some other ideas that will be recognized as well - such as having a Christmas tree, singing Christmas carols, drinking hot chocolate ... you get the idea: These kids KNOW where it's at!!

We had another discussion about HOW to create a Santa's Workshop ... they came up with all kinds of ideas. They decided that they will need tools, toys, wrapping paper, cards, elves, cookies ...

We cleared our grocery store shelves to make room for some of Santa's belongings and students got right to work with the very important job of creating the naughty and nice list.

Two students took charge to make sure that everybody's name made the list!

This little guy decided that there wasn't room on the easel, so he asked for his own paper to write down his 'nice list'. LOVE this initiative!

Next, our empty dramatic play centre needed a new sign to tell people what it was going to be!

These two girls asked me to write out a sign so that they could colour it.



 

Our dramatic play centre needs a few more supplies before it's ready for it's grand reveal ... but after just ONE day, it's already off to a great start! These kinders never cease to amaze me. If you have any supplies at home, please don't hesitate to send them in. Your junk really is our treasure. Little boxes, extra wrapping paper, Santa hats, elf costumes ... heehee.

TTFN,


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Letter Recognition VS. FDK

Our kindergarten wing (a total of 4 teachers plus 3 ECEs) attended a Full-Day Kindergarten Hub this past Friday. A "hub" is a great big meeting where different schools and teachers get together to discuss/collaborate/share ideas, wonderings and successes. It's a time for teachers to be reflective, to discuss what is being done in the classrooms in terms of program implementation and possible next steps. It's a time to learn more about the program and then bring it back to the classroom to implement. It's a wonderful opportunity for teachers and admin to get together to learn from each other.

One of the questions that came up at our "hub" was, "In a play-based environment where students are directing their own learning ... how do we find the time and place to teach letter recognition?" The answer to this was (in hindsight) pretty easy: Do it through PLAY of course.

A friend and fellow teacher colleague of mine (Mlle. Farrell ... you can visit her wikispace by clicking here) created this handout to describe just what this looks like:

Play Handout

One of the concerns that teachers had (or maybe it was just me) was ... "How on Earth am I going to teach that the letter A is pronounced AH instead of EH during play centres?" And sure enough, the admin staff had an answer. They said that through various play centres and literacy centres, students will first begin to recognize the letters in their name. Naturally, they learn to do it in English first but the French language can be intertwined. By directly teaching the alphabet by singing songs, chanting it and manipulating the letters and then reinforcing letter recognition at various centres, students WILL learn it.

I then asked, "What if no one goes to the literacy station when the grocery store dramatic play centre is open?" And again ... they  had an answer. They reminded me that kids are drawn to adults ... If an adult is sitting at the literacy centre, students WILL go there. You don't have to force them, but if you're present, connected and genuinely interested in the centre then students will be right there with you.

Here are some pictures of how I've manipulated 'literacy' into play. Because in fact ... the two do not have to be separate entities.

The writing's on the .... window?! These students are using 'special' markers.

Learning their friends' names ... Always a popular centre!

Our newest (and temporary) addition to the room. A mini-Smartboard. Students don't always need a 'game or activity' ... they're happy (and fully engaged) when they're just drawing on a blank Notebook file.

I wrote out their names ... and they glued little bits of coloured paper to the letters.

Using the IPAD and the DoodleBuddy app, students took their picture and then wrote their name.

 

 

Students wrote 'sight words' in shaving cream. I had the IPAD and wrote out a word, flashed it to them and turned it into a race ...

With laminated letters and links ... students wrote their names and the names of their friends.

 

 

So, I guess what I learned from the "hub" this time around was ... keep doing what I'm doing. I learned much more ... but in regards to 'letter recognition vs. play' ... we're doing just fine. We have inquiries, we have play-time, we have balance between mini-circles and whole-group circles, we have body breaks, we have read-alouds, we have songs and dances ... the bottom line is this: these little sponges soak it alllllllll in.

 

Way to go, kinders!





 

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Reading and Writing with Pumpkins

Some of our little kinders LOVE to write. When asked, "Où est-ce que tu veux jouer aujourd'hui?" (using the AIM gestures) many of our students will respond with "the writing centre" ...

To push them to their limits and get them out of their comfort zone of writing letters to Mommy and Daddy, I provided them with a writing challenge...

We've been reading a cute little shared reading titled "Cinq Citrouilles" (adopted from Mme. Rego's French Class) where students sit in a circle and I choose 5 pumpkins to come up to the front of the circle to represent a pumpkin. They even get to hold a pumpkin on a popsicle stick. Students read the chart paper and as we say, "a fait une rouler" (while rolling our hands in a circle), the last pumpkin in the line goes and sits down. While this activity DOES contradict the new FDK play-based learning, ALL students love it. There is not one single kindergarten student who doesn't raise their hand to be a pumpkin ... and they ALL help read it. It's pretty cute.

Now back to my writing challenge ... I provided clipboards for students and piece of paper with a blank fence printed on it. I told them that I needed their help and that they had a 'job' to do. I asked them to find the word that meant pumpkin on the chart paper of our shared reading and draw the pumpkins.

A few minutes later, this is what I found:

Two girls hard at "work"

Close up of their writing

 





So yes, while play-based learning is important ... I DO have students who want to do WORK! This is where our struggle comes into play ... no pun intended. Our balance, we have found, is to provide the tools necessary, the space and the time to allow for both. They were not told that they HAD to work, but rather that the clipboards were there ready for them if they chose to do it. Not everyone did. And that's just fine.

This week, we are visiting the local mall and we will be trick-or-treating! There is a lot of learning and inquiry that can be done outside of the classroom ... and I've been inspired by another 'virtual teacher colleague' who posted this on facebook (Thank you, Karen Groenewagen) ... to do something similar on our 'trick-or-treating walk' ...

Wish me luck!

Haha.

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