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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I know why I'm a teacher.

I had a conversation last week with my mentor teacher - Mme. Moore, my emotional coach and curriculum guide - and I asked her, "Do you ever have those days when you wonder why you're a teacher?" And, she very quickly answered, "No. I never question why I'm a teacher. I question whether or not I'm doing everything that I can for my students. I question whether or not they're learning all that they can and I question how I can become a better teacher and more reflective in my practice ... But I never question why I'm a teacher. I know why I'm a teacher."

And this is exactly why I'm grateful for my mentor teacher. I don't think that I thank her enough. She's always so insightful and knowledgeable. She's honest and kind. Even when those two things don't go hand-in-hand ... she's a great listener and a great friend. Thank you, Mme. Moore for all that you do. It doesn't go unnoticed.

This week, I had the privilege to speak to parents during parent-teacher interviews and also during parent observations. When they told me that their kids LOVE coming to school, that they're singing French songs at home and that they fight over 'who gets to be Madame Kidd' when they play school ... it finally sunk in. I felt it. I know exactly why I'm a teacher and I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to have a day when I question the madness of it all ... but I will never, ever question WHY I'm a teacher again.


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Building Bridges!

We have wooden blocks. We have foam blocks. We have duplo blocks. We have lego blocks ... Let me tell you, we have blocks!

For the past two and a half months, they've built structures and towers and castles. And, they've destroyed structures and towers and castles. We've taken pictures of their structures when they didn't want to break them during tidy-up and they've tried 'recreating' them ... And we've even let them keep their 'structures' in tact to avoid meltdowns.

Something that they haven't done in the past two and half months is they haven't built BRIDGES!

Last week, I created a book titled, "Est-ce qu'on peut construire?" inspired by Megan Adams at Play to Learn Kindergarten to push the kids out of their comfort zone. After all, isn't that reaaaaalllly what FDK is all about??

Megan explained it as, "a book full of structures ... some from around the world like the London Bridges, some from our country like the Scotiabank Place and some from our community, like our school." Found some pictures on the internet, laminated them, put a ring through it and ... tada! Our 'Can We Build It?' book of structures!

This is a prime example of what 'planting a seed for inquiry' looks like in Kindergarten. I made the book and put it in the block centre and explained it to a few students and it 'took off' all on it's own. Not to mention ... from this book, I found out that students are amazed with the bridges! Why ...  hello, next inquiry.

This is a girl being the 'site manager' ... describing to everyone what to do next.

But wait ... they could use the piece that already looks like a bridge from the train tracks. Duh! Why didn't I think of that?

 

While I was sitting there, playing with the kids, one of the girls asked what the words said. I read, "London Bridges" and she exclaimed, "LIKE THE SONG?" ... Naturally, we then broke out into a sing-song ... 

And, when they compared their bridge to the picture they noticed that they were missing something ... boats! So, they used the trains as boats. Maybe we need to get some boats!

No word of a lie, I turned around to the computer station and this kinder was on abcya.com on a game called, "Build the bridge". Are you kidding me?!

Okay, now that I'm all fired up again and excited about our next inquiry, I'd better get to planning my next steps! Thank goodness it's the weekend!

Any ideas on how to probe their thinking and extend this inquiry?!


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All because of a cardboard box

One of the hardest things about teaching in the new FDK program is being able to "let go" of the reigns and let the children guide the program ... guide the curriculum, their classroom, what they learn, and how they learn it ... and then steering them in the right direction, probing their higher-order thinking and getting them to ask questions and present their findings or solutions. It really is a whole new way of teaching!

Let me take a step back. Deep breath in ... and I'll start by explaining what this looks like in our classroom.

Last week, we had an empty Halloween chip box in our recycle bin. One of our curious little kinders picked it up out of the recycle bin and asked, "What's this doing in there?" I explained (to the best of my ability) why it was in the recycle bin, but for him, this just would not do. I looked up from our conversation and noticed about 20 eyes on us. I had no idea that 4 year olds really were more interested in the BOX than what's inside the box. I ran with the idea ... I walked around the school and found about 4 more big boxes that we could "play with".

During centre time, I made sure that the cubby area was clear and we put the boxes in there to play with. Students climbed in, they pushed one another, they slid across the floor, they started a bumper-cars war (okay, that didn't really happen, but I'm sure that if I wasn't sitting right there with them then it would have happened) ...

As one student climbed in, I closed up the lid on her and knocked on the outside of the box and said, "Little pig, little pig, let me in!" ... and to my surprise, she responded, "Not by the hair of my chinny-chin chin."

TAAADAAAAA! Lightbulbs went off. From a planning perspective, there is so much that a Kindergarten teacher can do with "Les Trois Petits Cochons." I could not have been more thankful for that kinder to pull the chip box out of the recycling bin  ... It was just the inspiration that I needed. And besides, I had been meaning to start an AIM play with them! From this day, we have since read "Les Trois Petits Cochons" a few times (and they're starting to 'read' it and chime in - yay!), we have drawn the story and we have created both LARGE and small 'house' replicas. Here are some visuals:

Youtube video of the AIM play, "Les Trois Petits Cochons." This isn't me ... but I also look this crazy when I 'read' the play. Haha.

The first little pig in his straw house.

 

 

Students were asked to make 'pig puppets' and they were given a variety of tools but they were not told HOW to make them. LOVE the creativity that came out of this.

 

Creating popsicle-stick houses. Another 'thought-provoking' activity because we could NOT get those houses to stick together.

These centres were presented as 'choice' centres ... students were not told that they HAD to complete a puppet or a house, or a drawing ... but because most of them are interested in the play and the story, they are interested in the follow-up activities. In a nutshell, even though the students were steering where they wanted their learning to go, I was right there directing them and pushing them to their limits, giving them problems to solve and questioning their process. For the adults in our room (always at least 2, usually 3, sometimes 4 ... and maybe even more!) we posted some 'open-ended questions' to help guide the students. At any centre, at any point in time, we can ask things like, "What would happen if ... " and "What made you think of doing it that way?"... questions to probe vocabulary and get students thinking about the process of their learning.

Our questions are posted WAYYYYY up high. Not at the students' level at all because they're there for the adults in the room.

 

 

I promise not to ever disappear again (it's been 3 weeks since my last blog - eek!).

 

Sorry!!

 

TTFN,

 

 



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