Sunday, February 12, 2017

Literacy and Beyond

From time to time, you may be wondering what's happening on a daily basis to further learning in one specific academic area or another. In this post, we would like to address some of the ways we are diving into literacy. 

In January, we began utilizing book boxes at one of our learning centers. Every Monday, each student chooses 4 new books at their reading level to add to their book box. As they rotate through centers, they have a chance to read independently or with a buddy, exploring the books they have chosen, or revisiting their poetry folder. 

 

We each know that there are many ways to read, one of which is to look at the pictures and retell a familiar story. We may also look for letter sounds we know, or sight words we have learned.

We spend time each day during 1st circle learning about the connection between letters and their sounds and how the sounds in words work. It's especially fun to change the first letter of each our names to one particular letter we are focusing on and see how they sound in this new form. We also notice right away when it doesn't change the name at all! (For instance some of our names that start with "C" still sound the same when they start with "K"!)

Another new addition to our week is Writer's Workshop. After a group lesson in which the teacher introduces the lesson and models writing, students are encouraged to think of an idea for their writing and share that idea verbally with a friend. Afterwards, we choose where we would like to write, sometimes finding a quiet place alone, sometimes with friends.

During the writing exercise, we work on drawing a picture, labeling, and adding an idea in the form of a sentence. 

When the exercise is finished, we have the opportunity to share our writing with the class.
 We especially enjoyed writing about and with our stuffed animals during our Puppy Picnic Day! 




 As with much of our learning, it spills over into other class time as well. We may find students writing invitations to all of their friends...

... they write and share about Buddy's adventures at home...




... and create and tell stories as they are immersed in dramatic play. 


We are thinkers, readers, writers and speakers, with amazing imaginations and such willingness to take chances and try our best. We have come a long way in the first 1/2 of our Kindergarten year. 




1 comment:

  1. Cooper loves going to Kindergarten! Thank you for creating a great space for him to learn in!

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