Shared Reading: The Little Yellow Chicken by Joy Cowley

The children have a new favorite big book, "The Little Yellow Chicken" by Joy Cowley. It is a story based on the folk tale, "The Little Red Hen." It was introduced on Monday as a shared reading. Shared Reading is an interactive reading experience. We use a big book because it has enlarged text so that all the children can see. During the reading, we involve the children in reading together by pointing to or sliding below each word in the text. This provides children the opportunity to participate and behave like a reader. Shared reading models the reading process and strategies used by good readers such as moving from left to right, word-by-word matching, and using intonation. Shared Reading creates a risk-free environment, allowing children to focus on the enjoyment of the story. Every day a new skill and focus was added. The first day the book was introduced. Questions such as, "Does this book look like fiction or non fiction?"; "Does the chicken look happy?"; and "What other books have we read by Joy Cowley?" The next day, we picked up on fluency and intonation. Sight words were discussed and located in the book. The third reading focused on locating groups of words in the book. Today, we used the letter combination chart which lists vowel combinations (ou, ee, ea, ay) and blends (fr, bl, gr) as a guide to help find these pairs of letters in the words of the book. We used Wikki Stix to circle the letter combinations in the book. We enjoy shared reading of big books because it brings the class together as a reading community and provides us with a shared love of reading...thanks Joy Cowley for the wonderful story!

Glogging - Is That Really a Word?

Our goal this year is to introduce more technology into our school day. We are preparing children for a world that is now run on technology and we can not afford to have our students lagging behind in the global marketplace. What better place to start but in Kindergarten? Most students have already been introduced to the computer and computer related games: PSP, DS,I-Pod, Wii and X-Box. They have used lap tops, cell phones, understand texting, and of course, the Book Log Wiki. They are surrounded by technology. So, why should it stop when they enter the classroom? With the guidance of our expert technology coach, Melanie Holtsman, the students have created our first official word family glog. A glog (refers to a graphics blog or in other words an online rich media poster. Our first class-made glog was incorporated into the Skills Block work session of our day. After brainstorming "at" family words for a few days, students were invited to come up to the laptop, download a picture from Google Images (for example, a cat) and upload it onto the glogster. Check out our first "Made by Mall-ard's Students Glog" and see what the students have designed. Our goal is to make a new glog for the rest of the word family words we encounter this year (ap, ip, ot, etc.) You can now officially add "glog" to your technology vocabulary!!

Fun Friday Treats - Halloween Style

Every Friday in our class we celebrate a week of learning with something we call a "Fun Friday Treat." Parents sign up at Orientation and Open House to bring a treat for the whole class on Friday. It can be anything from ice pops to cupcakes. Students love when it's their Friday to bring in the treats for the class. Today's treat had a Halloween twist that the children just loved and I'm sure Mrs. Smith just loved making! Aren't they just spooktakular?

Literary Characters - Dressed Up for the Parade

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
One of our favorite traditions at Chets Creek is the Literacy Character Parade. Students dress up as their favorite literary character and parade around the halls of the school for all of the older students to enjoy. We had pirates, fairies, angels, GI Joes, Star Wars, cowboys, cowgirls, and Scooby Doo represented. Enjoy the pictures that our official class photographer, Melanie H., has taken for us!

Fun at Fall Centers

After the Fall Literacy Parade, students and parents were ready to join in the fun and create some holiday crafts. Making spider bags, decorating picture frames and cookies, designing ghoul bags, monster head bands and candy corn people were all some of the delightful projects that entertained the children. This was a great ending to the traditional parade and one that the students will remember! Special thanks to our parent volunteers who expertly ran each center!!

Fire Safety with Fireman Chris

Everyone was excited today because they knew that Fireman Chris was making a special visit to the Mall-ard's today! Fireman Chris talked about not playing with lighters and/or matches; having family fire drills, and the importance of stop/drop/and roll. He showed a slide show and video clips. Students loved the clip of the fire truck speeding down the highway to put out a fire. They also watched another clip of firemen putting out a fire and hearing the heavy breathing in a smoke filled room. Fireman Chris wanted children to see him dressed up in fireman gear so they would not be afraid and hide if they ever were in a fire. We had the lights turned off in the classroom and he came in, crawling on the floor asking, "Is there anyone in here?" His gear was "glow in the dark" and he was easy to spot. Afterward, the students asked him questions and told him some of their related stories. Then, Chris read the book, "Fireman A to Z". It was a wonderful experience for the students to see a fireman, ask him questions, and learn so much about the importance of fire safety -- thanks Fireman Chris!

Diamond D Ranch - Our First Field Trip

Our first field trip was to the Diamond D Ranch. The children enjoyed a nature walk where they saw a tree hit by lightening, maple trees, and pine trees. At the end of the walk, they were given fish food to throw in a lake. When they did that, all at once catfish sprang through the water! It was quite a surprise! Then we went on a tractor ride through the cow fields and fed some cattle (almost got stuck in the mud). After, we stopped to feed the goats, deer, and baa baa black sheep who was there with her 2 day old lambs. The children rode ponies, played in the bounce house, and got turned upside down in a spinning barrel. We had great parent chaperones who helped make the trip a huge success! We had a lot of tired kids on the bus ride back to school, so we're sure they had an early night's sleep! Thank you to Melanie H. for the wonderful pictures for all of you to enjoy!

Pumpkin: Fruit or Vegetable? - Ask the Kindergarteners!

Fall is in the air...especially at the Mall-ards with our room resembling a pumpkin patch. The Pumpkin Science Unit started last week and students were invited to bring in their own pumpkin. We have all sizes and weights represented which made for some great lessons on sorting and classifying. The 5 E's model is being used to plan the unit: engage, explore, explain, extend, and evaluate. We engaged the students by having them share their background knowledge and charted what they know about pumpkins and then asked them what they want to know about them. We had lessons on what "Same" and "Different" means so that students can build on a common knowledge base. In this way, they can explain what they see when they examine their pumpkins. They explained by sharing their data and extended their knowledge by making connections and then evaluated by reviewing what they had learned. In this specific lesson, students were given an apple slice and pumpkin slice. They explored then using their five senses and magnifying glasses. They noticed what was the same and different about them. They noticed that both had seeds which raised the question, "If an apple has seeds and a pumpkin has seeds, is a pumpkin a fruit like an apple?" Then we researched our question on the computer (Glogster) and found out that, "Anything that has seeds on the inside or outside is classified as a fruit." We then cut up a few items and had the children decide if it should go in the fruit or vegetable tray remembering what they have learned. So, believe it or not...a pumpkin is a fruit...just ask a kindergartener!!

Hopscotch Paths - Enhancing Patterns

A fun and exciting way to enhance the learning of patterns is one of our favorite lessons in Math Investigations - Hopscotch Paths. At first the students are very curious when they see us drawing on the carpet with chalk! Not only is this is an excellent way to get their attention, but it also extends patterns to a physical activity. Surprisingly, some children have never played hopscotch or have ever seen it, so this was a great game to enhance schema and have them learn a new game. After a demonstration, students were invited to give it a try - one square for one foot and two squares for both feet. The one-two-one pattern was quickly learned and the children had a lot of fun with it. Then they went back to their seats to find squares of paper for them to construct their own Hopscotch Path. They could get as creative as they wished, however, it had to show a pattern. They loved using their fingers to hop down their path. Next week, we'll be bringing out the chalk during recess. I wonder how many different hopscotch paths we'll find...

Celebrate the Joy of Reading With VHC

Today we celebrated reading with children and teachers from around the world by reading Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". A program named Jumpstart Reading for the Record started in 2006. It is an international campaign whose goal is to bring preschool children together to read the same book, on the same day in communities all over the world. Today, Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar was read aloud in classrooms, libraries and homes from Japan, Germany and Brazil to cities and rural communities across America. While it was being read, props from the book (apples, plums, and oranges) were being munched by a sock puppet caterpillar (thanks Lee)! We know that reading aloud with children lays the groundwork for strong literacy skills and future success in school. We love The Very Hungry Caterpillar, enjoyed being part of this worldwide event, and can't wait for our Eric Carle Author study to read more books by this beloved author!!

Baa Baa Black Sheep... Wool and So Much More!

During our morning Skills Block (a time dedicated to learning letters, sounds, (phonics), phonemic awareness, and shared reading), a nursery rhyme a week is introduced. Nursery rhymes are a wonderful way to teach these skills because they are short and easy for children to remember. The bonus is they give numerous opportunities to develop many levels of phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is defined as the awareness of sounds (phonemes) that make up spoken sounds. This includes rhyming, alliteration, ending, beginning sounds, and blending sounds to make words. There is overwhelming evidence that early learning of nursery rhymes and rhythmic poems, songs, and chants enhances early reading skills and phonemic awareness. On Fridays, we like to have a culminating, hands on activity to go with the rhyme. Today, the room was buzzing with the children making the next page in their nursery rhyme book, Baa, Baa Black Sheep. Using paper bags, construction paper and cotton, they made a wonderful keepsake to remember and share all they learned...wool and so much more!

Discovering Patterns

Our class has been working on a mathematics unit called Pattern Trains and Hopscotch Paths. We have explored questions like these: What makes a pattern a pattern? How do patterns give us information so that we can predict what comes next? Being able to recognize a pattern is an important tool in math. The children will continue to have many opportunities to copy, create, and extend patterns using materials such as pattern blocks, color tiles, and interlocking cubes. The above picture came from a lesson called Pattern Snakes. Students used paper pattern block cut outs to create their own pattern snakes. Children are also learning how to name their patterns: ABAB, ABCABC, ABBABB, etc. It is important for students to noticing patterns all around them because it can help in all subject areas: reading, writing, and science. Discovering patterns is a fun and exciting way for children to observe the world around them!

More Than One Way to Retell a Story

During Reader's Workshop, we revisited one of the classes' favorite star books, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This classic fairy tale has been retold several times and in several different ways. The first few times it was read, we paged through the story using elaborate, almost exaggerated tones -PAPA BEAR, Mama Bear, and wee little squeaky baby bear voices. Then we brought out the puppets and children had the chance to perform and watch a Reader's Theater presentation (see below post). Another time, a glove finger puppet was added while reading the tale. After a few lessons on beginning, middle and end of the story, students were invited to draw what happened at those different times. Paper was cut in the shape of a house and students drew the beginning, middle and end of the story. The above picture shows the bears and Goldilocks first; the middle picture has the broken chair, the three bowls of porridge and her sleeping in the bed; and the third shows Goldilocks ready to jump out of the window when she realizes that the bears are home. This drawing clearly shows an understanding of the beginning, middle, and end...and that there is definitely more than one way to retell a story!

Goldilocks, Three Bears and Four Kindergarten Students!

Reader's Workshop included an exciting "Reader's Theater" segment, "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." Students have heard this story a few times in the past two weeks and were more than ready to put on a play. The book is a "Star Book" and just like "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" and "Caps for Sale", it turned into a class favorite by reading these books to the students at different times during the day. Now, children can look at the pictures and retell the story and it sounds like they are reading it. This pre-emergent reading skill is a wonderful way to get children excited about being able to pick up a book and "read" it with confidence. Goldilocks and the Three Bears is now added to our list of classroom favorites and will be retold many times during Literacy Stations via Reader's Theater. Look for this book to come home in your child's "Book in a Bag" and be prepared for a real treat..."Someone has been eating my porridge..."

Literacy Work Stations: Growing Independence

During the past week, we have introduced Literacy Work Stations as an integral component of our hour long Reader's Workshop. Literacy Work Stations allow students time for independent practice of previously taught mini lessons. Literacy stations also allow children to be actively engaged while we work with small groups. Included in our list of activities (so far) are: Read the Room (go around the room and read charts with a pointer); Write the Room (paper, clipboard, and marker - students write words they see around the classroom); ABC puzzles, classroom library, Star names (previously cut up star names are used); and beginning sounds center. The students rotate to a different station a few days a week. The focus is on practice and purpose that is linked to our teaching. We want to provide students with meaningful literacy practice activities during this time. For our emergent readers, these work stations will allow children to develop phonological awareness (the ability to isolate and manipulate the sounds in language), print awareness and concepts of print, and learn about letters and sounds. And, besides all of that, it's fun and engaging for students -- which is exactly what we want learning to be!

"Ropin' In Kindergarten Writers" Bulletin Board

Our first official bulletin board, "Ropin' In Kindergarten Writers", proudly displays the first "written" works of some of our Kindergarten students. In Writer's Workshop, students are learning how to tell a "small moment" (personal narrative) story by first, planning their story and then illustrating it through pictures. When the children are finished, they are able to staple it and then have created their own book. We make anything in their lives a small moment story. For example, in the first set of pictures, Lauren went in the Jeep to go to Target; shopped for clothes; and then went out of the store with her cart. In the second writing sample, Chatfield was at the beach and saw a live conch in the puddles of water; walked up a sand hill; and then, when leaving the beach, told his dad to "Hurry up!" The third story is from Mackenzie. She was in the back yard; then played hide and seek; finally, another friend came over and they played on the swings. In teaching the children to write stories in this way, we are getting away from the one page drawings and into making books out of our stories. We will progress from this into labeling the pictures, writing sounds down that they hear, and then sentence strings. The children learn that anything can be a story: going to the movies, the store, the park, or having dinner. We don't want stories to be only about going to Disney or Sea World. Every day there is a story to work on and a new one to write...remember "when you are done, you've really just begun" especially in Writer's Workshop!

Caps For Sale: A Reader's Theater Production

A favorite "Star Book" from our collection includes this timeless classic, "Caps For Sale." The children love hearing this story over and over and are now great at re-enacting the story. With a few minor props and lots of imagination, the students had a wonderful time retelling this story. And now presenting...Caps For Sale!

Retelling of Caps For Sale on Vimeo.

Kindergarten - Settling Into Week Two

Wow!! Our second week of Kindergarten was loaded with work and fun. We don't have a minute to spare in our Skills Block. We start out with phonics, phonemic awareness, shared reading (morning message and nursery rhymes), and star names activities. Students learn most skills via singing and dancing. It's a great way to start off the day. After Skills block, we go right into Writer's Workshop. Children are learning what good writer's do. Did you know that good writers say, "When you think you're done, you've only just begun?" This is the answer we give children when they say that they're done with their "writing." Of course they are not writing, but they are learning the art of telling a story through pictures. Eventually, they will label their picture, for example, (s) for sun, and (f) for flower. This will grow into letter strings and magically, on one glorious day, they will write their first sentence. Today, we were busy painting self-portraits, sharing homework, and visiting the Library. The homework this week was for students to find items at home that begin with the first letter/letter sound of their first name (see above picture). These bags of items were shared with the class and proved to be a wonderful "getting to know you" activity. The Honky Tonk will be closed for a much anticipated three-day weekend! We will be looking for our little Mall-ards on Tuesday morning to start another great week!

Star Names-- Where Everyone Shines Brightly

Another bright spot in our morning Skills Block is a segment called, "Star Names." Each morning a child's name is picked out of a bucket and his/her name is the focus of our activity. The name of the child is written on a sentence strip. The name is written largely on the board and students have the opportunity to notice attic (b,d,f, etc.), basement (g,j,p, etc.), and letters on the line (a,c,e, etc.). They stand and move as each letter is called out. For example, for Victor (a star this week) arms were in the air for "V" and on their hips for "i", "c", "t", "o", and "r". Then another sentence strip with his name was cut into separate letters. These letters were mixed up and Victor had to put his name back in order. Then he mixed it up and called on a friend to put his name back correctly. Next, students are asked to look at the previous names on the chart and asked what they noticed about the other names and the new name. Some say, "I see the word "is", or "Those two names have the same amount of letters." Finally, the star student tells us a little about him/her self. It may be,"I have two dogs"; "I have an older sister"; or "I love the beach". Students then go back to their seats and draw a picture of the star with something he/she has mentioned. Students write the stars name and their name on the drawing. A book of all these pictures is made and given to the child at the end of the day. This activity teaches many skills including phonics and phonemic awareness. Children learn a lot from their friends names and a lot about their friends by doing this daily activity. It is a favorite part of our day!

Nursery Rhymes: Having Fun With Rhyme and Rhythm

A wonderful way that children learn about rhyme and rhythm is by revisiting nursery rhymes. Nursery rhymes are something that the students are familiar with and when the rhymes are put to music and dance, it adds a special twist to the morning Skills Block. Nursery rhymes have wonderful vocabulary and a storyline that children love to listen to. Rhythm and rhyme are also important elements in emergent readers. These rhymes emphasize phonological awareness, beginning comprehension skills, and shared reading. We started last week with "Humpty Dumpty." At the end of the week, students were invited to make their own Humpty creation. The art projects will be made into a book so the children will have their own nursery rhyme book. The CD that we use everyday and that the children love to sing and dance to is by Jack Hartmann and it's called, "Rhymin' to the Beat." Our study of Nursery Rhymes wouldn't be the same with it!