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!

Class Promise: The Foundation of Our Rituals and Routines

After reading several books this week, including "David Goes to School", "Following the Rules", and "Being a Good Friend", students were asked how they feel about having rules and the importance of them. Questions such as, "Would you like if your friend didn't follow the rules of a game?" and "How would that make you feel?" were asked. We talked about rules all around us. For instance, in the car (road signs), at the store (waiting in line), and at school (fire drills). Students were invited to give their opinions on what they think would be some good classroom rules to follow. They came up with: no kicking, no hitting, being nice to people, and listening to the teacher. We summed up what they said and wrote it on our Class Promise chart. The students drew pictures of themselves to go around the promise and it is now posted in front of the classroom. Our promise is said everyday before we start our Skills Block lesson. Students are reminded of the promise throughout the day and asked to follow the rules of the classroom so that no one gets hurt and everyone has a chance to be heard. The foundation of our rituals and routines is in place with our Class Promise and the students are very proud to be a part of creating it!

Kindergarten - First Days at the Honky Tonk

The Honky Tonk is in it's first week of operation and student's are getting into the rhythm and flow of the classroom. Our highlights today included the start of "Star Names" where every student gets the chance to be the "Star" and his/her name is the focus of the lesson. Questions such as, "What do you notice about his/her name?" and "How many letters are in the name?" are asked. Letters of the name are cut up and mixed up and then put back together. Questions are asked of the student, "Do you have any brothers and sisters?"; "What do you like to do?"; "Do you have any pets?" Then the children go to their seats and draw a picture of the "Star" with something he/she likes to do. A book is made of all these pictures and is sent home with your "star" child on his/her day. Also today we read several books, namely, "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom".

Students made their own coconut tree and used letter stickers up the tree spelling out their names. We read, "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," and "Caps for Sale." These are two "Star Books" that the children will hear several times this month and will soon be able to retell the story by looking at the pictures. In Math Workshop, we read "Ten Apples Up On Top" by Dr. Seuss.That book is always a class favorite. The students then went to their seats and drew themselves with apples on their heads! Below are some pictures from free center time. It's no wonder that your kindergartener is tired...as you can see, we stay very busy at the Honky Tonk!!

Honky Tonk Is Open For Business

The first two days of Kindergarten have gone by in a flash. The change in the children from day one to day two has been amazing. Today they took their folders out of their backpacks and placed them in the bin, put their belongings in their cubbies, and went to their seats to do their morning work. Today it was name practice. We practiced how to come to the floor, how to line up and how to walk in line. All of these "mini-lessons" help the children learn the rituals and routines of the classroom. Today we started skills block with an ABC song and Humpty Dumpty Nursery Rhyme song and dance. Then we read, "David Goes to School" by David Shannon. This was the lead in to our next lesson about rules and why they are important. Students had valuable input as to what our rules chart or what we call our "Class Promise" should include: being nice to each other, sharing, and no hitting. The class then decorated a face cut out which represents themselves. This will be placed around our new class promise which we will show you tomorrow. Today we had our first fire drill. The children were prepared because we practiced yesterday (the first day of school.) They did an excellent job! In the afternoon, we celebrated a birthday, played outside, read some books, and the students had some time for free play (which is so important in kindergarten). This is where they learn to share, communicate, and make friends with each other. The Honky Tonkin' Kindergarten is just getting started and we can't wait for each new day!

Orchestrating a Symphony of Student Success

As you may have noticed, the blog has changed from our "180 Day Aussie Adventure" to "Mall-ard's Kindergarten Honky Tonk." Each year our school theme changes and this allows our new school year to have a unique feeling of its own. The school theme this year is "Orchestrating a Symphony of Student Success." Our specific Kindergarten theme is country music. Our classroom is going to be the "The Mall-ard's Honky Tonk." We can't wait to bring you all the fun and excitement of our new Kindergarten class via this blog. We hope you sign up on the FeedBlitz located on the sidebar of the blog post. In this way, you will be notified when a new blog post has been entered through your e mail. Ya'll enjoy the new theme trailer and we will see all of our new "Honky-Tonkin" Kindergarteners real soon!

Read Aloud Even in the Summer

It's hard to believe that a little more than a month has past since the last day of school. We have new routines now - getting up when we want to (for some of us) and sliding into the kitchen for that first cup of coffee...oh, I love the summer! I came across an interesting article and wanted to share it. Even though our "soon to be second graders" can read, they can glean so much from hearing you read to them. Children love hearing books read aloud. Mem Fox(one of our author studies last year) wrote some tips on how to become better at reading aloud:
Fourteen Fantastic Hints on Reading Aloud by:

Mem Fox, Queen of Read Aloud

• Ensure your audience sits close to you and close to each other

• Welcome everyone with roving eye-contact on the first couple of lines

• Entice, like a high-powered salesperson, with the first line

• Remember to make the phrases into beautiful, lilting, up & down music

• Paint pictures by visualizing the scenes and the emotions

• Change vocally: high/low; loud/soft; fast/slow

• Speak the verbs (action words) with animation for lively reading

• Fall in love with the pause

• Don’t over-express: it’s embarrassing—just hang loose and have fun

• Don’t be ruled by rhyme endings

• Make the last line v-e-r-y slow indeed

• Say goodbye to everyone with roving eye-contact on the last lines

• Never read anything aloud that you don’t like yourself

• Enjoy yourself and throw yourself into it to stop yourself from being boring!

Read aloud...even in the summer!!

Mystery Readers Kept Us Guessing!

During the past few months, we had visits from our mystery readers. These readers included dads, moms, and siblings. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit us and read one of your child's favorite books to the class. The students loved guessing who the mystery reader was going to be and what book would be read. We had visits from Lilly (Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse) and Daphne (Scooby Doo). Students enjoyed hearing chapters read from Tales of Despereaux. And not a sound was made during the book, "The Three Questions" by Jon Muth (based on a story by Leo Tolstoy.) All of the thought and time you put into coming into the classroom was appreciated and will be remembered. Thank you mystery readers!

The "Mall-ards" Got Talent

During this last week of school,we forgo the normal routine and just have a lot of fun (not that the routine wasn't fun). On Monday, we had our awards ceremony and in the afternoon had the "Wii Olympics" sponsored by our P.E. team. Today the students made "Australian necklaces" (with beads and boomerangs), our Mystery Reader appeared, and we also had our class "Talent Show". We had break dancers, joke tellers, magic performances, abstract art interpretation, singers, and speech readers...to name a few. This was a chance for the children to share their special talents with the class. Oh yeah, the "Mall-ards" got talent, for sure!!

First Annual "Dads and (Hot) Dogs"

Today the children celebrated their dads with our first annual "Dads and Dogs" BBQ. After the students performed a few songs, "A - You're Adorable" and "The State Joke Song", we showed a slide show of the "Year in Pictures" which had more than a few dads teary-eyed in seeing how much their child has grown in the past year. The children gifted their dads with a "Winner" medal for various things that their dad does best - we had "The best breakfast maker," "The best hugger," and "The best surfer," to name a few. After the gifts, poems, and drawings were given, all of us went outside to a hot dog BBQ with all the trimmings. It was a great precursor to Father's Day and our way as saying "thank you" to the great dads of great kids!
(All pictures are not on slide show - we forgot to remove your name tag.)

Sheetzu Caca Poopoo - A Mystery Reader's Favorite

Our Mystery Reader was Mrs. W. who found her mystery book "Sheetzu Caca Poopoo" at the local library. Comedian and talk-show host Joy Behar wrote about a lovable character in this cheerful, funny picture book. "When Max the mixed-breed meets a pack of snobby purebred dogs in the dog run, he can’t understand why they don’t want to play with him and his mongrel friends. Determined to get everyone to play together, brainy Max—who is part poodle, after all—comes up with a way to break the ice between the mixed-breeds and the purebreds. America’s current obsession with designer dogs makes this book as timely as it is lively." This books showed how everyone can get along even though they are different. Mrs. W. also read "The Worrywarts" by Pamela Duncan Edwards. This book "uses alliteration to lighthearted and humorous effect." On a "warm Wednesday morning," Wombat, Weasel and Woodchuck contemplate all the terrible misadventures that could befall them while preparing for a "wander into the world." Both books were thoroughly enjoyed by the children and our thanks to our Mystery Reader!

From Seed to Plant - Waiting for the Beans!

A few weeks ago, we finished our Science Unit on plants. One of the activities was, of course, planting a seed and watching it grow. Students checked daily on the growth of their seed. The bean was put into a plastic bag with a moist paper towel and hung in the class window for several days. Students charted the progress of their seed. When it sprouted, it was planted in a cup with fresh potting soil and the children took them home to plant. Some made the journey and some didn't. However, we heard many success stories. Some plants are growing up the side of houses (just like Jack and the Beanstalk) and some, like the picture of above and below, have been replanted and nurtured into a beautiful addition to a garden. It looks like "ML" will be making us some bean soup real soon!

Mother's Day Celebration May, 2009

Mom's, moms
so hugibl and kissibl
I love my mom
She takes care of me
but in poet's eye's
I see me and my
mom doing stof
togethor as a family.
That is why I love
my mom and me.

Poetree by: Piper

Today we celebrated the mother's of our students! We planned our presentation for weeks and the children practiced with joy because they wanted it "just perfect." In the hallway, we posted Mother's Day poems that the children wrote together with a watercolor drawing. Our program included the songs "Upside Down" (Curious George)performed in sign language, "A" You're Adorable, and the "State Joke" song. We also showed a slide presentation of "The Year in Pictures" which was wonderful to share with the mothers. Afterward, a breakfast was offered and children with their mothers had the chance to kick off the Mother's Day weekend together. It was truly a memorable event.

Mystery Reader - What a Wonderful Surprise!

We were surprised once again with this week's Mystery Reader! Ms. R. came in with one of "T's" favorite books, "Super-Completely -- and Totally the Messiest" by Judith Viorst. If her name sounds familiar, she is also the author of the "Alexander" series -- "...No Good Horrible Day" and "...Used to be Rich." This book is about a big sister who is very neat and constantly urging the younger sister to be neat — "like me" — but whether at home, at school, or the beach, Sophie is a disaster. However, Sophie does have some redeeming qualities that everyone loves.

Thank you so much Ms. R. for coming in and reading this book to the children. They really enjoyed the story!!