A History of One Kindergarten, 1995 to the present

It's hard not to think of the father when I'm teaching the son.  The father of the little boy with the angelic face and soft blonde hair curling over his ears was in my first kindergarten class. His son is in my last. Twenty-three years have passed.  So much has changed.

In 1995, kindergarten in our district was half-day, two and a half hours.  I had so little time with my students. Opening and dismissal routines took up about a half hour.  PE was thirty minutes every day, and either Music, Library or Technology accounted for another thirty minutes four days a week. So, I had little more than an hour of instructional time most days. This was barely enough time to read a book, do a project, and run a combination of academic and developmental play centers.  It was a fast-paced, rushed program, for sure. However, expectations were simpler back then and I did have quite a bit of autonomy in what I taught.  I created special programs like Pretend Trips Around the World, A Country Fair, The Wedding of Q and U, and Birthday Parties for American Heroes (topics for future posts!)

The Wedding of Q and U

Finally, in 2005, thanks to the initiative and hard work of a couple of my kindergarten colleagues, our school board approved full-day kindergarten.  For several years, I was able to slow down the pace, allow student choice in some activities, include snack time, and explore new trends in kindergarten education such as phonemic awareness training and balanced literacy. The district purchased an actual math curriculum so math evolved beyond what could be learned by studying a calendar. A new principal offered further professional development in guided reading, The Daily Five, and Writers' Workshop.  By 2010, our full-day program was...full.

Here I am in a guided reading group with my Royal Readers.

Then, in 2010, rigor came to kindergarten.  We began implementing the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.  I began teaching kindergarteners how to describe the main idea and identify key details in narrative and informational texts.  I tried to assess whether a five-year old understood the difference between present and past tense. A few years later, Common Core State Standards for Mathematics were also adopted.  I experimented with Engage New York Math for a couple of years before our district purchased Bridges Math.  Now we have math lessons twice a day for a total of about 60 minutes.

A couple of years ago, our kindergarteners rebelled against all of this rigor.  They let us know what we already knew; "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."  We were witnessing more acting out behaviors.  So, brain break videos and activities began to loosen things up a bit.  And last year, I brought STEAM and developmental play centers into my daily schedule (subject of future posts, too.)  Now, each morning ends by letting the kids 'blow off a little STEAM." Each afternoon ends with kids constructing small worlds and playing imaginatively.

The Science center during STEAM involves making and recording observations of our aquarium.

These girls are creating a zoo during developmental play centers time.

I really do think of the father when I'm teaching the son.  And now that the little guy got his curls clipped off, he really reminds me of his dad!

Kindergarten Songs, Chants, and Fingerplays, 1-10

                                 

You know, there are a LOT of great kindergarten teachers out there!  Maybe you remember your own kindergarten teacher with affection, or maybe you admire a colleague, or maybe YOU are that amazing educator.  I know that I have many mentors of my own.  But try as I may, I could never be as outstanding as Miss Bindergarten!  Or Miss Cribbage.

While I imagine you may very well know of the energy and creativity of Miss Bindergarten, you may not know Miss Cribbage.  Sadly, she is out-of-print, often out-of-stock, and generally pretty hard to find anymore.  I am lucky enough to own a copy of this Rosemary Wells classic.  I use it throughout the year to inspire my own teaching and as a read-aloud for my students.  

Just a couple of years ago, Miss Cribbage's use of number songs, chants and fingerplays prompted me to create a list of my own favorites in this genre. I teach the children a number song, chant or fingerplay on each of the first ten days of kindergarten.  Then I write them on the back of 10 number cards and pop them into my magic hat.

Each day after the tenth day, the helper gets to pull out one of the number cards and we sing or recite that song, chant or fingerplay. It's a great activity during a transition or to calm down after an exciting event. Kindergarteners never seem to tire of activities that engage both speech and gestures.  If you'd like to know my list of ten number songs, chants, and fingerplays, you can download it HERE.

I hope you experiment with kindergarten songs, chants, and fingerplays for many reasons, not the least of which is to continue a sweet kindergarten tradition.

Kindergarten Color Days: Green Day

Yesterday, I sat in a circle on the grass with 16 brand-new kindergarteners.  The little girl with a cute blond braid to the right of me was so expressive.  "Look!" she exclaimed, "I never knew there were little yellow flowers in the grass!  And what's this big piece of wood stuck in here?  And a teeny, tiny black bug!"  She had been very excited when we were preparing to go outside. "Is this science?  I don't know what science is but I can't wait to do it."

The "big piece of wood in here" is a tree root, of course:)

I love beginning the school year with Color Days.  Most incoming kindergarteners know the basic colors so they are comfortable with the content.  This allows me to teach all sorts of procedures and skills without also teaching content.  Since we follow the methods described by the Wongs in their book, The First Days of School, tying the colors into our lessons makes a lot of sense.

Here are some of my activities for Green Day.  First of all, I've encouraged all of my parents to send their children to school wearing as much of the day's color as possible. I do reassure them that it's still acceptable NOT to wear the color of the day.  I provide them with a calendar like this one below.

                                       You can get a copy of this calendar HERE.

During Morning Meeting, we pass around Share Bear and tell what we are wearing that is green.  I introduce the idea of using a complete sentence when it's your turn to share, ex: "I am wearing a green shirt."  

For our shared reading time on Green Day, I have written a song about the color green. There are a lot of songs about green available on the web, but if you'd like to copy my song, here it is below.  After Color Days, I will try to pull out the Green song when it relates to other subject matter, for example, St. Patrick's Day.

We sing this to the tune of "London Bridges."

We also sing an alternate version of "Mary Wore A Red Dress" with the "Red" or "red" words covered up with "Green" and "green."  A number of years ago, I found a paper doll set that featured a little girl and boy and clothes in various colors.  I'm sure you can still find a similar set.  If you laminate them and attach a little Velcro, your kindergarteners will enjoy changing the outfits, for sure.  I've also set out the chart, the paper doll clothes, and the words in a popular literacy center.

We actually did two science lessons about the color green.  The morning lesson followed the reading of Leo Lionni's Little Blue and Little Yellow.   Since we are learning about the sun in our science curriculum, I had prepared blue and yellow ice cubes for the children to observe melting. In past years, I've also had them mix little balls of blue and yellow playdoh, or blue and yellow paint.  

The afternoon science lesson is what took us outside and into our circle on the green grass. Before we went outside, like good scientists, we asked the question, "What is in the green grass?" and made some predictions (bugs and dirt were most mentioned.)  And after we shared what we observed outside, we came back inside to record our observations.

As this is my retirement year, I did "have a moment."  We ended Green Day by watching a youtube video of Barney singing "The Green Grass Grows All Around."  Then we re-enacted the song ourselves.  I've led groups of children in singing and enacting this for 23 years now and this was my final time doing so.  I told the class this was a "celebration" for their teacher and we all did "sign language applause!"

Note:  I really enjoyed a post on Nerdy Book Club, under A Picture a Day: Green, about a book entitled Green:  Please check it out!

Anticipating the First Day of the School Year

"The whole point of the first day of kindergarten," said an early mentor of mine, "is to get 'em in and get 'em out. They won't remember anything you do in between."  I remember her words at the start of each school year, even after 22 years of teaching kindergarten.

Get 'em in: get the new kindergarteners into the building, into your classroom, hopefully, without tears or having to peel any children off of their parents. And get 'em out: get them out on the correct school bus, day care mini-van, or into the arms of anxiously waiting babysitters, parents, or grandparents.  I am still focused on the start and end of that all-important first day of each school year, even after 22 years of teaching kindergarten.

There are, of course, no guarantees that all will go smoothly despite careful planning and the work of administrators, teachers, and parents.  Young children are unpredictable. Sometimes you do have to deal with crying. It's so helpful to have an extra adult there that first day of kindergarten to comfort and reassure a crying child (or two.)  Sometimes you do have to help a child separate from her parent.  I prefer to do this in the classroom rather than outside the building with the whole community watching.  Some children will need to carry around a picture of their mom or dad for awhile at the beginning of the school year. Others might need a sticker chart to reinforce "no tears today!"  And sometimes things don't go smoothly at the end of the day and a parent shows up at school when his child has been put on a bus.  Or, a parent is really late and a fearful child is waiting too long.  I will say that I've never lost a child, even in 22 years of teaching kindergarten.

I once read a brilliant essay contrasting our work as teachers with pretty much any other business.  I don't remember all the author's points but a few have really stayed with me.  In what other business do you have a 100% turnover in your clientele every year?  In what other business do you have to impress not just your clientele but their parents?  In what other business do you have to sell products that your clientele does not know it needs and maybe really doesn't want to buy?  There is no doubt about it: teaching is uniquely hard work, even after 22 years of teaching kindergarten.

Yet, besides all this uncertainty, there is also curiosity, excitement, possibility, and joy in my heart as I anticipate the start of a new school year.  Who will be my new little friends?  What will they like best about Room 3?  What talents and gifts will they bring to our little learning community?  How far can I move them along their path as students?  Yes, the start of a new school year with all of its challenges is still rewarding, even after 22 years of teaching kindergarten.

Kindergarten Magic !

Disclaimer:  I am not a magician.  I do not do magic tricks.  I cannot make anything disappear or levitate.  And I definitely cannot pull a rabbit out of a hat!

However, I DO have a magician's hat and I do use it as a prop to get attention and to motivate learners.  Here are 3 examples of how I use my magic hat:

On the first day of kindergarten each year, I show the children my magician's hat.  It is filled with balls of white playdoh.  I tell the children that I heard somewhere that if they can make their playdoh change color, it means that kindergarten is going to be a really fun place.  This is not an original idea of mine.  In 2001, HBO produced a mini-series documenting an entire year in a kindergarten classroom.  I must give credit to the clever teacher, Jennifer Johnson, for this creative activity. Anyway, unbeknownst to the children, I have buried a small nugget of Playdoh in the center of each white ball.  As the children smash, squeeze, and roll their ball, a new color appears along with all sorts of excited voices!  It's a great ice-breaker activity.  I got the recipe for white playdoh HERE. After the kindergarteners play with it for a short while, they each put it in their own personalized ziplock baggie and use it at school for several weeks.  Properly stored, it actually lasts all year but I think it probably gets pretty germ-y after a few weeks so we dispose of it.

During the first month of school, the students start learning to read one another's names.  One activity to promote this learning is selecting the daily classroom helper.  I write each student's name on a sentence strip taking care to write the letters in the names so that 6 letter names are longer than 5 letter names which are longer than 4 letter names and so on.  I put all the names in my magician's hat and announce, "Watch me pull a rabbit out of the hat!"  When a lot of voices call out, "No!" then I agree, saying, "You are right!  I am NOT a magician.  I'm a teacher.  I pull WORDS out of my hat." After I pull out the card with the name of that day's helper, we do a number of activities to compare that name with other names on a pocket chart.  You can read my post "Helper Charts" to learn more.

My third example of how I use my magician's hat is a mathematical one.  At the end of all of our numeracy-based lessons, I pass out a simple exit ticket to each student.  I actually prepare two versions of the exit ticket so that neighbors receive different versions.  This makes it a little harder to copy off of someone.  I wear my magician's hat while they complete the exit ticket on their own. After a student finishes her exit ticket, she stands.  When everyone at her table is standing, that group comes up and puts their exit tickets in my magician's hat.  After we are all gathered on our mat spots, I pull out an exit ticket, make sure it was correctly done, share it with the class, and that student gets to be first to exit the room for recess (or at the end of the day.)  I do keep track of who has been thusly rewarded so that everyone gets a turn. This is a culminating activity that is fun and educational, of course.

The BIGGEST EVER New Box Of Crayons !

A brand new box of crayons.  Cerulean blue. Carnation pink. Goldenrod.  I've always loved to open a brand new box of crayons.  Their names delight me and their pointy tips inspire me to color...whatever!

This is the time of year when kindergarteners come to school with nice, new school supplies: crayons, pencils, scissors, glue, glue sticks, markers, etc.  How do I teach young children to take care of their supplies?  How do I distribute them?  And where do I store all of the extra supplies until we need them?

In 23 years of teaching kindergarten, I've experimented with different ways of introducing, distributing, and storing school supplies.  For me, the best method of introducing and distributing school supplies has been a slow, thoughtful rollout of each supply.  Luckily, in our school, we have set aside the first 20 days to teach school procedures and rules.  So, each day, I plan a simple project or two around the proper use of a school supply.  Since this post is about crayons, here is how I distribute and introduce crayons.

Each child has a personalized plastic cup for his/her school supplies: a couple of pencils, 12 crayons, scissors and glue stick.  The cups are set in plastic bins on each table.  We practice taking out a color and returning it to our own cup. We also practice picking up crayons when they roll off the table.  And then we practice identifying crayons that are "gently used"  vs. broken.

I encourage my kindergarteners to use their crayons until the tips are worn down to the paper and then put them in the "Gently Used" box.  At the end of the year, a couple of teachers in our school are kind enough to send these off to be recycled into crayons for special needs students.

Now, as for the BIGGEST EVER crayon box promised by the title of this post!  A few years ago, I noticed that Trader Joe's sets out empty wine bottle cases.  I thought about how all of those compartments would be perfect for the different colors of crayons we use in kindergarten: red, yellow, blue, green, purple, orange, black, brown, white, gray, pink, and apricot/peach.

I hope you can see how I used a utility knife to cut the box down to size: 8 inches high is perfect for little arms to reach inside the box.  

 

Measure 8" from the bottom of the box.

Cut the box on all sides.

Here you see the box with the trimmed off section

Now measure and cut the compartment dividers.

Now fill your trimmed down box with sorted crayons.

It took me less than 10 minutes to create the box.  I will admit that sorting the crayons each year takes a pretty long time and makes me wonder why I hadn't purchased a FULL case of that wine at Trader Joe's! But sorting all of the crayons does eliminate the storage problem and reduces wasted time for kindergarteners searching for a replacement color.  Maybe this year I'll have the students sort the crayons in a math center.  I bet they'd enjoy helping to create the BIGGEST EVER box of crayons!

Why I Love Mat Spots for Kindergarteners

A couple of days ago, I washed all 34 foam mats that I use in my kindergarten room.  The floors in Room 3 had just been waxed as part of the summer cleaning process. I didn't want to re-assemble the dusty, dirty, 6 year old mats on a freshly cleaned floor.  So, I loaded them all in the Subaru, hauled them out and onto our back deck, squirted them with dish detergent and hosed them all down.  After an hour or so in the hot sun, I stacked them all back into the Subaru, hauled them back down to the classroom, and re-assembled the "mat spots" in my Book Nook and meeting areas.

So, why have I gone to all this trouble?  Obviously, I want to have a fresh and clean start to the new school year. But why do I love "mat spots" so much?

I have actually had several different meeting area surfaces in my 31 years of classroom teaching.  In the late 1970s and early '80s, I was a SpEd teacher.  I had a corner of the classroom which had a large rectangular area rug, a couch, and a rocking chair on it.  The rocking chair was for me, the kids took turns sitting on the couch, and the rest of the time gathered on the area rug.  It was a nice, homey arrangement for a small classroom of 8-12 students.

When I became a kindergarten teacher in 1995, I had 27 students in my morning class and 28 in the afternoon.  A local carpet store donated 30 carpet squares for my classroom. Each morning and noon, I'd arrange the carpet squares in a circle for our meeting time.  The kids would learn to pick them up and stack them after our meeting times. I was never really happy with this seating arrangement because the carpet squares got really dirty and ended up helter-skelter during meeting times.

After 7 or 8 years of carpet squares, I had raised enough money in parent donations to purchase a large oval rug.  Twenty or so students could sit comfortably enough around the circumference. The problems were that we seldom have 20 or so students, 5 year olds grow like weeds during their kindergarten year, and many children seem to need a clearly, defined personal space.

So, a colleague told me about her mat spots.  I researched different thicknesses (I like the 5/8 inch ones--very substantial) and let the parents in that year's class know of my 'wish' for mats.  A couple of parents donated the money for the mats and I've had them for 6 years now.

I chose earth tones because I think these are soothing, calming colors.  We all need to create calm classrooms, right?  I like arranging them in rows of the same color so that I can call children to their places and/or dismiss them this way.  Some years I've had smaller class sizes and can keep a row down the middle of 5 across.  I like this because I can have pairs of students on either side of the "aisle."  These pairs of students can be long-term "turn and talk" partners.

A few tips:  Buy a few extra because stray pencils (or high heels!) can poke a lot of holes. Be very firm about not playing with the border strips or remove them altogether. And assemble more mats than you have students so you can provide extra space around those students who need it.