Getting to Know You: A Favorite Lesson!

One of the cool aspects of having taught kindergarteners for 23 years is that I pretty much know how they think.  So, I wasn't surprised by a couple of the little girls' comments about the nylons I wore yesterday.

                 Little girl #1:  So, tell me about what's on your legs.  Are they tights or leggings?
               
                   Little girl #2:  Yes, I like the color of that skin you are wearing today.  Is it peach?

No, I wasn't surprised but, of course, I was delighted!  Five year olds say so many cute things.  It has been one of the joys of being their teacher all these years.  I am also delighted by these remarks because they show curiosity about another person.  Given the egocentrism of young children, it is always exciting when one shows interest in someone other than himself/herself.

So, at the beginning of the year, many kindergarten teachers develop activities to help their students learn about each other. During our initial Morning Meetings, we practice saying our names in audible voices, in complete sentences, by introducing one another, by reading one another's names.  We read and discuss books about how we are all the same yet different like The Crayon Box That Talked,  Leo the Late Bloomer, Ferdinand, Chrysanthemum and Yoko.

My favorite lesson starts with my sending home this homework project:

You can grab a copy of it HERE.

I ask the parents to help their children cut and paste or draw and write one favorite thing in each category.  I also attach my sample:

My favorite color is green, by the way!

Each day, at Morning Meeting, when we pass around Share Bear, the children share what they like best in a selected category.  For example, today we will be sharing our favorite quiet activities.  Everybody is to use "school talk," which means to speak in a complete sentence in an audible voice.  I give everyone a sentence starter, "I like...."  If other children have the same favorite quiet activity, they are to signal their connection by pointing to their chests and raising the other hand like this:

Then, I write the child's sentence on a prepared chart like this one:

We listen to everyone's favorites but I only record some of their sentences each day because of time considerations.  Here is what the chart looks like when completed:

We circled the activity that was mentioned twice.

The kindergarteners love sharing their favorite things and making connections with others who have the same likes.  This lesson gives structure for our Morning Meeting shares for six days, creates a nice bulletin board, and functions as reading material for some of my small group lessons.  As you know, predictable charts can be used to understand sentences, words, spaces, punctuation, sight words, and decoding. 

I like lessons that can be used in so many ways.  But, most of all, I like this lesson because it helps me get to know my students and that is one of the greatest joys of teaching.