I love using the five senses as a springboard for writing in the classroom. When a child writes a simple sentence about how much they like ice cream, the five senses are a natural way to invite the writer to tell you more. We talk about the flavors and how it feels on your tongue
Happy Groundhog’s Day! (And it truly is a happy one because SPRING is on the way!) Today, in kindergarten, we read several books about groundhogs. Some were fiction and others were non-fiction. We played a little Shadow Tag at recess and this lead to more questions about shadows. I’m hoping these questions will lead us
I love using books as a springboard for encouraging kids to write their own stories. The Ready, Set, Go series is a favorite of mine. I bought levels 1-3 and these are kindergarten and early first grade reading level. These are very simple, four page books, with repetitive text. It’s a great model for kids who don’t know where to begin. They see these books and say, “Hey, I can do that!”
Have you seen this book? I love Sky Color, by Peter H. Reynolds. All of his books are inspiring and speak to creativity. We read this book in my kindergarten classroom last week and started really looking at the sky.
Winter, in the Pacific Northwest, does not always lend itself to a sky study. We check the weather every day and, just about every day, it’s gray with water falling from the sky. It’s a dreary place in the winter, so we turned to photographs for inspiration.
Our experiences contribute to our literacy lives in a big way. Every little activity that we participate in is filed away in our brains until there comes a time when we need it. Early childhood is such a fun and magical time to help kids see HOW these little experiences connect to their literacy lives.
Here’s an example of a nature table we set up in my kindergarten classroom. I say WE, because this was a collection made by my students and their families. They were so excited to collect tree rounds, pinecones, pussywillow cuttings, and branches to explore. We read many books about trees and kids had so many connections.