Kindergarten Today

Getting Ready for a New Class

School starts in a couple of weeks and I’ll be in my classroom very soon. I’ll arrange the furniture, prepare activities for the first few days, and copy paperwork for my parents. I thought it might be useful for new teachers out there if I shared a few of my ideas and checklists with you.

Furniture

I always strive to improve the arrangement of my classroom furniture so there is a good flow of traffic from one area to the next. I want my room to be functional and organized.  I try to avoid clutter as much as possible- even though I teach kindergarten, and even though I always have about five more students than I would like to have. I’ll move a few pieces of furniture from time to time, but I only do a major overhaul at the beginning of the year and at winter break- if we need it. I use photographs to record centers and desk groupings so that I can duplicate arrangements I like. You’d be surprised how much you forget once the custodians pull everything out of the room to wax the floors in the summer! By referring to photos from last year, I save myself a lot of time and headaches!

Centers can be particularly tricky to arrange. I try to keep quiet and noisy centers balanced throughout the room. I try to keep certain ones near my desk for close observation. I make sure I don’t create corners or blind spots where children can hide even temporarily. I gauge the dimensions carefully so that overcrowding doesn’t create behavior problems.

Notes to Myself

I write down anything and everything I need to remember. I keep a clipboard on my desk; I keep sticky notes in my pocket. By the second month of school my students are so used to my “notes” that they will literally say, “Write it down Mrs. Maurer” if they want me to buy something or remember something. I start out the year with a list of things I need to remember until routine takes over again.  I usually refer to the list each day for the first week:

    Introduce each student.

Take attendance.

Explain morning routine.

    Take lunch count and turn it in.

    Complete transportation form.

    Explain breakfast and lunch procedures to students.

    Explain bathroom procedures to students.

    Explain classroom rules.

    Explain discipline procedures and reward system.

Introduce and explain centers.

By the third day I review by asking the students to explain the bathroom procedures or tell me the five class rules, etc.

To My Parents

We use a daily communication folder that contains paper, and a zippered pencil bag. Parents can write notes to me, or vice-versa, and we can send money, photos, etc. in the bag. I also include, in a plastic sleeve, my homework policy and some basic classroom information. These are the things parents most often want to know:

    Grading policy

    Homework requirements

    Class schedule

    Discipline and reward system

    Basic information about the teacher.

First Week Activities

I have four goals for the first week of school:

    Help my students get acquainted with each other. We will play some games and sing songs that encourage children to talk to each other and to me. This gives me a quick assessment tool for determining who likes to talk and who doesn’t. I make notes about particularly shy students or students who are “less than cooperative”. I also get a glimpse of good and bad pairings- once in a while I find that I have to change the seating arrangement the very first day!

    Establish routines that will help us function as a group, and help students feel secure and confident. I like routines. I like organization. I like having procedures for classroom activities so that we don’t waste time and effort on details. Students like it too! They feel powerful when they know how to do things without consulting me.  I know I’m doing my job well when my students start telling each other our classroom rules and procedures.

    Create an atmosphere that promotes good behavior and independent work. I’ve already mentioned that over-crowding creates behavior problems. So does a lack of supplies. I have written before about the power of abundance. I don’t want my students to be wasteful, but I do want them to know that we have more paint and more crayons and more paper. They don’t have to squabble over supplies. I also want them to know that I’m watching them, and monitoring their progress. I want them to strive to work harder and better each day.

    Plan activities that will give me useful data about student strengths and weaknesses. During the first week we will write our names, the alphabet, numbers 0-5, and four words- yes, no, Mom, Dad. We will draw an animal, a house, a car, and a tree. We will count with blocks and color with our crayons. We will sing about the color red, the days of the week, and the rules of the classroom. We will look at shapes and talk about our favorite foods. We will recite our birthdays and see who the tallest and shortest students are. We will read at least three books each day and discuss what we have read. We will look at our mouths in little mirrors while we make funny sounds. We will go through the routines of the day. As we do all of these I will make copies and notes and observations about each student. I will start determining their individual needs and planning for the first month. I never copy my lesson plans from the previous year because the needs of each class are unique.

So… that’s how I get ready for a new class. I also have to prepare name tags, cubby labels, desk tags, book markers, etc. Lots of writing! Lots of fun!

   

Raising a Reader

 

                Once your child passes all the “baby milestones”- learning to walk, talk, and control bodily functions- it seems natural to look forward to the next big milestone- school.  And synonymous with school is reading. Reading brings us joy, entertainment, knowledge, communication, and understanding. It is also the number one skill your child will need for school success.

                You don’t have to wait for five or six years and let a teacher teach your child to read. Educators and researchers agree that families can positively influence reading development in three ways: by providing a print-rich environment, by modeling reading purposes, and by providing positive support and interaction. You can begin today to raise a competent reader, and construct a strong foundation for literacy by following a few simple guidelines. 

First, Read! This seems obvious, and parents often protest that they do read to their children, at least once a week, or even daily. However, in order to develop your child’s desire to read, you must model, or demonstrate, independent reading. Your child needs to see you reading for your own enlightenment, enjoyment and enrichment. Why do children learn to talk on the phone and watch television and play games? They see us doing those things and enjoying them! They need to see us reading. Let your child see you reading instructions, labels, advertisements, lists, the newspaper, magazines, and books. Explain what you are reading and why.

                There are also two key factors to remember when reading to your child- timing and frequency. Don’t wait until your child is a year old before you start reading books. It’s never too early to start! According to Lesley Mandel Morrow, author of Literacy Development in the Early Years, “babies begin to acquire information about literacy from the moment of birth. They continue to build on their knowledge of oral language, reading, and writing as they go through early childhood. “ I read to my babies as I nursed them. Sometimes I read children’s books. Sometimes I read the newspaper or a poem or the Bible. The reading material isn’t as important as the fact that the child is hearing the sound of written language and sees you holding a book. And when you read a book aloud, read it slowly and enjoy it! D. Ray Reutzel and Robert B. Cooter, Jr., authors of Teaching Children to Read, point out “the most common mistake in reading aloud is reading too fast.” Begin early to model a good reading pace.

                For maximum benefit, reading must be done daily. However, the good news is that you can read ANYTHING. Road signs, advertisements, labels, cereal boxes, newspapers, magazines, comics, and games all contain words. The first word I remember reading was “Chevrolet”. It was on a billboard we passed often and my father read it to me even though I was just a toddler. The value of this concept is that your child understands that the words around us make sense and serve a purpose. Reading environmental print to your child should become natural and automatic.

Second, teach your child letter recognition. In Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning About Print, Marilyn Jager Adams states that “letter recognition is the single best predictor of early reading success in young children.” As you see words and letters, point them out. Say them clearly. Help your child make connections with comments like, “That says sale. It starts with the same letter as your name- S. Samuel starts with S. Sale starts with S. “

The “alphabet song” is a cute trick we’ve all learned, but young children don’t understand it anymore than they understand the pledge of allegiance. They’ve simply memorized the sounds. That’s why it’s so difficult for a child who has memorized the alphabet song to actually recite the alphabet. When they get to “elemenopee” they don’t know what they’ve said. It’s best to just learn to recognize the alphabet and say the letters in order. The song can be learned later, for fun, when your child understands what he/she is actually saying.

Next, help your child develop phonemic awareness. Don’t be frightened by the sound of that. Sound is actually what it’s all about. Your child needs to understand that speech is composed of individual sounds and that those sounds can be manipulated. Play word games. Let your child hear similar words like hop, mop, lop, top. Show your child how to change letters to make new words out of familiar ones- pot becomes dot, lot, not, hot, cot, go, or rot, by changing one letter.  Make up rhymes, work puzzles, sing silly songs. And remember, you can help your child understand sounds by pronouncing words distinctly. For instance, say the phrases “I scream” and “ice cream”. Your child should be able to hear the distinction in sounds.

Encourage conversation.  Ask questions that require more than “yes” or “no” answers. Listen to your child’s answer. Encourage your child to think. When you’re reading a story, stop and ask “What do you think will happen next?” At the end of the story ask “why?” or “what happened?” questions. Let your child dictate his or her own stories and write them down.

Use your local library and build your own library at home.  Most libraries allow children as young as three to have their own library card. Let your child check out books on a regular basis. This encourages reading and responsibility.

Begin acquiring books when your child is born. Start with a “library” of five books and try to add a book or children’s magazine each month for the rest of your child’s life. Books don’t have to be expensive. You can buy used books and paperback books. Watch for yard sales, and contact your local school about book clubs. You can buy quality children’s literature for as little as 50 cents a book, through national book clubs such as Scholastic SeeSaw, Trumpet Club, and Troll.

Finally, turn off the television. Give your child some individual attention. Encourage drawing, writing, and hobbies. Hobbies spark further interest in reading. For example, if your child is interested in baseball, he/she can read about the history of the game, players, how the field is prepared, how sports cards are printed, etc. (See sidebar for a story about baseball.) Children also gain valuable skills when they learn to read instructions and how-to books.

You are your child’s first teacher. You don’t have to have an education degree to start them on the road to reading success!