Slops

Every year in January I start introducing chapter books to my class. I start with simple ones like Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant, I move on to Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park, and when I think they're ready I move on to the classics James and the Giant Peach and Charlotte's Web.


I still remember my 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Vangel reading Charlotte to my class. I loved listening to her read. It is such a sweet story about friendship. It's so descriptive and language rich that I now look forward every day to reading it aloud to my cherubs.


It can be a little wordy and the chapters sometimes a little too long for their attention span, so I will occasionally stop, retell and ask comprehension questions along the way to be sure they are understanding.


Today we read the Chapter III. Escape.


In this chapter, Wilbur the pig is convinced by the goose that squeezing through the boards in Wilbur's pen is a good idea. Poor little Wilbur has no idea what he's in for, being chased by a dog, Mr. and Mrs. Homer L. Zuckerman and Lurvy the hired man. With the goose and gander yelling directions at Wilbur is it any wonder that Wilbur decides following a pail full of slops right back into the safety of the pen is a very good idea?


After reading about the escape I really wondered if they kids understood what I had just read, so I asked...


Me: "How do you think Wilbur felt when he first got out of the pen?"
Matthew: "I think he felt good."
Me: "I think you're right"


Me: "Do you think the goose and gander were being helpful to Wilbur when they were yelling directions at him?"
Jack: "No way Mrs. Collins, that goose should have just SHUT UP!"
Me: "Jack, we don't say 'shut up'. But I think you're right, he should have been quiet and left Wilbur alone."


Me: "Now, how did Mr. Zuckerman get Wilbur back into his pen?"
Margaret: "He used the old food in the bucket trick!"




I think it's safe to say they understood every word! 

Travels with Miss B...an update

Wow! I never thought the response to a visit from Miss Bindergarten would be so amazing! I am truly overwhelmed!
I have gotten over 50 responses and it is obvious that Miss B will not be able to get to everyone before school ends for us in June.

However, there's always September!

If you have responded, thank you and you will be hearing from me within the next day or two. Miss Bindergarten will leave Salem,   Massachusetts by the end of the week...her first destination is a secret!

Thank you all!

Lisa

T is for Travel

Meet Miss Bindergarten, created by Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff. Most kindergarten teachers not only know her, but identify with her. In my class we read her books all through the year starting with Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten.

Miss Bindergarten, at least the doll version lives in my classroom. She sits on top of my easel, keeping watch on all that goes on. 
In my last post I mentioned that the wheels in my head were spinning. Realizing the limits of my kindergarteners geographic knowledge, I have been trying to come up with a way to take them on a field trip of sorts, to teach them a little bit about the country and maybe even the world they live in. 


I have decided it's time for Miss Bindergarten to go on a trip. A trip to visit other kindergarten classrooms across the country. I'm still working out the details, collecting a few trinkets for her to bring with her, a travel journal, a map to chart her travels, a disposable camera to take pictures of her new friends and the places she visits,  a passport and a few of her favorite books.

In order for her trip to be successful she's going to need the help of some very eager and willing kindergarten teachers. These teachers must be willing to treat Mrs. Bindergarten kindly, help her with her journal and picture taking duties, and send her on to her next destination when her visit with you is over. 


If you are willing to host Miss Bindergarten or would just like a little more info, just send me an email at lisabella964@gmail.com with "Miss Bindergarten" in the subject line, and I'll be sure to add you to her itinerary. 
I'm excited to see how far Mrs. Bindergarten can travel before our school year ends in June!


Thanks for your help!

Where in the World?

Sometimes during our morning meeting I ask the kids a "thinking question".

Some of the answers I get take a lot of thought and consideration, but most of the answers to my questions are spur of the moment, off the cuff, first thing on my mind answers. Those are the best and of course the funniest.

Yesterday's question was, "If you could take a trip anywhere in the whole wide world, where would you go?"

Margaret: "I would go to Paris. That's in France you know."

Me: "Wow, I'd like to go to Paris. How do you think you'd get to Paris?"

Margaret: "I would take a horse."

Me: "A horse! Paris is across the Atlantic Ocean, I don't think you could get to Paris on a horse."

Margaret: "Well my horse can fly."

Me: "Well there you go. Be sure to send me a post card."

After Margaret's answer it became very apparent that the geographic experience among my cherubs is very limited.

Kara: "I would go to the bottle store."

Me: "The bottle store?"

Kara: "Yeah, I go there with my daddy sometimes."

I was just a little afraid to delve deeper into that answer.

Among the other answers were, The Willows, Dane Street Beach, Water Country, Coco Key and Chuck E Cheese. Not exactly the answers I was looking for. I was sure to stress the words, anywhere in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD but it didn't seem to make a difference.

However, despite the inexperience one of my favorite answers came from Jackson.

Jackson: "I would go to the Cheesecake Factory." (Now he had my attention!)

Me: "Ooh Jack, I love that place. Why would you go there?"

Jackson: "Well my daddy works there."

Me: "What do you eat when you go there?"

Jackson: "You know silly, cheesecake!"

Me: "Does your daddy make the cheesecake?"

Jackson: "No, he's one of those guys that just walks around and talks to people. But sometimes he uses that computer thingy too."

Me: "I see. How do you get to the Cheesecake factory? Would you take a plane?"

Jackson: (Rolling his eyes) "He doesn't work at the one that far away and he doesn't work at the one near here, he works at the one somewhere in the middle."

Me:" So you don't need a plane to get there then."

Jackson: "No, you just need the highway and a car."

Me: "Gotcha. So maybe you can hook me up with some cheesecake then?"

Jackson: "I'll see what I can do."

So now the wheels in my head are spinning...how am I going to teach these little travelers that there is more to this world than the 20 mile radius encircling our city? I think I have an idea. I still have some details to iron out, but once I do, I'm going to need the help of some eager kindergarten teachers around the country.

Stay tuned!

S is for School

I had really good intentions for this blog post. I was going to write a well-thought out and poignant post that listed all the reasons why a very good school should remain open. Why, despite the face that it's the oldest school building in the city, it should be allowed to continue to do what it has done for nearly 100 years...educate the children of Salem.

Yes, as a building it is lacking compared to the other schools in our city, but everyone there, parents, teachers and children will tell you, it's not about that.

It's never been about that.We all know that it's what happens within those walls that's important.

I was going to try to be emotionally detached while writing this, I was going to state facts, statistics, MCAS scores, but the truth of the matter is, I can't be emotionally detached, I am attached. I think the best way for me to tell MY story of a school is to tell it from my point of view.

This school is as much a part of me as my own home. The people in it my family.

Horace Mann became part of me in 1987 when I was a student teacher. I fell in love with the school then, but after graduation I began work in a private kindergarten/day care center.

After starting a family, I made the decision to work from home and opened family child care. It was important to me to be home with my children and day care gave me the chance to do that and still teach.

When it was time to choose a school for my children there was only one choice. I was familiar with the school and with the teachers there. Yes, I looked at the others, but they weren't as welcoming, or as comfortably familiar. I knew my children would be well educated, watched out for and loved. I was not wrong.

When my youngest was nearing kindergarten age I knew it was time for me to go back to work. I started a Masters program, stayed involved as a parent and was lucky enough to be hired in a place that I already loved and knew so well.

Patrick and I started kindergarten together. Me, in the same room I did my student teaching in 18 years before, and he, right across the hall.

My older two were no longer there having moved on to middle school and now high school, but they still visit from time, not to see me, but their former teachers, who are all genuinely happy to see them when they do.

All along the way, we have heard rumors about the closing of our school, but up until now that's all they were, rumors. In the past we've heard rumors about building a new school, moving our school to another spot on the college campus, rumor after rumor after rumor.

This time it feels a little bit more real. State and city finances being what they are, it feels like a real possibility.

But still, none of us are convinced. We aren't packing our bags or panicking. We are all going about doing what we do. Teaching children. We are still just as dedicated to that as we always have been and will continue to be.

If our school closed we'd all be okay. Most of us would have jobs in other buildings, the children would be dispersed among the other 6 elementary schools, we'd teach, they'd learn, but it wouldn't be the same.

We truly are a family, children, teachers, families...friends.

So that's MY story, only one of many.

My only hope is that we are given the opportunity to write more...many many more.

Just Good Practice

Just one more day off and it's back to school. It's been a quiet February vacation for me and it's just what I needed.

The quiet gave me some time to re-think kindergarten. At least how we've been doing kindergarten.

Kindergarten has become very academic. Sure, we can blame No Child Left Behind, and the need to keep pace with children from other countries who most certainly will all become nuclear- physicist-brain-surgeon-astronauts.

But, like it or not, it's what kindergarten has become," the new first grade". I'm all for being progressive, but there are children in kindergarten who still need to learn to write their names, cut, play with Play-doh, glue, hold a pencil the right way, sit in a circle, pack up a back pack and walk in a straight line. Kindergarten has become developmentally inappropriate.

Yes,we still have Play-doh and finger paint, we have blocks and puzzles, we have a housekeeping areas, Lego, and sand tables, but these areas and materials are being used less and less all the time, it's not because we as teachers don't like to deal with the mess. We want our kids to make messes, messes help kids learn.

We are given packaged reading and math programs, some good, some not so good. Do kids learn this way? Yes, of course they do, but there is something lacking. Time. Time to play. Free play with minimal adult interaction helps children learn about each other and the world around them. Play helps children learn to share, socialize, solve problems, and negotiate.

Because we are given these packaged programs we are of course expected to use them. It is important to teach children to read and write, it's important to teach them number sense, how to add and subtract, measure, collect data, make patterns, and count by 5's and 10's.

This will be our 5th year using our current reading program, and frankly, I'm becoming bored with it. The same stories year after year, the same writing prompts, the same activities, the same themes. The fact is, if I'm bored with it, how are the kids feeling? I'm sure my practice is reflective of how I feel, you can't hide that from five and six year-olds, they are a very perceptive bunch!

So I've spent the past week planning. Planning to make kindergarten fun and interesting again. Fun for me, and in turn more fun for the kids. To make it more developmentally appropriate again because even the brightest of them need to learn those all important social skills.

I know, isn't this something I should have been doing all along? Yes, I've always differentiated my instruction based on the needs of my students, their academic needs. That's the difference. It's a delicate balance, planning activities that address both their academic needs with their social needs and the need to just have a good time, and to know that that's okay!

It has to be okay because, It's just Good Practice.

Vacation Quote of the Day

Since we are on winter break I have no cute kindergarten stories, but I have the pleasure of hanging out with a very sweet, and sometimes very funny nine-year old.

Patrick: Mom! This is really awesome Chicken Parmigiana!

Me: Well thanks Patrick, I'm glad you like it.

Patrick: Well I know you made it with love, and you know, I do enjoy things made with love.