Dr. Seuss’s ABC

 

I chose this book because I enjoyed the language it offers. There is tricky language play such as assonance patterns and subtle vowel changes such as in "when beetles battle", "ducks like lakes", and "ticks and clocks get mixed up with the chicks and tocks". I have large array of alphabet books in the classroom, but not many that keep their attention. I feel that children will find humor in this book while gaining alphabet recognition skills.

 This would be a great book to use when doing a unit on the alphabet. The teacher can read this book aloud, and then have children create their own alphabet books. Children can create their own illustrations that connect to what is written in their alphabet books such as a word starting with the appropriate letter.



This lesson meets standards:

• RL.PK.9 I can make connections between a story or poem and my own experiences
• RL.PK.3 I can act out characters and events from a story or poem read aloud
• RL. PK. 10 I can listen actively as an individual and as a member of a group to literature that is read aloud
• RF.PK.1d I can recognize and name some upper and lowercase letters in the alphabet and can name the letters that are in my own name.
• W.PK.2 I can either draw or explain information about a topic

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I recently purchased Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day for my classroom. Although this is an older book dating back to 1987, this is a classic and a book I think all children can relate to.

When using this book in the classroom I would have children have a group discussion about a bad day they have had and what led up to make it a bad day. Then, I would have children create their own “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day” books where they would write about a bad day they had and provide illustrations that complement their writing (i.e. with the help of the teacher).

The content meets curriculum requirements for the age group it is intended for. Students are able to understand that everyone has bad days, but that it is important to learn how to deal with them effectively. When reading this book, children learn that it is O.K. to express your feelings and emotions. Children learn effective communication skills and expressive behavior. Such expressive skills are good to have in the classroom and help to foster emotional development, social development, and problem solving skills. The content of the book is very relatable for children in the age group in which this book is intended for. 

When teaching this lesson children will meet the following standards:

• SL. PK. 4 I can describe a personal experience by telling real or imagined stories
• SL.PK. 5 I can add drawings or other visual displays and explain them to others
• SL. PK. 6 I can speak with an appropriate voice level and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas

Animals, Animals by Eric Carle

In the next three lesson plans, I will be talking about some books I recently purchased for my classroom. One of the books I received in my order was Animals, Animals by Eric Carle.

This book is appropriate for the preschool age and has language that is repetitive with easy vocabulary words (ex: “There is only one horse on all the earth and his name is All Horses. There is only one bird in the air and his name is All Wings…”). Children in my classroom enjoy repetitive books so that they can read along with me.   


I would use this book in the classroom when teaching a thematic unit on poetry. Children could learn about specific types of poetry (i.e. haikus) one-by-one, eventually leading to the reading of Eric Carle’s Animals, Animals that has an array of several different types of poetry. Children could act out animals from the book and discuss what they know about each animal. Each week the teacher can focus on a specific type of poetry, like the types in Eric Carle’s Animals, Animals. After introducing specific types of poetry and the reading of Eric Carle’s Animals, Animals, children can create their own poetry book by illustrating pictures for the poems we read in class and discuss their favorite animal from the poems.


Teaching a lesson such as the one above meets the following standards:

• RL.PK.9 I can make connections between a story or poem and my own experiences
• RL.PK.3 I can act out characters and events from a story or poem read aloud
• RL.PK.1 I can ask and answer questions about a story or poem
• RL. PK. 10 I can listen actively as an individual and as a member of a group to literature that is read aloud

Positional Words

The week of my first observation I taught positional words for the very first time. In this lesson,  introduced positional words as a group using a ball and a box. Then asked the children where the ball is in relation to the box (e.g. over, under, inside, between, beside). Then children worked in small groups of two children per teacher and read the scarecrow positional word cards then place the crow in the designated location which correlates to the positional word.  

I have done other positional word activities since. I have provided objects such as a dollhouse and a figure and a puppy and a doghouse and had them use the props to describe where the objects are positioned. I am glad that I have been teaching positional words in the classroom, as recently I assessed children for their progress reports on positional words and they did very well! Almost all children knew every positional word. This was very reassuring to me as a teacher. I felt like they actually grasped this concept. I think they enjoy using props and the hands-on approach. Perhaps I can think of some more hands on approaches to use when teaching letter identification and name formation.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

In the first week of November I taught a lesson on Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In this lesson children participated in an interactive read aloud with two of the same stories written by two different authors. The teacher  described key details throughout the book while reading. After both books had been read, children turned and talked about the differences and similarities of the two stories to a partner. Partners shared their findings to the class. Their finding were placed in a venn diagram.

Children really enjoyed listening to both versions of the story and comparing the differences as they all had very meaningful conversations with one another and I.


With completion of this lesson, children met the following standards:

• RI.PK.7 I can describe important details from an illustration or photograph

• RL.PK.2 I can retell a sequence of events from a story or poem read aloud

• RL.PK.10 I can listen actively as an individual and as a member of a group to literature that is read aloud

Most children were able to describe the similarities and differences in the two books. However, after completing this lesson, I realized I would have been better off reading the books on two separate days. I think I would have received more elaborate answers and had more time to truly focus on each of the titles.

Speaking and Listening

Throughout the course of the day children have been illustrating pictures that connect with our topic. It could be anything they have learned about the topic. They save their pictures and then share them at circle time. Most children share something they liked about an activity they illustrated or why they chose to draw this picture.

This was not a planned activity. This actually began when weeks back I noticed a child drawing one of our thanksgiving number games. I asked her what she was drawing and she told me it was the number game. I asked her why she chose to draw this and she said she liked playing the game in class. She was very proud of her picture so I asked her if she would like to share it to the class. She was thrilled to share her picture and talk about what she drew.

I enjoy turning every moment into a teachable experience. With her sharing her illustration she was able to:

SL.PL.1 I can participate in conversations with peers and adults in small and large group settings.
SL.PK.1a I can follow rules for speaking and listening during groups
W.PK.2 I can either draw or explain information about a topic
W.PK.1 I can tell you words to express my preference or opinion about a topic
L.PK.1.f I can speak in full sentences

and much more!

This also provided me feedback about what children enjoy about school and has helped me to plan my curriculum for the week.

Alphabet Knowledge

As you know, I have been implicating the Handwriting Without Tears program in my classroom. During the week we do a letter activity every day whether it's writing the letter, sharing our letter bags, letter searches, etc. However, I'm noticing that some children still aren't remembering the letters we've learned. After five letters we do a review week and go over all of the letters, but this still isn't helping.

How can I increase their letter identification skills of previously learned letters? Again, I am trying to meet standard RF. PK. 1a I can recognize and name some upper and lowercase letters in the alphabet and can name the letters that are in my name. I have worked in small groups with children and practiced a identifying a few letters. I sometimes need to tell the child the letter and they will repeat it. Then, when we go back to the letter and I ask again what the name of the letter is he/she will forget. Is this an issue with short term memory or are they just not grasping identifying letters with letter names?

Word Families

This past week and next week I am introducing word families. The word family I am beginning with is 'at'. These are words such as:

• Cat
• Hat
• Sat
• Mat
• Rat

I believe teaching word families will also help children produce rhyming words, as it will give them more exposure to similar sounding words. However, my main focus on this lesson is to teach onset and rhyme. For example the onset in these words are:

• /C/
• /H/
• /S/
• /M/
• /R/

And, the rhyme is /at/ for each word.

In my lesson, I will be introducing this lesson by using a Christmas tree which says _at in the middle. There will be five different ornaments on each ornament will be a beginning letter sound such as, C, H, S, M, and R. Children will place the initial letter sound to the word family 'at'. Then say the word outline. I will ask children to identify each word. Then, next week I will place this at the literacy center and they will work independently or in pairs to identify each word.

Rhyming Assessment

While doing progress report cards and assessing  whether or not they can recognize and produce rhymes I noticed children can recognize rhymes, but cannot produce rhymes. I am surprised by this, I would assume that if children can recognize whether or not two words rhyme they would be able to produce rhymes as well. Is this an issue of articulation or are they not fully understanding what rhyming words are.

We do a lot of activities in the classroom that teaching rhyming. We are always singing song and reading books that rhyme. Although I think it's good that they are having indirect exposure to rhyming I think they need more direct exposure. I was thinking of ways to increase their ability to produce rhymes such as rhyming bingo and repeating the rhyme if they have it on their board. Also, at circle, I could have children go around in a circle and see how long they can rhyme with a specific word.

Within the next month, I hope that all children will meet standard RF.PK.2a I can recognize and produce rhyming words (e.g. identify words that rhyme with /cat/ such as /bat/ and /sat/).

Name Formation

While completing progress report cards and assessing name formation, I noticed that most children are able to write their name, however, the formation of the letters need some additional practice. Some children are writing letters backwards and others are writing in all capital letters. I understand that these are pre-writing skills they are demonstrating and that is typical for their age, but still think they should have the proper formation down pat by the end of the year.

I have been brainstorming some ideas to help them have more exposure to the proper formation of their name. For example, I wanted to begin a sign in book. Children will look for their name and then copy their name-- indicating they are present in the classroom. However, I am still looking for more ideas.

Also, RF.PK.1d. states, "I can recognize and name some upper and lowercase in the alphabet and can name the letters that are in my own name." I am noticing that children are identifying more letters that aren't in their name vs. that are in their name. I would think it would be the opposite.
I plan on sending home a letter to parents discussing the importance in teaching proper formation of letters in their name as well as being able to identify each letter.

Wrap-up of Shel Silverstein

Having had exposure to multiple pieces of poetry by Shel Silverstein, children will recap what they have learned about Shel Silverstein and poetry in general. With completion of this lesson children will have met the following Pre-K Standards:

• RL.PK.9 I can identify several books on a favorite topic or several books by a favorite author or illustrator
• RL.PK.1 I can ask and answer questions about a story or poem

In order to meet these standards, we reviewed the titles read in the classroom and discussed what their favorite poem was and why. Children were given a book of poems we read for the week and new poems as well to read at home with their parents. Parents thoroughly enjoyed the poetry book they received. After reading the new poems with their parents, children described what they read. Reading these poems provided parents and children a better understanding of what children have been doing in school. As well, I think there is great importance in parents reading to their children. If this activity helped to achieve this, I will send home other pieces of literature to help foster this.

Dancin' in the Rain by Shel Silverstein

In this lesson children used self-reflection to describe what they would do in the rain. We also discussed words with similar meaning-- also known as synonyms. As a group, we read the poem and asked the following questions:

-          What does drizzles means? What do you think is drizzling?

-          W hat does dribbles means? What do you think is dribbling?

-          W hat does drips means? What do they think is drips?

-          Do you think these words have similar meaning? Why or why not?

-          Have children share what they like to do when it’s raining (e.g. dance in the rain, stay inside, play outside)

Once children had participated in our discussion children were to go back to their seats are illustrate a picture of something they like to do in the rain. All children were to describe and illustrate pictures of something they like to do when its reading. Half of the class illustrated pictures of them inside their houses playing with their siblings or parents, watching TV, or laying in bed. The other half drew pictures of them playing sports, riding their bike, or dancing. Their illustrations and descriptions prove that they were able to complete the assignment with success.

Carrots by Shel Silverstein

In this lesson children examined the difference between figurative and literal thinking. Children also practiced making predictions on what they thought the text would be about solely looking at the illustration. I asked children if they knew what bodily function carrots help with. Some knew that they help with eye sight. Some children then made changes to their prediction. Others still unsure why their are carrots as eyes in the illustration.

In order to expand their knowledge of figurative speech were examined the following pieces of figurative speech:

·         Her hair was soft as silk.

·         Her eyes were like fireflies.

In order to expand their thinking during the book I asked some of the following questions:

·         Do you think your eyes really turn into carrots if you eat a lot of carrots?

·         Why or why not?

·         Do you think he’s using the carrots right by putting them into his eyes?

·         Why or why not?

·         What do you think people really mean when they say “carrots are good for your eyes”?

 

 

Jumping Rope by Shel Silverstein

Above is a copy of the poem I read to my class by Shel Silverstein. The goal of this lesson was for children to make text-to-self connections and display their comprehension skills.

Children reflected upon the following: why they think he got tangled? Did he really know how to jump rope? Why does he have no hope anymore after jumping rope? How will he get untangled? What would you do if you were tangled?

Children also explored using emotion to describe how they would feel if they got tangled. We wrote the emotions they felt on the board. Children came up with emotions such as "mad", "sad",  "frustrated", and "scared"

The children in my class did a good job at making text-to-self connections. They were easily able to identify what they would do if they got tangled in a jump rope. In the future I would like to see children in the classroom make other connections such as text-to-text and text-to-world. These may be more challenging (especially text-to-world) however, with the appropriate text and prompting I do believe that they could make such connections.

 

 

Author Study: Shel Silverstein

In the next few posts I will be discussing my outcomes from the author study I completed in the second week of November. I chose this author because I also wanted to introduce children to poetry at the same time. The first day of the author study I introduced children to some facts about Shel Silverstein. Some of the facts I shared were that he was a songwriter, poet, illustrator, author, he loved drawing cartoons, and won a grammy for his musical of Where the Sidewalk Ends.

I then introduced perspective by read the poem "One Inch Tall" and asking some questions such as What if you were a small, tiny ant, how would your life be different? Would it be the same in any way? Think about height and weight. Would you have to eat less? Would you fear people stepping on you because you’re so small? After the poem, as a group, each child discusses what one of the advantages/disadvantages would be of being one inch tall. I got a lot of different responses such as "I would sneak downstairs in the middle of the night and no one would see me" and "I could be a friendly giant". Their answers proved they understood the main idea of the poem. They also found a lot of humor in his poetry, which I think help to hold their attention and gain this type of understanding.

Sequencing Events in Three Little Pigs

Several weeks back I taught a lesson plan on the well-known story, The Three Little Pigs. Most children have had exposure to this text-- however, I wanted to refresh their memory and reread this story so all children had an equal opportunity at sequencing the events. I have taught a lesson plan similar to this in a Kindergarten classroom and children responded well to the lesson. I made a few modifications such as the length of the lesson, to make the lesson more fitting to the children in my classroom (as I've learned their attention spans are very short!)

I used a guided reading approach when reading this book-- making sure to ask questions about different events in the books some of the questions I asked were:

o   Why do you think the house made out of straw fell apart?

o   What material would have been stronger?

o   Why do you think the house made out of sticks fell apart?

o   What house was most strong?

o   What would you build your house with after reading this book?

o   Why do you think the wolf decided to trick the pigs at the end?

I believe it was necessary to use a guided reading approach when reading this book with the expectation that they would be able to sequence the events. Children were able to review the sequence of events with ease. This reassured me that they would do well when they went back to their tables to sequence the events with their sequence cards-- which they did. :-)

Next time, I would like to choose a book not as common and see if they can still sequence the events. This will show truly where their comprehension skills stand.

Phonological Awareness in Four Fur Feet by Margaret Wise Brown

My main focus was to teach phonemic awareness in the initial letter sound /f/--  however in a sense this lesson also teaches alliteration. This provided a smooth transition in teaching a new lesson as it  incorporated some skills we had just learned.


In this lesson, children will actively participate in the read aloud of Four Fur Feet  by Margaret Wise then play a copy cat game which correlates to the text. The lesson was introduced by having the children repeat the title of the book after me. Then we established that the initial letter sound /F/ was heard most frequently in the title. I then read the book to the class and told them to pay close attention listening to the sounds heard in the words in the book. I stopped at certain areas in the book to go over some similar sounds. After reading the book, I used my word flash cards. Children would repeat the words I said, then answer if the words some similar or different. If the card is different, they would answer how/where in the word is it different?


Based upon my observations, children were easily able to participate in the copy cat game. I believe that this is because children have had a lot of practice identifying initial letter sounds and this has truly helped them to succeed with this skill. At this point, I have three children who are having difficulty but this may be related to their age or other additional factors which hinder their learning. I will continue to practice this skill with them throughout the year.

I feel that if I had worked in small groups opposed to as a class children who are struggling may have had an opportunity to succeed more in this activity. This way I could have spent longer periods of time explaining where in word sounds similar or different.

Building Aliteration Awareness

One of the lesson's I taught this month was about building alliteration awareness. When introducing this lesson and describing what alliteration is it was evident the children did not know what I was talking about. I then asked them if they have ever read or listened to Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater or Miss Mary Mack. A lot of children said they have listened to Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater-- therefore, having some indirect exposure to alliteration.

After reading the short stories we then went back to find words that either start with letter 'P' or 'M'. Children were easily able to find words starting with these letters. However, when I asked if words like 'Peter' and 'Pumpkin' (with emphasis on the /P/) sound similar some children said no. I then reworded my question and asked does the beginning letter sounds sound the same and then broke down each beginning letter. With guidance they were able to answer yes.

I enjoyed teaching this concept to the children and do believe with guidance they gained some knowledge on this subject.

Joseph Torgensen's Phonemic Awareness

On the same day as I researched Florida Center for Reading Research: Phonemic Awareness, I also looked into Joseph Torgensen's article on Phonemic Awareness. Fortunately, this provided me with insightful information, which I was in need of when planning my lesson plan for Monday.

When reading the article by Joseph Torgensen, he states “Phonological ability, or talent, is a trait that is strongly heritable. In other words, children can vary in their talent for processing the phonological features of language in the same way they vary among one another in musical ability, height, or hair color.” He also states that this has been proven in a study of twins shows variations in linguistically related to phonological skills in inherited.

 

I must keep in mind, that not all children at a preschool age or even kindergarten age will be able to manipulate phonemes. However, with practice they will be able to improve their ability to decipher individual phonemes. It is hard to believe that such a skill can actually be inherited, however as I read more in his article and my own personal reflection/experiences this does make sense. Just as some children perform better in writing versus reading-- some children have a greater or lesser ability to decipher individual sounds. 

 

   

Phoneme Manipulation

Over the weekend I began researching the Florida Center for Reading Research website which provided meaningful lesson plans in teaching phonemic awareness.  Some of the lesson plans I looked at looked slightly difficult for some of the children in my classroom, as they are at the very beginning stages of gaining phonemic awareness. However, I know that this is a very important skill to obtain upon entering kindergarten and ultimately, it is up to me to foster this skill in the classroom.

On Monday I implemented the lesson plan, without high expectations. The lesson plan I chose was entitled Phoneme Manipulating-- Phoneme Swap.   In this lesson, students decide which phoneme has been changed by comparing two pictures. For example, students say the name of the picture ("boat" and "coat") and then determine what sound has been changed by saying those two sounds (/b/ to /k/). Then the child will state where the sound was changed-- in this case, the beginning.

Half of the class understood what was being asked of them, whereas the other half was confused and unsure of where the sound was swapped. Coincidently, the children who successfully completed this lesson plan was those whom associate letters with letter sounds. The others, who had difficultly, do not quite have this skill down pat.

I hope to continue implementing lesson plans such as this in the classroom more frequently and observe their progress.

Thematic Units: Fire Safety and All About Me

The week of 10/13-10/17 we did a unit on Fire Safety as it was National Fire Safety and Prevention week. A firefighter came to the school and taught the children about fire safety and gave them a tour of his fire truck. Our literacy curriculum consisted of writing the letter 'F' and learning new vocabulary words that begin with 'F', playing a game called Alphabet Siren, matching uppercase to lowercase letters with our fire truck alphabet matching cards, and of course, reading a lot of great books related to fire safety! Alphabet Siren is a game I found online on Pinterest. I wrote letters A-Z on separate small fire truck templates and wrote the word 'siren' on one of the cards. Then I placed all of the cards in a brown bag. Children chose a letter from the bag and said the letter out loud and it's letter sound (if applicable). If a child draw the 'siren' card all of the children make the sound of a siren and get to skip a turn. The children enjoyed this game and when it was over asked me when we would play again! Although the purpose of this activity was for our fire safety week, I have continued to use it during transition periods or if we have some extra free time.



The following week children learned all about themselves in our All About Me unit. Each child created an All About Me book. Inside the book children created a self-portrait, described what they live in (e.g. house, apartment, condo) and their address, how old they are, their favorite food, favorite color, and much more! Children presented their books when they were finished and then brought them home. Some children were able to write some of the words to their story while others needed more help and guidance. We also practiced writing the letter 'H' and shared our letter 'H' bags. Children remembered how to write the letter 'H' by writing two big lines down and one little line across. I have noticed that some children are struggling to remember how to pronounce and write some of our letters from the following weeks so this upcoming week we will be doing a review on letters L, F, E, and H  

Handwriting Without Tears

    Children are already making progress with the Handwriting Without Tears program! I love that we get to spend a whole week on each letter. This has really helped children truly understand what they need to know about each letter. As you know, we started with the letter L. We introduced this letter by having children find an object that begins with the letter L to put inside their Alphabet Bag. Children came back with lots of good examples of objects that begin with L. Some of the objects included a lollipop, lego, licorice, ladybug, lamb, lantern, and much more! After sharing our items, children practiced saying /L/ sound. I read out word cards and had children decipher by the beginning sound of each word whether or not it began with the letter L. Children also went on scavenger hunt in the classroom to look for objects that begin with the letter L. I had to give them a couple hints but they came back with the right objects. :-)
    On Tuesday, our Tuesday/Thursday friends shared their letter bags. Then children began working on an exercise where they trace the upper case and lower case l and then circle the letter L in various words such as ladybug and lollipop. Children learned letter L by making a 'big line' down and 'small line' across. Children did need some extra guidance with this exercise. Luckily, I had a small enough class size to support their learning. On Wednesday, students who did not do the letter L exercise did at this time. Also, children began forming the letter using play dough to form the letter.
    During circle time on Thursday and Friday children came up two at a time to write the uppercase and lower case L. All children were able to write the letter. As a center I put out various alphabet letters where children were to look for the letter L. This week we are starting letter F! Coincidently we are also doing a theme on Fire Safety. :-)

   

Fall is Here!

     Monday marked the first day of fall. There are so many great books related to fall so I thought what a great week to share some of these books! One book the children particularly enjoyed was Leaves! Leaves! Leaves! by Nancy Wallace. In this book children joined Mama and Buddy Bear’s in a stroll through the seasons as they examined the development of leaves on their favorite trees. We also read There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colondro, The Leaves on the Trees by Thom Wiley, Discovering My World: Leaves, Leaves, Leaves by Melvin and Gilda Berger, and many more!
    Children also worked on identifying upper and lower case letters G, H, I, J, K by matching upper case to lower case leaf letters.We're Going on a Leaf Hunt and types of apples children remembered from last week's lesson. As I wrote each word I also said the letters in the word and then had children recite them back to me. I had some children come up and draw illustrations under the word later in the day. We also made a Word Chart of words associated with fall. Children were able to identify many words! The words we came up with included leaves, apple pie, apples, apple cider. With some guidance, we then broke up these words in sub categories such as types of leaves as we referred back to our book
        Next week we are starting Handwriting Without Tears. I am very excited to blog about how child respond to this program!

Finally, here are some pictures I'd like to share!

Upper and lower case leaf matching

This is the handbook we will be using
for Handwriting Without Tears.

Books we read related to our fall theme.

Apples, Apples, Apples!

     Last week we did an apples theme in our classroom. The children were excited to discuss what they knew about apples. At the beginning of the week we made a KWL Chart about apples. As a group, children established everything they already knew about apples-- the shape of an apple, different types of apples (e.g. granny smith, macintosh, etc.), how they taste, what can we bake with apples, where do they grow, and so forth. This helped me to understand what they already so I could teach new and exciting lessons throughout the course of the week. As well, children were also able to gain print awareness as we discussed some of the different functions of language such as making a list.

     After starting our KWL chart we read the book The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. Children were intrigued by the titled and curious as to how there could possibly be an apple pie tree. Before reading the book, children made predictions about why they thought the author titled the book The Apple Pie Tree. I was very impressed with the responses. Colin said, "Because apples come off the tree to make pie." Throughout the book I used dialogic reading and asked some of the following questions: “What do you see on the cover of the book? What do you think this book will be about?” “What do you think grows off the tree?”  “The branches bend down low. They are covered with big red _____ (apples).” “What ingredients do you think mom needs to make the apple pie taste sweet?” “Looking at this picture what does mom have to do to the apples before she puts them in the pie.” “Where do you think mom puts the pan to cook after she added all the ingredients?”

      I love using dialogic reading in my classroom! I've found that it helps students stay focused and interested in the book, while providing basic comprehension skills. By the end of the book children were able to recite what ingredients/steps were needed to bake an apple pie. Children also learned how seasons effect the growth of an apple tree and why apples grow in fall.