Back to School!

Hi there,

We just finished our first full week of the new school year! The children in our pre-k classroom are ages 3 and 4. Most children will be entering Kindergarten next year. Therefore, it is especially important that they are provided with early literacy skills, as well as other fundamental skills in other prominent areas of preschool curriculum upon entering Kindergarten. Each week my co-teacher and I will devise and implement a curriculum that builds upon previously learned skills. In this blog, I will discuss each week's curriculum related to literacy.

In order for you to get a better feel about where and how we implement literacy in our classroom I wanted to describe to you our classroom environment. Our learning environment is very organized and provides children with the resources they need to learn and grow. We have an area in the classroom that is specifically related to literacy. Our book area has a large selection of books related to our curriculum and the interests of our students. This books are changed out weekly in order to keep children excited and interested in reading. Near the book area are cushions so children can relax and enjoy reading. We also have a circular table that is used for up to 3 or 4 children to work in small groups or with a teacher. On a typical day there are quiet activities related to literacy on the table. Sometimes there are letter stencils, stick-on foam letters, letter puzzles, letter stamps, etc. Adjacent to this table, is a smaller area for two classmates to work independently or as partners on either writing or literacy activities. We like to create our own activities related to the subject and our curriculum. However, we do have some pre-made reading and writing activities at times found here too. I will be posting pictures of this area the week of 9/15-9/20!

This week, children are beginning to develop an understanding of our daily routine and classroom rules/expectations. My co-teacher and I are also gaining an understanding of the children in our classroom and what their strengths and weaknesses are. In order to assess where they are in terms of literacy development we asked various questions. For example, when reading The Kissing Hand, I asked children if they could tell me where the title is, author's name, and where the text is located. During the book, I asked children questions related to the book (i.e. "How do you think Chester felt in the beginning of this book? Why?, How did he feel by the end of the book? Did his feelings change?)-- thus, assessing their comprehension skills. Then, I concluded the book by having children describe how THEY felt on their first day of school and why? (implementing text-t0-self connections). We also had all children attempt to write their names throughout the week (if able to) in order to see where they stand in terms of their writing.  

The week of 9/8-9/12 I will not be in the classroom, so I will post again the following week!


Sarah