Literacy and the Kindergarten Child

Perhaps the most asked question I hear from parents with pre-kindergarten aged children is “Will my child be reading by the end of kindergarten?” But what does “reading” actually mean for each child? Can the child blend sounds, recognize sight words, apply meaning to the words? Reading is only one element of any comprehensive literacy program. Literacy includes all aspects of reading, writing, listening, viewing and speaking. In the Zimmer kindergarten, state standards are the foundation for meaningful strategies that engage our children in a stimulating environment, promoting the skills to develop each child’s confidence in order to support a love of reading and learning.


And love to read, our children surely do! Our shared reading books often become a popular choice when the children are in our classroom library. As one child assumes the role of “Morah” and reads from the “Big Book”, the other children read along in the smaller copies. Working together in this comfortable setting, I can often hear a child ask, “What’s that word again?” while another responds, “Oh!, that’s our new sight word, see it’s up on the wall!” As the children learn new sight words through their reading, we add them to our “words we know” wall in the classroom, use them in our morning message and journal writing, practice writing them in our sight word books and notice them in other books we are reading.

 

While it’s certainly fun to read with our classmates, it is even more fun to read to younger children. Recently, the toddler class came to visit and they were treated to a “kindergarten buddy” who read them a story. The kindergarten children selected books they liked from our reading program, and read the book to their toddler buddy. One kindergarten child exclaimed, “I felt happy to read because the little kids felt good to hear a book they will read when they are in kindergarten.” Another kindergarten child said, “I feel like a grown up already because I’m reading to a kid!” This experience gave the children an opportunity to use their new skills in a very meaningful and personal way!

Our daily journal work is a source of great pride for our children. As the children have progressed through out the year, our journal writing has become more and more independent. Each day the children come in to the classroom and read the morning message and the question of the day. As we have developed an understanding of sentence structure, the children now answer the sentence on their own in their journals, using invented spelling, sight words they have learned, and words throughout our classroom. The questions use words we know about topics we are learning! Currently, the children are writing about details they recall from the Passover story. For example, one question asked: “What is one food that we eat on Passover?” A popular answer was: “Matzo is one food we eat on Passover.” Several children choose to sound out the word matzo, while others looked for the word in the classroom. We focus on spacing, proper use of capital letters and ending punctuation when we write our sentence.

Good speaking skills are invaluable in life, and the children have frequent opportunities in which to lead the class in discussion. Our morning meeting incorporates the responsive classroom techniques and the children “share” an object or story through a brief presentation or tale and then engage their classmates in a question and answer session. Each day, one child leads our afternoon calendar meeting. The child leads the reading of the board and the calendar tasks. With these daily routines, the children soon become comfortable assuming leadership roles in our classroom!

Games are a great way to build skills and have fun. A phonics dominoes game was recently introduced, and quickly has become a classroom favorite. The children try to see who can make the most words! Another popular game the children enjoy playing is Build a Flower. The children take turns reading words written on petals and place them on the proper preprogrammed stem. The stems include, animals, colors and number words. The game challenges the children to recall sight words and to blend sounds to read the other words.

Reading helps us build vocabulary. I recently completed reading the chapter book, Stuart Little to the class. By listening to stories the children are not yet ready to read on their own, we gain a richer vocabulary then by only reading books at our own proficiency. Also, it encourages the children to actively listen as they enjoy the story. At the end of each day, we read one chapter until we completed the book. Several children loved this book so much that they secured their own copies to bring to school! They were so excited when they are able to read some of the words on their own. The children often reflected that this was their favorite part of the day! “Why?” I asked. “Because I want to know what happens next to Stuart Little!” they responded. Take a trip to your local library with your child and select a chapter book you can read together each day. I promise, you will both enjoy the journey!

Here at Zimmer kindergarten, the better question is: “Will my child love to read?”

The answer to that is, “Yes!”

A Special Visit from the Dentist

The Kindergarten joined the PreK class for a special visit from dentist, Dr. Rider. Dr. Rider taught us a lot about taking care of our teeth.

Here is what we learned:

“Brush for 2 minutes and use a timer so you know”

“Brush your teeth after you eat candy or sweet stuff”
“Brush your tongue last”
“Brush your gums where it meets your teeth”
“Brush top and bottom”
“If you don’t brush your teeth, they might bleed when you finally
  do”
“We have 20 baby teeth. We have 32 adult teeth”
“We have more teeth when we are adults because we grow and
  get bigger”

Dr. Rider showed us the proper way to brush our teeth and all the children got a chance to practice brushing with the big toothbrush and a very large set of teeth! She sent us all home with a new toothbrush, cup and timer to help us take care of our teeth!!

Thank you Dr. Rider!

Winter Celebrations

It is hard to believe that on February 12th, we celebrated our 100th day of school together! The children were excited to go on a hunt for 100 number cards that were hidden in the classroom! Once they found them, we got busy putting them in numerical order. The children brought in 100 various objects and we used 100 charts to help us count them! We even got to enjoy a scrumptious cake that Levik brought in that was cut in 100 pieces! It sure was a sweet and happy day.

Shabbat is a time for rest, reflection and celebration. In preparing to share Shabbat Dinner with our Zimmer Family, the kindergarten children were able to experience these important values in very personal ways. Throughout or winter unit, we have come to understand rest as a natural component of our world and ourselves. Through rest, we refuel our bodies and our minds. We have explored our natural world at rest and discovered the beauty we find through quiet. As our thoughts focused on Shabbat, we heard the story of Creation. Our relationship with Hashem and our world began to take on new meaning, as we grew to understand our responsibility to care for the world Hashem created for us. Each day Hashem created something new. Each day Hashem’s new creation helped to shape the world we all share. On the 7th day, Hashem rested. And, as part of Hashem’s world, we too rest on Shabbat.

We are using the story of Creation to help us both reflect back on our week, and appreciate the beauty of rest and renewal on Shabbat. The children are creating their own Creation Books, using different art mediums to illustrate Hashem’s daily creations. With your help at home, the children will reflect on their day. To help the children engage in meaningful self-reflection, you can begin by asking questions like: “What happened today that you want to remember?” “What is it about that event that makes you want to remember it?” “What did you do well today?” “How do you know you did that well?” “What happened today that made you feel happy?” “What happened today that made you feel sad?” “Why do you think that event made you feel that way?” “When did you feel proud today?” “What about that event made you feel proud?” “Is there something that happened today that you would like to change or make better tomorrow?” “What can you do to make that change?” As we ask our children these questions, it helps them build this valuable life skill of self-reflection.

We will review their reflections together and include them as part of their daily journey in their Creation Books. This daily journey will help us as we approach each Shabbat, to develop the skills they need to evaluate their week. Together, with family and school, we can help each child gain a better understanding of him or her self, appreciate our accomplishments and plan for a new week.

Shabbat is a special day, and we engage in important rituals to enhance the beauty of our celebration. Each week the children prepare challah and share a Shabbat celebration with our classmates. Having an opportunity to prepare a special Shabbat meal for our family allowed us to enjoy the celebration by contributing to it in a hands-on experience. First we needed to extend an invitation to our families for the Shabbat Dinner. We discussed the information we needed to include on our invitation, such as where and when the dinner would be held. Each child wrote an invitation with this information, and then decorated the card with Shabbat symbols. We all enjoyed preparing matzo balls and a yummy corn salad to be shared by all at our Shabbat meal.

We discussed together that the lighting time of the Shabbat candles reflects the time that the sun sets in the evening. In preparing to welcome Shabbat, we looked at a Jewish calendar and noted the candle lighting time for the upcoming Shabbat. We used a clock replica to set the time for the candle lighting and practiced the bracha together. Each week we continue to note the candle lighting time and use clocks, discussion and journal writing to help us gain a better understanding of time, clocks and the passing of time.

Shabbat is not complete without joyous song, and we delighted in learning some new Shabbat songs together. Sharing our celebration through song helps us build a sense of community within our classroom and here at Zimmer. We felt so proud to join in a sing-a-long at our Shabbat Dinner.

Holidays are joyous days, and being joyful is a Jewish value! On Purim, it is a mitzvah to celebrate and our kindergarten friends have embraced this feeling! Our first project was to construct a palace in our classroom! I asked the children, “What should be in our palace?” They replied: “a throne”, “pictures”, “carpet up to the throne”, “pillows”, “and we need a special door!” I asked the children, “What can we use to make a special door?” The children suggested, “paper”, “blocks” and one child said, “I know, the gold fabric we used to have!” And, indeed, we still had it. So while Morah was busy attaching the fabric, the children worked together using blocks to make a throne, construction paper to create a special carpet leading up to the throne, and artwork to hang on our palace walls!

Each day leading up to Purim, we have heard part of the Purim story. We discussed the difficult decision Queen Esther faced, in approaching the King to help the Jewish people. This gave us an opportunity to discuss a time when we choose to do the right thing, even when it was difficult! The children expressed that it made them feel “good” and “proud” when they choose to do the right thing, such as “listening to my dad”, “not asking for too many things” and “listening to the Morah”.

In discussing the Purim story, the children created at story map by identifying the setting, characters and sequence of the story (beginning, middle, and end). Then, using props, the children retold the story on their own. As the used the props to tell the story in their own words, I recorded their tale, and we are creating a Megillah as retold by the kindergarten children. Their illustrations will bring the Megillah to life to share with future kindergarten classes!

On Purim, it is a mitzvah to “give” food gifts (Shalach manot). The kindergarten baked delicious hamantashen to share with a Zimmer friend and to enjoy with each other. Baking together is an activity the children enjoy as we work together, take turns, read recipes, use math skills, and learn kitchen safety. Sharing with our friends makes us feel good and as each child learned with whom he or she would be sharing, we excitedly prepared a beautiful shalach manot bag to hold the hamantashen for our Zimmer friend. Each of us wanted to make our gift special. The children animatedly discussed, “do you think my friend would like a purple or gold ribbon?” “What decorations do you think my friend would like on his/her bag?” By giving to others, we think about our friendships and build a sense of community here at Zimmer.

Of course, no Purim celebration is complete without a gragger (noise maker) to drown out Haman’s name as we listen to the Purim story in shul. The children created their own unique graggers after carefully coming up with a plan of their own! Using materials we had in the classroom, each child planned their design and crafted their own gragger. I was delighted to hear the children as they worked on their individual projects saying, “How did you get that to stay?” “What did you use to do that?” “Here, I can help you!” They truly embraced and enjoyed working together and helping each other fulfill their design plans. Working and celebrating together has truly enhanced our Purim experience! Please join us Sunday February 28th at 11am for a Purim Celebration in the Wild West!!

Winter 2010

The kindergarten children and their Morah had been quite worried about our classroom pet, Roger Michael, a pretty little garter snake. Roger (affectionately nicknamed “Snakey”) had not eaten for several weeks. Several of the children and their parents had done some research and discovered that this does sometimes happen. Nonetheless, we were concerned for our beloved pet! On a cold Monday morning, one of our classmates was studying Snakey and noticed that he had shed his skin, and the skin was under his rock! We were so delighted, as this was the second time since September that he had shed his skin. Carefully, we lifted the rock and the children were able to see firsthand how Snakey had “caught” his skin on the underside of the rock, and slithered out of it! And, once relieved of his old skin, Snakey’s appetite was back to normal…and then some!

We removed his skin and the children couldn’t wait to compare it to the skin he shed in October! Would the skin be the same length? Would it be longer or shorter? We discussed this together, and all the children agreed that the skin he just shed
would be longer than that he shed in October since he appeared to have grown. Indeed, they were right…it was longer by about ½ inch. Next, we decided to predict when Snakey might shed again. First, the children figured out how many months had passed from October (his first shed) to January…3 months! Next, they counted 3 months past January, and they are predicting that he will shed again in April! We will keep you posted!

During shared reading, we enjoyed the book, The Pajama Party. The children loved the story and then made some props so that they could retell the story on their own using their props. During journal time, we wrote about our own pajamas! As the long winter season slowly passes, we stress the importance of rest and renewal. Just as the natural world rests during the winter, it is important for us to rest in order for us to replenish our energy and be our best selves. We continue to meditate and practice breathing before we daven so that we can all feel a sense of peace and calm.

The snow has given us a chance to appreciate the outdoors in fun and creative days. After a light snowfall one morning, we took a walk to the river and made sketches of the river after the fallen snow. Back inside the classroom, the children spoke about their sketches as they shared them with their classmates and me. Another snowy morning, the children found their own fun…some sledding, while others built a “snow bird house”!

The countdown to 100 days of school is drawing near. Each day the children add another sticker to a ten frame, a tally mark on our monthly book, and a stick in our place value cups. These visuals help the children understand the passing of time, numeration, and number patterns. As the children have gained confidence working with numbers, we use subtraction stories to figure out the differences, and addition stories to find the sums!

At the end of each day, we reflect back on our day, and share with our class a memory that was special. I record their responses, and number the passing days. In doing so, we are creating a most unique and exceptional number line. Lastly, I have begun to read a chapter from the book, Stuart Little each day before we go home. The children anxiously anticipate this part of the day! Not only do we love the story, but also we are building our vocabulary and developing a love of reading together!

 

 

Winter

Winter is a wonder to children and adults alike and during this season kindergarten took the time to notice the QUIET winter brings. We recalled the sights and sounds we see and hear in the fall season, remembering that fall is a season of color and busy animal activity preparing for rest! By contrast, winter is a time of rest – the world becomes dormant. To fully appreciate QUIET, we took a walk in the woods to the river. We all sat – SILENTLY – and listened. When we came back inside we recalled all we had heard and seen – and…WHY we heard and saw what we did! This is what we discovered:

We Saw: Animal footprints (we think they were from a deer) The Children Thought: "They want the berries!" "They want a drink of water!" We Saw: Ice by the water's sides The Children Thought: "The water does not move as fast there." "The land warms the sides of the water!" We Saw: The water in the river was moving fast and there was MORE water than in the fall The Children Thought: "All the snow melted into the river!" We Saw: Brown leaves underneath the snow The Children Thought: "The leaves fell off the tree and no one raked them" We Saw: A lot of broken branches The Children Thought: "The wind broke them" "The snow is heavy" We Heard: The wind The Children Thought: "Outside has no roof, so you hear the trees move" We Heard: The river The Children Thought: "The wind blowing made it move We Heard: Cracking Noises The Children Thought: "The ice breaks when you step on it We Heard: Nothing, quiet The Children Thought: "Many animals are sleeping, they hibernate" Maybe some animals are looking somewhere else for food!"

The children had a chance to fully appreciate how “quiet” can enhance their experiences. While playing on the playground on a cold winter’s day, several children noticed a “peck, peck, pecking” sound. They encouraged each other to stop, and LISTEN, QUIETLY! All of the children gathered together and stood wordlessly, listening and looking up into the tree where they heard the sound. “It must be a woodpecker!” “It’s a hairy woodpecker, I just know it”, the children proclaimed! With great pleasure they noticed three perfectly round holes in one of the trees. “That’s where the woodpecker lives!” Our feathered friend did not disappoint us, and out he came from the bottom hole, peck, peck, pecking away. Later, we spoke about how listening and being aware of nature can afford us these very special interactions with our natural world.

In the classroom we experienced quiet through meditation and breathing exercises. Sitting together on the carpet with crisscrossed legs, our hands on our knees and our fingers touching, we closed our eyes, and took a deep breath in from our nose. We filled our lungs with air, and slowly, pushed the air out. We tried very hard to sit up straight, and while we breathed, we concentrated on becoming our best self. We noticed how calm and peaceful we felt. This special time we spent with our own thoughts helped us to prepare to daven and begin our day feeling calm and peaceful.

The kindergarten loves all kinds of books and we have been focusing on the different genres of literature. We discussed fiction and non-fiction books. After reading the story, Bear Snores On, the children agreed that this was a work of fiction. Then, I asked, “What do you think a non fiction book about a bear might look like?” They responded, “There would be a real bear on the cover” “Different kinds of bears, like pandas and polar bears could be on the book.” So, we looked through our library to find and sort, fiction vs. non-fiction books!

We have begun to use story mapping as a way of helping us to understand how stories are written. We mapped the story, Let’s Swim, noting the characters, setting, beginning, middle and end. Next, we decided to “rewrite” the story using a winter sport as our theme. The children decided the setting would be an ice skating pond, and named the story, Let’s Have An Ice Skate! Next, they created the characters for the story, and wrote the beginning, middle and end. Finally, each child illustrated the story! As we continue to gain an understanding of the structure of books, the children will soon be writing their own unique stories.

Math games are always a fun way to learn! The children have enjoyed using dice to help us create addition sentences. As a class, we rolled the dice and recorded our sentences on the white board, using the numbers we rolled on the dice. We figured out our sum, by counting up the dots on the dice! Working individually, children had an opportunity to play on their own, and then graph their “sums” on a number bar graph!

As we work with 2-digit numbers, the children enjoy playing, “what comes next” and “find the missing numbers”. Our daily calendar routines reinforce number recognition, number sequence, number patterns, and place value. We always take the time to notice how we use numbers in our daily lives! This gives numbers real meaning to the children!

Chanukah

As Chanukah drew near, the kindergarten children worked excitedly with the Pre-K class to complete their replica of the Beit Hamikadash. Working from the plans the children devised based on what they learned and their vision, they successfully completed this beautiful project. The children’s final task was to make steps leading to the beautiful golden menorah inside the Beit Hamikdash! They finished just in time for Chanukah and our beautiful Temple remains displayed in the hallway between the Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms.

As we learned about Chanukah, the children explored the importance of having a strong moral character and doing the right thing…even when it is not easy! During the day, we would make sure to notice and acknowledge those times when our friends “did the right thing”. The children even choose to focus on certain behaviors that would help them to do the right thing! Here were some of their ideas: “listen to the Morah even if someone doesn’t”, “don’t say, ha, ha, ha when someone is sad”, “not to tattle”, “not to hurt people with my hands when I am mad”, not to fight over toys” and “try my best!” The children were so excited about “doing the right thing”, that we decided to roll play various scenarios to help them make the right choice when a difficult situation arises. One situation was when a friend would say, “don’t be friends with him/her!” The children acted out different ways to handle this situation. They used their words to say, “Let’s all be friends together!” and actions, by giving each friend a hug!

Our classroom has been filled with Chanukah fun and the scent of yummy Chanukah foods! Morah Natasha and Robert Stein joined our class to help us each make a beautiful Chanukah Menorah using colorful Sculpey clay. Each child made a unique menorah that they were able to use at home during Chanukah. Some of us even made dreidels! We sure enjoyed playing the dreidel game with our homemade dreidels. Mrs. Ellen Arian helped us to make the perfect Chanukah celebration in our classroom! Together with her, the children made homemade applesauce and delicious potato latkes! The children set the table, and enjoyed the wonderful treats they prepared!

Perhaps our favorite Chanukah story was Jeremy’s Dreidel by Ellie Gelman and Judith Friedman. In the story, Jeremy makes a dreidel using Braille for the letters because his dad is blind. After reading the story, we talked about other ways people communicate and we discussed sign language. So, as we reviewed letters and the sounds they make, I signed each letter. The children were thrilled to later discover a puzzle that matched the sign to each letter!

We continue to work daily on our handwriting, sight words and developing our reading skills. The children look forward to reading the daily message each morning. The message includes sight words we have learned, familiar words, and words that the children can blend the sounds to read. They eagerly write their response in their journal each day. As they are becoming more independent readers and writers, the children will look for clues in the classroom to help them write their responses!

A new math game was introduced: Dreidel Addition! Each child rolled a die and found the matching number on one set of dreidel cards. Then, rolling a second time, they found the matching number on the other set of dreidel cards. Each time they recorded the number, and finally, they added them together to find the sum! What a fun way to add!

Avery special morning was spent with our dads, “Build it with Daddy!” A Zimmer parent lovingly made a large wooden menorah. Our children then worked with his/her own parent to create a piece of art together that was added to the menorah. The entire Zimmer Community enjoyed helping to create this stunning menorah! Each day of Chanukah, all the Zimmer children joined together to light our beautiful menorah, chant the blessings and sing Chanukah songs. I hope you shared a wonderful Chanukah with your family!

 

December in Kindergarten

As the temperature cools outside, a warm glow of excitement is shinning in our kindergarten class. The children are filled with anticipation as the story of Chanukah unfolds in our classroom. We began our study imagining what life was like when all the Jewish people lived together in Israel. We learned that the Beit Hamikdash was the beautiful Holy Temple, and the center for Jewish ritual and life. As the children closed theirs eyes, they tried to envision what the Beit Hamikdash looked like as I described the appearance of the beautiful structure to them. We tried to feel the happiness and pride the Jewish people felt as they lived their lives together in their homeland so many years ago.

We learned that inside the Beit Hamikdash was a truly beautiful gold menorah. This menorah had 7 branches and was lit by the High Priest each day. The glow illuminated the beautiful Temple. The children were intrigued that only the purest of olive oil was used to light the menorah. I asked the children, “Where do you think the High Priest got the olive oil?” The children responded, “olives!” “Yes, I said, but where did they get the olives?” “From the olive trees”, they said. Finally, I asked, “How did they get to where the olive trees grow?” It was through this dialogue, that the children began to understand how precious olive oil was all those years ago. Certainly, they did not go to the local supermarket to buy it! Rather, they deduced, they had to walk or ride a camel to the olive trees, pick the olives, and travel back with them. Only then could the olive oil making process begin! And, after all that, only the very first drop of oil from each olive could be used to light the magnificent menorah.

Keeping all these ideas in mind, the Kindergarten met with the Pre-K class, and together we wrote up a plan to recreate the Beit Hamikdash based on how we imagined it looked! Many ideas were given, and the children got busy designing and creating walls, a floor, a ceiling and a golden menorah! As our Holy Temple began to take shape, we met again and discussed our progress and the jobs that still needed to be done. This planning session, the children decided to start making a beautiful door worthy of the Beit Hamikdash. The children’s enthusiasm and imagination has fueled this beautiful project. We can’t wait to showcase our finished project at the start of Chanukah!

Our new shared reading book, Duck and Hen, has prompted us to think about what it means to be a friend. What do you do if a friend does not want to play what you are playing? What can you say or do so both friends are happy? The children brainstormed ways they can handle this situation! They offered these ideas: “first play what you want, then play what your friend wants”, “one day play what you want and the next day play what your friend does” and “find something to play that you both like!” By thinking and planning ahead about these situations, we are better able to handle them when they arise! We also learned two new sight words from the story: “Do” and “Went”. We all enjoyed playing sight word bingo together with all the words we know!

A fun new math game was introduced using two dice. The children roll the dice and “add” the two numbers together. Then, they record their responses on their individual bar graphs. Finally, they compare their results to those of their partners! We also used dominoes to help us practice adding and recognizing different ways to add numbers to get the same sum! The concept of lighter and heavier was also explored using a pan balance scale. The children have really enjoyed using the scale in their play as well!

As Chanukah approaches we will be exploring the many values the Chanukah story teaches, as well as engaging in many wonderful projects, which I will share with you in the next blog!


Be sure not to miss these fun Chanukah family events: Build it with Daddy, Monday the 14th at 8:30am and The Chanukah Bubble Party next Wednesday, the 16th at 4:30!