Fun in PreK-1 & Kinder

Hello again!  Back for Chapter 5!  You may be wondering, why does it take me so dang long to post for the book study?  Well my friends, it's because I am a slow professional book reader.  Back in college I read like a maniac and never absorbed my textbooks.  Now I read for meaning and always "code the text" so that I can find what I need in a flash later. And being the organizational freak that I am, I also have to use a highlighter and sticky notes that are color-coded to the book's cover.  :) Anyways, this chapter is my FAVORITE so far.  One thing I struggled with last year was getting my pre-kinders to write words in their stories.  Now I know how!  Here's what I took from this chapter: Do Lots of Interactive Writing!   I was pretty good at this.  We shared the pen on a regular basis all year long, right from the get-go!  Here's an example of a shared writing we recently completed:   For the fi...

I know I'm late again- I swear I have a good excuse!  (More about that later this week... my new header might give you a clue! )  But this morning I got a chance to catch up on my reading and am excited to share what stuck with me! Explicit Connections:  The connection between drawing lessons and illustrations in children's work must be made explicit!  "Remember how we learned how to [insert drawing mini-lesson]?  I'm going to do that today in my Drawing and Writing Book..." Notice the Craft of Drawing in Mentor Texts:  I LOVE the list of different things you can notice about illustrations in children's books!  I totally missed the boat on this one last year.  The only teaching point I ever really made (but which I believe is the most important one) was that writers use illustrations and words to tell the story .  Check out the full list in the freebie below- I'm going to stick mine in my writer's workshop/conferencing binder for ref...

I'm back for Chapter 3!  Sorry it's a day late, I had an interview yesterday and couldn't concentrate on anything else!  I'm getting observed this Friday for an hour before they make their final decision so PLEASE keep me in your prayers this week friends! Here's what stuck with me from Chapter 3: For young children, drawing is writing.   Drawing is how young children represent and understand meaning.  (For example, my students almost always first start making connections to text through illustrations.  Even now they tend to base predictions of books based more on the cover than the actual title). Drawing is an essential step in language development (particularly in connecting thought and speech). Drawing allows children to go deeper in their stories! I definitely need to teach about drawing next year.  It's the primary way in which my four year-olds communicate!  Frankly, I'm amazed they developed as much as they did considering I never...

I FINALLY got my book today and couldn't wait to start reading!  I just devoured Chapter 1 and am already inspired.  Here's what stuck with me... Start the year with Storytelling.   Um, big "Duh" moment for me!  Next year we are definitely going to set aside time for oral storytelling.  It makes perfect sense!  Don't we start teaching syllables, segmenting, blending and the like orally?  Why wouldn't you do the same with stories?  I can see how this will lead to great improvement next year in my students' writing.  All year long I couldn't understand how they could tell such detailed stories, but not translate those details to their writing- well duh , I need to teach and role-model the connection between the two! Writers tell stories about what they know.   This year I noticed my kiddos tended to write stories similar to books we had recently read, and I now know it's because I didn't spend enough time at the beginning of the ye...

Wow, what a crazy busy week!  (But then again, what week isn't?)  First of all let me say HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful week with your class filled with lots of love.  Our party was great yesterday, I just wish I had Monday off to recover!  (On Monday we are having a staff training day... and get this... I'm presenting on Positive Discipline!  Super excited but super nervous.  I mean, I don't really feel "old" enough yet to be teaching other teachers on classroom management!) Before I start gabbing about this week, I need to tell you how much I love the "If You're Happy and You Know It" Song!  We sang this great song all week and substituted different feelings/actions.  The best part is I always end with some lyrics of my own invention, "If you're ready and you know it take a seat/If you're listening and you know it look at me," so on and so forth.  :)  GREAT song for transitions and learni...