Alison.Board Anti-bullying, Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, General, Integration, Literacy, Resources

Engaging Idea

A new year is an opportunity for introducing new routines or learning opportunities. If your routines are already established and your planning is complete, you may just want to add a new “twist” to the assignments, addressing different learning styles and increasing student engagement.

Depending on the age group that you teach, – receive infographics on a wide-range of topics at Daily Infographic, see http://dailyinfographic.com/. This is a great way to get comfortable with the use of infographics. View before sharing with students.  Infographics (information graphics) are all around us in subway maps, advertisements, and historical representations. They provide students with an alternative way to read information as well as present information. An infographic is a graphic visual representation. Larger amounts of data or information are presented in a visually appealing way that the reader is able to easily retain. Infographics can include timelines, maps, charts, graphs, illustrations or photographs, making them a useful and beneficial resource for social studies, math, language, science and art.

Suggestions for introducing or integrating infographics:

– receive infographics on a wide-range of topics at Daily Infographic, see http://dailyinfographic.com/. This is a great way to get comfortable with the use of infographics. View before sharing with students.

– in Google search a selected topic and “infographic” to find a reputable author/creator of an infographic that connects to your lesson or subject. Preview the infographic. Provide it to your students to read individually or have them discuss in small groups.

– use infographics for specific knowledge-building. For example, if studying First Nations treaties with the Canadian Government, a government produced infographic is provided at: http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1380223988016/1380224163492. This infographic provides factual information in an interesting format for students that is easy to understand.

– after using infographics and understanding the components that make them effective, have students create their own infographics. It could be their own life story, their community or outer space. It could replace the pamphlet idea for presenting information on another city, country, or issue.

– create a campaign against bullying (or address various social issues) using student created infographics modelled on a reputable resource such as the infographic at Stop Bullying Gov, see http://www.stopbullying.gov/image-gallery/what-you-need-to-know-infographic.html.

– students can design their own infographic with pencil or paper, or electronically with tools such as Infogr.am or Piktochart.

 

Enjoy introducing something new to your students for the New Year!

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Alison.Board Building Inclusion, Classroom Management, Differentiated Instruction, Equity, General

Top Ten for Maintaining Classroom Community

The other day one of my less participatory students described our classroom as “welcoming” in his writing journal. I was pleasantly surprised by his point of view and reflected on what might make it a positive space him and his fellow students. Here is a list of what actions, arrangements, and routines contribute to our positive classroom community:

  1. Greet the students as they enter the classroom every morning.
  2. Incorporate Tribes activities on a monthly basis, or when needed.
  3. Allow students a few minutes to chat and get settled before beginning the first lesson of the day.
  4. Arrange desks in groupings of different sizes to suit the needs and learning preferences of the students.
  5. Provide bean chairs/big pillows for students to use when reading or working independently or in small groups.
  6. Invite students for class discussions or read-alouds at the class carpet. They choose to sit on the carpet or bring their chair.
  7. Display student writing, math problem solving, art, and student book reviews or graffiti on walls around the room.
  8. When there is an issue, address it quietly in the hall or away from the eyes of peers.
  9. Provide a round table in the centre of the room for casual teacher-student conferences and peer meetings.
  10. Check in with students as they leave for home each day.
Alison.Board Building Inclusion, Equity, General, Inquiry, Integration, Learning About Your Students, Learning in a Real Life Context, Literacy

“I Know Here”

At one of our first staff meetings this year, we had a discussion about building community in our school. What is our community? How do we see ourselves? Many of the teachers had a difficult time describing our school community. We are in a building with additions that have been attached on various levels, resulting in doors and stairs that physically separate the classrooms into small groupings of three or four to a floor. The community outside of the school is also diverse. There are few apartment buildings as well as a neighbourhood of homes, a park, and a plaza of stores.

To discover our community through student inquiry, all the classes read the book I Know Here by Laurel Croza.

 

We then asked the students to take a similar approach and define their community with words and representations. The results were outstanding. Every age from Kindergarten to grade 8 was able to identify what made the community unique and they presented their own perspective. To extend that sense of our community defined by student voice, we set up a literacy night at the school to showcase the student work. It included descriptive writing, drawings, 3D representations, photos and videos.

The experience was rewarding for the teachers, students, and parents of our school community. The work was meaningful and the children were engaged. It was a topic that was accessible to all and promoted equity throughout our school. The children were also able to share new insight and point of view with us, the educators.

Alison.Board Challenging Topics, Equity, Inquiry, Integration, Literacy, Social Justice

Literacy and Big Ideas

We started the first of our 4 big questions for the year. How do we balance our needs with the needs of others? The question has been on the wall since the second week of school, but only now are the students starting to find ways to answer that question. One of the ways the grade 5/6 students have started to approach the question is through their learning in Social Studies. As they learn about initial contact between Europeans and First Nations, they are also considering the needs of the explorers and settlers compared to the needs of the First Nations in Canada.

The other way that the students have broadened their understanding of the question is through read-alouds. One book in particular, Sees Behind Trees by Michael Dorris, was a favourite read-aloud to the class. It connected with our Social Studies learning as well as the model it provided for the descriptive writing we were experimenting with. At the end of the book, the students were eager to identify various relationships in the book and how the characters’ needs balanced with one another’s. Reading this book together seemed to click for everyone as a means of examining the big over-arching question.

This was a celebrated moment of understanding in our classroom and a confirmation of my own that students need to be immersed in a literature-rich curriculum. One of the most useful resources I have found to support discussion and understanding is ETFO’s Social Justice Begins With Me. This resource provides a robust list of books that connect to themes/ideas of community, empathy, rights of the child, as well as big ideas of cycles or beauty! It summarizes the text and highlights themes that connect the students to the learning. I also like that there are sections of the resource specific to Primary, Junior, and Intermediate grades with curriculum connections and activity ideas.

You can also view parts of the resource in pdf at http://www.etfo.ca/resources/socialjustice/pages/default.aspx or look at specific booklists that have also been added to the site.

Alison.Board Building Inclusion, Integration, Learning About Your Students, Planning

Building Community

 

September has been all about building community in our 5/6 classroom. It is difficult not to move full-steam ahead into the curriculum and feel pressured by time. However, by slowing things down and making time for community circles, Tribes activities, and more discussions, the students feel valued as contributors to their classroom and also their learning.

To build community we:

  • Start each morning with a community gathering  – I say a gathering rather than a circle as we are challenged with space and don’t have a carpet to sit on. So we gather near the reading corner where there is a small carpet and some bean bag chairs. Students are welcome to sit on the cushions, the small rug, or pull up their chairs in a semi-circle. It has an informal feel to it and the options allow students a choice in their seating, which they appreciate. We initially started our meetings with prompts that everyone responded to, such as favourite hobbies, number of siblings, etc. Now we open the discussion to anyone who wants to share. Last week, a student shared that she had just got a puppy the night before. This led to an engaging talk about dogs as pets and the fears that others had experienced with dogs.
  • Writer’s workshop – To launch our writing workshop, we used Tribes activities that created discussions about our interests and selves. We then spent the first week writing lists that reflected those discussions, which will later be used to generate ideas during independent writing times. We all took a survey home to find out the origin of our names and why were given our particular names. After sharing our information in small groups, it provided a good starting topic for writing. We also wrote about our birth order after a fun Tribes activity that involved separating the class into four corners of the room for discussion, grouped as: oldest, only, middle, and youngest child.
  • Reading workshop – We are also going slow with our development of reading workshop routines. To do this, we are following the 20 day plan that is simply laid out by Fountas and Pinnell in their book, Guiding Readers and Writers (Grades 3-6). On the Heinemann website it describes the book as presenting, “the basic structure of the language/literacy program within a breakthrough framework that encompasses the building of community through language, word study, reading, writing, and the visual arts.”
  • Math – Starting with data management, the students have had the opportunity to survey each other about their interests and make graphs. We also took an online Multiple Intelligence survey and are graphing the strengths of the class on a large graph to be displayed and referred to in the classroom.
  • Social Studies and Art – Our first art activity followed a read-aloud about totem poles created by the Haida. We used a chart that described the meaning about each crest and the significance of colour. After selecting crests that reflected each individual, the students drew their crest using pastels with bold black outlines, then used brown paint around the crest to resemble the totem pole. We have attached the rectangular drawings into groups of 5 or 6 crests and formed 3D cylinder shapes to resemble poles. We are preparing to hang them in the hallway outside our classroom.
In addition to slowing down to build community in September, it is something to consider incorporating into subjects and activities throughout the year to maintain an ideal environment that continues to be inclusive and engaging for all students. Check out suggestions for inclusive activities and lessons in the Matrix of Ideas at the back of The Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning!
Alison.Board Building Inclusion, Classroom Layouts

Preparing for the First Day

This year I will be moving classrooms and divisions. Teaching a grade 5/6 class at the other end of school from the Kindergarten section will be a big change for me and also for my students. I am sure they will be looking for glimpses of the “Kindergarten Teacher” that they saw in the halls last year. So I am planning to bring some of what I have learned as a Kindergarten teacher to my new students in grade 5/6. Statistics show that over 90% of children in Kindergarten enjoy school. This number dramatically decreases as children reach the junior and intermediate grades. I want the children in my class to be engaged in their learning and enjoy coming to school.

When starting the new school year I always look through the practical information provided in “The Heart and Art of Teaching and Learning,” to find suggestions on setting up the classroom or planning for building inclusion. On page 22, in a section on Environment, it refers to the Reggio Emilia approach, which considers the children’s development and relationships with their environment. The chapter continues with, “Not only should the classroom represent your beliefs and values about teaching, it should also support them. In order to make the classroom engaging and inviting, consider what you want students to feel when they come in and how you might communicate this in a non-verbal way.”

I always find the environment a good place to start when planning for a new group of students. The layout, the materials, even the lighting can affect how the students interact with the resources and with each other. My goal this year is to have a classroom that is comfortable and aesthetically inviting, yet organized to foster responsibility and independence. I want to encourage collaboration and provide areas for movement within the classroom that focus on particular interests such as reading, art, science & technology, and math.

Alison.Board Celebrating Success, Communication Tools, Communication with Parents and Guardians, General

End of Year Celebration

To celebrate the end of the year in our Full-Day Kindergarten classroom, we opened our doors for parents and guardians to share our successes. We scheduled it for a half hour in the morning at entry time. The children helped plan for the celebration by taking home invitations, creating a welcome sign for our door with the word welcome or hello in various languages that reflect the home languages of our students. The children also were invited to wear traditional clothing that reflected their heritage on the day of the open house. We were thrilled to have so many parents come to our casual event. They sat around the room and watched our morning circle – as we always start the day with sharing how we feel. Then the children moved to the tables where their writing portfolios and art folders were displayed. They were so proud to show their work! Then the children moved around the classroom as guides, showing their parents their work that was displayed and their favourite learning centres.

In the afternoon, one student drew a picture of her and her mother and wrote,”Today is Monday. That’s the day when we show and share…” She said she was happy to show and share her work and classroom with her mother.

Alison.Board Wellness

Supporting self-regulation in Kindergarten

 In the Full-Day Kindergarten program, it is essential to give children the tools to help them self-regulate. The day is long, and often the noise and energy escalates as the day goes on. We talk about how we are feeling each morning at sharing circle. This provides us with an opportunity to listen to the children and to find out if they have had a difficult morning or maybe a sleepless night. It also allows the children an opportunity to reflect on how they are feeling – monitoring this each day when we come together as a group.

Dr. Stuart Shanker is a renowned expert on self-regulation. He provides information on the topic in various forms that are available on the internet  or in his book, Calm, Alert and Learning (2012)

Other resources on self-regulation, include:

Canadian Self-regulation Initiative http://www.self-regulation.ca/

Kindergarten Matters – Self-regulation http://resources.curriculum.org/secretariat/kindergarten/selfregulating.html

In our classroom, we talk about how fast our “engines are running” and whether we need to slow them down or not. We also talk about various strategies to calm down. In late November, we started yoga breathing with the children. We would do a few poses, but mostly concentrate on the breathing. Now, after lunch each day, we close the curtains and the children find a quiet space in the room to lie down on their backs. We provide pillows or small blankets if they want. We then walk around and place one glass stone on their forehead – it provides a focus and keeps wiggling bodies from moving and dislodging the glass stone. At times we play classical music or relaxing sounds of ocean waves. Other times we may talk about visualization; imagining lying on a beach in the warm sand or in a park in the cool grass. Two or three children usually fall asleep during this time, and if they do, we leave them to rest while we quietly get up and resume our activities at learning centres. The children continue with their play in the afternoon, but they have had the opportunity for quiet and peace in their hectic day. Children are recognizing how they feel after these opportunities for relaxation, and now ask the teachers, “Can we do yoga today?” or “When will we lie down and put the stones on our foreheads?” This shows that the children are recognizing when they need to implement self-regulation strategies to help them be successful in their day.

Alison.Board Homework, Literacy, Resources, Use of Technology

Reading in Kindergarten

Literacy is woven into our day. We do not have “literacy centres”, but we do have learning centres that include literacy. We have shared reading, independent reading, formal writing times that look like a Writer’s Workshop, and purposeful writing that happens around the classroom such as writing cards, letters, making books and recording observations.

There is no “language block”, instead language is used in our morning circle to share our feelings and connect with one another. It is used during read a-louds to teach conventions of books, visualization, sequence, and voice. We learn how to spell familiar words and we learn how to use rich language to describe and express our ideas. Books are connected to our math lessons and science inquiries. We share books that enjoy reading over and over again, and we read new books on the computers and listen to stories using BookFlix.

When I started my new classroom in September, there were limited literacy resources. I acquired a variety of picture books from family and friends and I used the books from our school library to fill the shelves and reading bins. To organize the books, we designated one display rack for hardcover books and another for softcover books. I remember the day that we discussed how to tell the difference. Even now, some children knock on their book to determine which shelf it should be returned to. This also provides a daily opportunity for sorting – see how literacy is never a stand-alone in Kindergarten!

One of the first things I noticed was how rough the children were with the books. It took months of reminders and practice for the children not to throw the books, step on them, or pull at them and rip pages. You would assume that by Kindergarten children would know how to handle books, but for many children in the class handling the books in a gentle and respective manner was not familiar to them. To assist in their practice, we modelled then asked the children to “close your books gently, carry them like a cake, and place them face out on the appropriate book rack”. Now the children are much more aware of the condition of the books, and often come to me with concern that a page has ripped or torn, and ask that it be fixed with tape.

Back in September, there were no (maybe a few) levelled readers for the Kindergarten classrooms. This was the biggest concern for me, as I believe in the consistent use of levelled books to develop readers in the classroom. Through the suggestion of an instructional leader, I was able to order paper copies of what are considered replacement books and use these for a book borrowing program and for work with individuals or small groups in the classroom. These books have been invaluable for my students. Although I do not assign homework in Kindergarten, I do set up a book bag program that allows children to take home a book at their level and write about their book in an accompanying journal. There are not assigned days to take or return a book, therefore it is a program that can suit the families and their schedules. I have some students who return their book bags every day or every other day, while other students may return their bag within a week or two. All of the SK students (and a few JK students) have moved up in levels, but most importantly they feel successful as readers. The levelled readers have not been a “requirement” of the childrens’ day or have they felt pressure to read. By providing them with a book at their level (mostly all at level 1 in September) they felt excited to take a book home and then felt successful because they could actually read it. This encouraged them to continue with the program and become independent readers!

 

 

 

 

 

Levelled books for Book Bag Program

Alison.Board Diverse Learning Needs, General, Inquiry, Integration, Literacy, Planning, Use of Technology

Kindergarten Learning Buddies

In January, my Kindergarten class began regular weekly meetings with another class in the school. I was new to the school this year, and Reading Buddies were not formally assigned as they are in some schools. The first few months of the school year had been hectic, as I was new to the staff, the FDK program was just being introduced (with wrinkles to smooth out), and the students were adjusting to the demands of a full day of routines and a new environment. As I got to know the staff, I found that I shared a similar teaching style and inquiry approach with the Grade 6 teacher, Mrs. Robinson. In early December I approached her with the idea of bringing our classes together as “Learning Buddies” – an idea that she welcomed. We made our plans to start meeting in January on a weekly basis for a double period.

The initial meetings were mostly unstructured. It allowed time for the students to get to know one another. Mrs. Robinson and I had previously matched our students based on their needs. I have a few students with communication needs and others with behavioural concerns who would benefit by being matched with empathetic, patient and consistent students from the older class. There were adjustments in the matches that we made, and when students are absent we casually add their partners to another grouping. This relaxed approach makes it easier for the little ones to adjust, and we find the students in the classes are getting to know more than just one student. They tend to team up into small groups now, and we provide opportunities to allow for this development of relationships.

After a few meetings with the students sharing books and getting to know one another, we introduced a project that would integrate language and technology. It included the following:

  • brainstorm/create a story with your Learning Buddy
  • use the graphic organizer provided to record the topic, setting, characters, problem and solution (Grade 6 students write and Kindergartens can write or draw pictures to represent their ideas)
  • use 4 to 8 box organizer to draft story into a comic strip, adding speech bubbles and caption
  • create comic in Bitstrips program using laptops provided
  • teachers print one page comics in colour and take photos of Learning Buddies
  • arrange original plan, completed colour comic strip, and photo of Learning Buddies on bristol board for display
  • participate in a Gallery Walk of the completed work
The outcomes of this project were positive for all involved. We found that the students were engaged at all meetings. We noticed that the older students respected the input of the younger children and there was observable collaboration in their work. The Kindergarten children were able to retell the stories that they created and in addition to understanding the beginning, middle, and end – many also understood the concepts of setting, characters, problem and solution. Mrs. Robinson has noticed how her Grade 6 students have taken on a more responsible attitude with this role and they are genuinely interested in working with the younger students. We plan to meet regularly until the end of the school year. We have just started a topic/project about the environment that will hopefully include some outdoor gardening. This connects to the curriculum that both classes can extend separately in their individual classrooms.