LITERACY/LANGUAGE: "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"

As an extension of our literacy-rich program, the Cardinals decided to create a letter tree. This idea was inspired by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault’s book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. This is a funny, funny story that the Cardinals enjoy hearing over and over again. In an alphabet rhyme, all the letters of the alphabet race up the coconut tree. “Will there be enough room?”

The following day, the Cardinals gathered in a circle and together we spoke about each Cardinal choosing a letter of the alphabet. To be fair, we decided that pulling letters out of a cup would be the best strategy. After each Cardinal had a letter, we talked about decorating each letter with an item that has the beginning sound of their chosen letter, e.g., nickels for N, cotton for C, straws for S, and so on.

We decided to replicate this image by attaching the papier mâché tree in our classroom. But, just like in the story, twenty-six letters was way too many letters for our tree! So, after much discussion, the children decided to display the letters on our classroom wall for all to enjoy!

Thank you, Noel, for decorating the letter "D" with "duckies!"

LITERACY/LANGUAGE: Pre-Reading Skill

Children acquire proficiency in language and literacy through extensive experience with language, print, and literature in a variety of contexts. Here we see Noel as he “reads” a favorite classroom book to his friend. As he observes the pages of the book, Noel is learning to read the pictures’ grammar. This prepares him for the future ability of reading of texts.

LITERACY/LANGUAGE: Journaling, Winter Break experience

What did you do during the Winter Break?

“I stayed home on Christmas vacation. I played.”

1/6/2014

LITERACY/LANGUAGE: Pre-Reading Skills, Daily Schedule

On a rotating basis the children in the Cardinal classroom take turns reviewing our Daily Schedule with the entire group at Morning Meeting. This reading readiness activity provides wonderful opportunities for children to practice decoding skills and sight vocabulary skills as well as recall and memory skills. Learning concepts such yesterday/today/tomorrow are reinforced daily and the children are developing a sense of time and sequence as they map out the events of their day.

Here we see Noel as he named the activities of the day, pointing to each word and touching the word with his pointer finger. Through this literacy activity, Noel’s print awareness is heightening. A pre-reading skill, print awareness is an important part of knowing how to read and write. Noel’s interest to participate in this activity reflects his growing knowledge about the relation between words he sees in print and the words he speaks and hears.

LITERACY/LANGUAGE: Writing

In the Cardinals’ classroom, endless opportunities are provided to write for many purposes. As the children continue to be exposed to language and print and develop an understanding of how words work, they start to understand how to group letters into words.

Each child progresses at their own developmental writing level. The goal is not to tell the children how to write, but to help them sound out words by stretching the sounds. Allowing the child to write the words the way they sound will eventually help them as they learn to read.

Here we see an example of Noel exploring with writing as he forms letters on his paper that describes what he is thankful for. As Noel was provided with help to sound out the word, he wrote:

“EM”

(me)

Eventually, with practice and formal teachings, Noel will acquire comprehension on the conventions of print, e.g., writing from left to right, the difference between uppercase and lowercase letters, how to put spaces between words, and how to use correct spelling and punctuation.

LITERACY/LANGUAGE: Journaling, Career choice

What would you like to be when you grow up? What kind of job would you like to do and why?

“I want to be a Bakery because I very like bakering, because I like cake and cupcakes.”

11/19/2013

LITERACY/LANGUAGE: Bird Study Homework, The Students as Teachers

The Cardinals took great joy at sharing their Research Study. The children had chosen a particular species of bird that they wanted to learn more about and returned to class with their findings. Along with their results, several of the children created a nest for their bird of study. Quite a few Cardinals and their families worked together to create the most outstanding habitat for their bird of choice, an amazing collaborative experience.

Each Cardinal was eager to share their found facts as well as the story of all the work that went into the creation of the nests they crafted. Without any hesitation, each took a turn and stood in front of their classmates and teachers and communicated their discoveries. Once done, they invited their audience to ask questions.  This active involvement of the speaker and the listeners fostered a great deal of developments within each child, from learning how to ask a question or stating a comment to providing a leadership role where their choice and voice was honored.

Here’s what Noel taught us...

The Parrot

by Noel Springer

1) Parrots make good pets

2) They make their nests in trees.

3) They can mimic voices

4) It lives "in jungles"

5) It eats "fruit, bugs"

Noel chose this bird to research “Because when they first hatch from the eggs, they're so cute!”

The experience of presenting his homework provided Noel many great developmental benefits, Literacy, Cognitive, and Social/Emotional. It offered Noel the opportunity to understand the difference between a statement and a question as well as use descriptive language, concept thinking, storytelling, and so much more. Overall, it helped Noel develop effective communication skills. Also, this opportunity allowed for Noel to share his interest which fostered his emotional self.

LITERACY/LANGUAGE: Letter Awareness

A print rich environment that allows children to practice literacy skills in real-life experiences, combined with explicit teaching of key concepts, is the foundation of literacy learning in the early years. We develop literacy by continually exposing the Cardinals to oral and written language, and by building on prior knowledge and language experiences. Read alouds, storytelling, songs, thought-provoking discussions, journals, and dramatic play are just a few of the many fun and engaging strategies we use in the Cardinals’ classroom to develop literacy. 

The Cardinals were introduced to the idea of Literacy Workshops.  As a means of adding a tactile component to practice shaping the letters of the alphabet with different materials, three stations were set up for the Cardinals.  

Here we see Noel in the playdough station where he was encouraged to “shape” a name, not just his but a friend’s or a teacher's name.

The same concept was applied in the alphabet stamping station were Noel used the letter stamps to “write” a friends’ and/or teachers’ name.

And, in the final station the Cardinals were provided with wood pieces as an activity to make capital letters. These wood pieces are a component of the Handwriting Without Tears program. Without any formal introduction to the program, the children are first invited to explore the wood pieces and use them to create as many letters as they could. The four wooden pieces are the basis for teaching children the skills of creating letters.  The pieces are referred to as big line, little line, big curve, little curve. Using only these shapes, the children learn how to form letters.

All of these activities help Noel internalize the shapes of letters, while developing motor skills but, in his mind .... he's just playing!  

Noel has solid letter recognition skills. He confidently recognizes both lower case and upper case letters and on some, Noel is able to associate the sounds they represent. He is able to hear and identify rhymes and can generate his own, e.g., sit-mit, fun-cun, hog-nog. Using the name cards, Noel is able to practice name recognition skills as well as sight vocabulary.