SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL: V.I.P., Sense of Self

Young children love to share their treasures and are very eager to do just that. Show and Tell is not just about giving them the opportunity to bring their special item(s) from home but a chance for children to hone their communication skills. Each child’s social, emotional and language skills will grow and develop from this activity as they increase their confidence, learn to use descriptive language, practice listening skills, and learn how to ask inquiry based questions. Sharing the things that are important in a child’s life with their friends at school connects their worlds of ‘home and school’ in such a meaningful way. Learning more about each other helps build a classroom “family” community as well as makes for a fun and comfortable learning environment for everyone involved.

We value the individuality of each child in our Cardinal class and have created an activity in which each child can celebrate his/her uniqueness. But, instead of calling it the Show-n-Tell week, we have named it the VIP Week as we feel every child should feel like a “Very Important Person”! Noel’s V.I.P. week was on March 10^th through the 14^th of 2014 and here are the items he shared with us.

·        A collage of photographs of his “friend”, Charlie, who “lives in North Carolina with Aunt Martha and Uncle Gary”.  

·        His favorite Christmas tree ornament, The Beatles

·        His favorite book that “belonged to my sister and she gave it to me.”

·        His impressive Michael Jackson moves while wearing his fedora hat and dancing to Billie Jean

·        A series of books about  a lion named Mooka that he authored and his dad illustrated along with a special snack to culminate his VIP week

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.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT: Bodily-Kinesthetic

During our Shape Walk around campus, the Cardinals were challenged to create a shape. Arranged into small groups of four, each group was given a basic geometrical shape and their task was to make that shape using their bodies.  

Not only is this a way to asses basic geometric shape recognition and formation, but this activity also helped Noel learn about body awareness and the use of his limbs. This seemingly simple and creative activity required the use of Noel’s creative-thinking, language skills, spatial awareness, and interpersonal intelligence as he used his body to create a square.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Mathematics, Shapes

Throughout their early years, children notice and explore mathematical dimensions of their world. They compare quantities, find patterns, navigate in space, and grapple with real problems such as balancing a tall block building or sharing a bowl of pretzels fairly with a friend. Mathematics helps children make sense of their world outside of school and helps them construct a solid foundation for success in school.

Throughout his school day, Noel is provided with endless opportunities to develop and enhance his mathematical skills. An example is the introduction of our math workshops. We launched our first Math Workshop with the mathematical concept of plane geometry, 2-D shapes. We first read Tana Hoban’s book, circles, triangles and squares. 

  

Using no text, this book introduces the geometric concepts of circles, triangles and squares demonstrated in photographs of bridges, buildings, windows, tires, boats, and other objects. After the read aloud, the Cardinals had a discussion on basic geometric shapes and their characteristics. After the thought-provoking discussion on two dimensional geometry shapes, the Cardinals set out to attend the workshops.

One station was set up with Shape Bingo ....

Another was the Playdough Shape Station with circle, square and rectangle cookie cutters.

Additional was a Shape Stamping Station where Noel and the other Cardinals were encouraged to make a bird using 2-D shape stamps.

Lastly was the Rock Shape Challenge Station in the Rock Sculpting Center where Noel and the other Cardinals picked a challenge and created the design using rocks.  

Throughout all these activities, Noel demonstrated his exceptional recognition of basic geometric shapes such as square, circle, rectangle, triangle and oval.

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.