Our First Week: Figuring Out How School Works

We stared out our year by creating a family/ school connection by having parents write their hopes and dreams for their child on a ribbon and help their child weave it on our class loom.  This loom will be displayed in our room all year as a reminder of the hopes and dreams for them from their parents. 

Our first week of school was spent figuring out how shcool works.  We have many materials to explore that many kids have never used! We also have a lot of new friends who have never worked together before! Most of our new friends have never been in a school setting for a full day!  Many have never been separated from their parents for a full day. All of these factors can lead to many problems that need solutions very quickly!  

Most of our time was spent getting to know each other and learning how to use the materials in our room. We have been reading stories that teach us about characteristics we need for our classroom to work such as respect for people, places (our room) and things (our materials), responsibility for taking care of our materials and putting them away, empathy for our new friends, being helpful, handling frustration (we don't always get what we want) and becoming problem solvers. 

We have been slowly introducing all of the areas in our room and practicing respecting and taking care of the materials in each area. If they do not respect the materials, they are not allowed to explore that area until they show me in other areas of the room that they can handle it.  As teachers, we are observing and documenting what we notice. Who is not easily frustrated if they don't get their way? Who helps others in need? Who takes responsibility for helping clean up? We are also noticing interests to get ideas for future inquiries.  

It is amazing what the kids will start exploring based on the materials provided! Here are some examples of the learning happening purely through exploration.  

Below we see some friends who wanted to show us how they could create sound in different ways in the block area, which is in our science standards. This was completely on their own without teacher guidance. 

In the clay area, the child below was showing me that she could make heavy lines and light lines based on the pressure she applied! 

There was a lot of exploration of texture in the clay area, along with some creating!

Below, a child didn't have enough clay to create the different textures.  Her friends were not willing to give their clay up for her to use. She then came up with the idea of creating smaller pieces.  Problem solving at its finest!

Some explored Symetry in the loose parts area, again, no guidance from the teachers! They did this on their own!

Some created self portraits. 

And some came up with different types of creations. I love the concentration and focus on their faces when they work in this area!

A lot of documentation took place in this area and at our "Look Closer" table. 

They were practicing observational skills at the Look Closer table. I loved listening to what they had noticed!

Many enjoyed exploring measurement! I thought it interesting that even though I had objects available for nonstandard measurement, every single child picked the real tools to explore with with! It proves that they prefer real tools rather than those "made for children."

They enjoyed exploring sound through our xylophone. One child chose to try to make his own!  He ran into some problems and it fell apart, but he told me that he will try again (Persistance!!!)

We notices an awful lot of children exploring balance on their own!

At the writing station, one friend was inspired to write a story using symbols. I was amazed that rather than copying the example, he created his own symbols to tell his stories! Of coarse we had to let him share his story with the class!

Below they are incorporating writing into the book area. I never told them to, I just had some clipboards, paper and colors available for them there. Some wrote their own stories, some made their favorite parts of stories they read. 

They also explored materials in our literacy trays...

and our math trays. 

All of this in just one week!!  We have noticed that most of our new friends have been showing both respect and responsibility when it comes to using our materials for exploring!  I have been very proud of how well they are learning to work together and get along!  I know that we are going to have an amazing year!

Welcome to a New Year of Kindergarten: A Tour of Important Areas of Our Room

After a long hiatus from blogging, I am back!  First I want to welcome all the new parents to our blog! Because there will not be much in the way of worksheets coming home to show you what we do each day, this will be the place where you can see the amazing things and the learning that goes on here in Kindergarten! I want to start out by showing you some areas in our room and explaining to you why they are so important for your child's learning experience. 

Here is a glance at our environment! I have worked to create a calming environment that provides experiences that encourage the children to learn, no matter where they go in our room! The walls are mostly bare waiting for the kids creations!

Materials are shared in the middle of the tables. Colors are separated to allow for more deliberate choice of colors when drawing, documenting and writing. 

Materials for art, science and projects were categorized by my students last year and are displayed where we can grab them when needed!

Here is the library with some friendship art created by past classes. These will be taken down to create room for their own art here and displayed permmenantly in the hallway to preserve some of this rooms history!

The writing area is ready for them to start recording their stories on paper! They will also use writing here in many authentic ways such as letter writing, creating cards, lists, writing books, documentation of what they notice, and so much more!

Our "Look Closer" table for now is filled with some random items to get an idea of where their interests lie and to start conversations. Kids can document what they see, think, wonder and notice. As time goes on, this table may have more specific items relating to an inquiry the kids are involved in, or items brought in by the kids that they want to get a closer look at.  

We have a Studio of the Arts Area in our room!  The arts are so important in developing motor skills, language development, decision making, visual learning, inventiveness, and creativity! All of these are important skills needed in the 21st Century! The easil is an area where we explore many different medias that can be use for art such as paint, pastels, watercolor, stamping, weaving, and much more!

This is the clay area. We are starting out with Playdough. I can't wait to see what type of sculptures they will create! For now I laid out some rolling pins to roll the dough and make imprints.  Many kids love using sculptures to document things they have learned during inquiries! It is a great way to develope their finger muscles!

Music is also an art! I set out some items for them to explore sound with and see what they notice and what they can create! I will add paper and clipboards for them to document what they wonder, see, notice and learn!

This is our loose parts area. I set out a few items to get their creative juices flowing! This area helps kids create plans, problem solve and use fine motor skills.  Many math and literacy skills end up happening at this station naturally!

This is an area to explore measurement!

Here is an area to explore patterns.

These are our math shelves with manipulatives and math trays. 

These are our Literacy shelves with trays filled with literacy experiences. 

This is our Engineering Area. Here they come up with plans, collaborate, problem solve, create, design, test their designs and build. So many 21st Century Skills are learned here!  Block play also encourages children to start making predictions and comparisons. They will also experiment with cause and effect, stability and balance. They will learn about gravity and force and motion!

Also available in the Engineering Area are Legos, K'nex, pattern blocks, rocks and natural blocks that I made from a Cedar tree that fell in my backyard.

Our Homeliving Area is where the kids practice real life situations. Here they will use many math and literacy skills as they create jobs and life situations.  A lot of important social skills are learned here also!  Sharing, taking turns, cooperating, impulse control, and dealling with disappointment. They will problem solve, negotiate, organize and plan. This area will change according to interests, inquiries and projects that will go on in our room!

I am excited to see how our room will change as the students make this room theirs through the year! Next week, I will show you what the first week of kindergarten looks like in our room!