Pumpkin Patch Writing

After our field trip to the pumpkin patch, we did this writing activity to begin getting ready for paragraph writing in First grade. This activity is very "doable" for Kindergarteners and we use it again and again throughout the year. We add more writing as we become more capable.
First, we talk about the field trip. We decide together what word works best in our topic sentence, and we all write it. (I use the overhead projector.)
Then, we discuss what we did after we got to the pumpkin patch. I always have students whisper among themselves before raising hands. This gives more people an idea to share, and people who like to share every idea a chance to talk to someone. I call on a couple of people, and we choose an idea.
In this example, it is "First, we walked through the corn maize." After we draw our pictures, we go back and read what we have so far.
We continued on with the other two boxes using the same routine: whisper, share a few answers, choose an answer, draw it, read what we have so far.
The other boxes were, "Then, we picked a pumpkin." & "Finally, we got back on the bus."
Last, we choose a word for our closing sentence, and reread the entire paragraph.

More Chicka

Another fun activity we did for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom was to make a 3-D tree book. We used toilet paper tubes for the trunk and cut the fronds in the same way as on the art page. The students used white glue to attach the fronds and the pom pom coconuts.
Inside the tree we either had a long piece of adding machine tape with the alphabet written on it (if we were feeling very smart) or a page that had the alphabet typed on it that they traced. If they chose the tracing alphabet, I had to cut the page into strips and staple them together before rolling it up to insert into the tube.
But guess what I caught some of my little geniuses were doing? They were putting the adding machine tape on top of the tracing page and tracing right through! So, next year everyone will use the adding machine tape and trace over an alphabet page.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Art

One of our favorite books for September is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. We especially like to sing along with the CD. If you do not have it, you should rush right over to amazon and get it. It is even worth the shipping fees! We sing/read this book every day after lunch for a good 2-3 weeks. One of our favorite exploration (choice) time activities is to sit on the teacher's chair and hold the book while the song plays on the CD. We also make this adorable art page for our art/writing memory books.
We start with a 12x18 inch piece of orange paper. An adult glues a 10x16 piece of white to the center and adds the pink dots on the border. I use a circle punch for the dots.
First, the kids make a torn paper trunk from a brown rectangle. (Tearing paper is super difficult for K students in September, but I make lots of extra pieces for kids who need to try again.)
Next, the kids cut 3-5 fronds for their tree. They "cut the corners off" then "take some bites" out of the sides.
After that, they add 2 red coconuts. (These are precut using a larger circle punch)
Finally, they add letter stickers "climbing" up their coconut tree. My partner, Diane, used foam letters on hers this year, and they look really cute too. (Hi, Diane!)

Sweetness

So, I have five little boys in my class who are bilingual, or are working on becoming so. They all have varying ranges of ability in English. All five are sweet and helpful and work really hard to figure out what is going on. Last week when I was teaching my reading group, I looked over at the library where my 5 little guys were (since they worked really hard and were finished with their letter page) and my little Joaquin was holding up the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book and they were all gathered around him singing their alphabet song. It was the highlight of my week.

Promise to be back this week with some fun fall updates.

Chart Writing

There is so much to say about writing in Kindergarten. It is such a HUGE task to teach the concepts of word, letter, segmenting, complete sentence, punctuation. In California, our BIG standard for writing is (and this is my version) to write a complete sentence using sight words and phonetic spelling to convey an idea you have in your head. The easiest route is to stick to "I see ____" and "I like _____" and "I can _____" sentences without ever using sentences from inside the students' heads. I use these sentences at times for scaffolding, but my eventual goal is to have the student write down a sentence the way they would say it.
One of the step I use to get them there is a weekly chart of sentences. Each week there is a sentence prompt.... The first one is "I am (name)."
In preparation, before the student's get to class you write the "I am" part of the chart... I use 2 colors and alternate, so the sentences are easier to distinguish.
On Monday you write your sentence at the top of the chart.
"I am Mrs. Bergenske."
You choose students one at a time to tell you their idea (in this chart it's a little silly, as it's only their name) and you do half of your class. For me this is 11 students.
On Tuesday you write the other half of the class. (11 more students)
On Wednesday, you use a special pointer and each child comes up and reads his or her sentence out loud while tracking it on the chart.
On Thursday, you write a few (4-6) sentences on sentence strips then cut the words apart. The students take turns coming up in front of the class and reassembling the sentences. They hold the word in front of their tummy and when I tap them on the head, they hold it up and we all read in unison. The child who dictated the sentence gets to take it home.
On Friday, we make a class book page. Each student has his or her sentence typed out on the computer. He or she cuts the strip in between each word, then glues it onto the top line of the paper. They copy the sentence on the next line, then illustrate it.
This activity is very multi-level. It helps with concept of a word, left to right progression, tracking, starting with a capital, ending with a "stop sign" (period), putting spaces between words, reading and writing sight words,etc. I have developed this from the Four Blocks Guide to Literacy which you can access at this website

http://www.four-blocks.com/kindergarten.htm

Here is a sample of a chart from the week we began studying colors.
Some other topics I use for charts are...
October: I like (color). For Halloween I will be... Bats are.... My pumpkin is .....
November: I am thankful for... I like (food). There are (#) people in my family. I have a (pet).
December: ________ is my friend. I want (gift). My wish for the world is...
January: If it snowed, I would... Penguins.... A _________ lives in the Arctic. I have a dream that....
February: I love... George Washington..... Abraham Lincoln....

For the sentences about penguins, arctic animals, presidents, etc., I try to read at least a few non fiction books on this topic before having them contribute to the chart.

Good Luck and Happy Writing!

October Fun

So this is my October bulletin board from 2007. I change it little by little throughout the month, until it eventually looks something like this.
I hand cut and laminated the pieces of the scarecrow from butcher paper a couple of years ago using Margaret Wise Brown's The Littlest Scarecrow as a model. The leaves are fingerpainted by the students (using a similar technique as the apples, below). They paint a piece of fingerpaint paper using 2-3 fall colors, then I have an adult or Jr. High helper trace the leaf template and cut them out. I write their names on them with a big permanent marker.
The pumpkins are fingerpainted using red and yellow paint mixed together. I just cut these out any old pumpkin-y shape after they dry. The vine is brown butcher paper twisted up and stapled to the board.
Since we go to the pumpkin patch each year for our first field trip, and they have sunflowers there, we add sunflowers as well. For each sunflower I give the students a brown square which they round into a circle by cutting the corners off (TLC style... if you are not familiar with this company you can google it, they are great!) Then they have several yellow rectangles which they cut into petal shapes. We add a stem and leaves, also cut from rectangles. The best part is when we glue the REAL sunflower seeds to the center. They can outline the brown circle or fill it in or make a design.
The last piece of art is the crows. I created this pattern from an old toll painted crow from the 90's. I really loved toll painting back then! It has a large black heart for the body, 2 smaller black hearts for the wings, a circular head with a "top notch" of feathers, a triangle beak and 2 yellow heart feet. We add big googly eyes to give it a little more character.
The writing I add to the October wall is a chart about pumpkin growth. I hand wrote it on chart paper then laminated it so I can reuse it each year. It says: How a pumpkin grows... First, it is a ___________. (seed) Then, it is a _________. (sprout) Next, it is a ___________. (flower) Finally, it is a _______. (pumpkin) On Halloween it will be a __________! (jack o lantern) Love, Mrs. Bergenske's Class Before each blank is a picture of the item that goes on the line. Five lucky students get to come up and be the "recorders" while we sound out the items that go on the line. We so this as a class and use phonetic spelling to help them practice segmenting and recording the sounds they hear.

So what do you do for your October bulletin boards? I'd love to get some comments with photos or links!! Happy teaching!