Kindergarten Today--Living Things Journal
Today started per usual with Calendar Time and review. Before we really got going I gave Aubree a little "spelling pre-test" and she spelled "the, "a," and "of" correctly--it's important to me to monitor what they're actually absorbing to determine a pace.
We played a game for math that they LOVED which consisted of me holding up a number (we're doing one to ten recognition) and them doing that number of an activity. I started with things like jumping jacks and somersaults and progressed to touching your nose, touching your partner's nose, etc. It dissolved into giggles pretty quickly after that.
Eventually, we got to science and I got to introduce something I've been excited about since I thought of it: Living Things Journals.
In my overactive imagination, I pictured these being a fun and interesting way to include art, hand writing, and animal and plant classification in science and it turns out--it worked perfectly!! I got these little composition books at Walmart for a dollar apiece. They're hard-backed because I plan on them encountering quite a bit of wear and tear. Being in and around the Arizona terrain on almost a weekly basis gives us oppurtunities see all kinds of wildlife so I'd like the girls to document what we come across. Since we are still talking about pets, I asked them to draw a picture of our dog.
Raulee's:
Then, without even explaining the concept of the Living Things Journals, Aubree asked to go outside and look for more animals to draw! It's like this kid can read my mind... She rushed outside and found a few birds and a butterfly and began comparing and contrasting them. It seriously could not have gone more perfectly.
If you can't tell-I'm nerdily excited about these... I am also impressed, on a daily basis, how much more my girls WANT to learn. This is something I read about, but I thought it was too good to be true. I am allowing them to dictate a little more in our activities if they are interested in doing so. So far, I'm having a very good experience and couldn't be happier.
Aubree's printing skills are great! You can really tell that you work a lot with them! I love the journal idea! Do they also keep writing journals. It's a great way to have them practice their "writing" skills, whether it be drawing a picture, drawing and labeling, or writing through inventive spelling (and having them read what they wrote). As their letter identification and phonetics improve, so will their spelling skills. Keep up the great work! Can't wait to read your next blog entry!
ReplyDeleteBarb S.
Thanks! Aubree does have a Starfall journal where she draws a picture then writes a sentence or two underneath by trying to sound it out. It's pretty cool but at this point I don't have it in a regular schedule--more like an every once in awhile thing. She actually doesn't like to write! I think that's why I was so excited today when she wanted to keep writing.
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