This week we learned about how and why the Pilgrims sailed to North American on the Mayflower. We looked at photographs of the Mayflower II, a replica of the original in Plymouth, MA. My boys and I visited the ship a few years ago and so the photographs include both of them. My class always enjoys hearing about my boys since they are also students at the school.
We talked about how little the Pilgrims were able to bring on the ship because space was very limited. I use this as a writing prompt every year and the answers the students had this year were amusing. Most kids say they would bring their favorite stuffed animal. This year one little guy matter of factly told us he would bring his undies. I tried my best to keep a straight face, but it was tough! One little guy (who is learning English) said he would bring X and Y, my two boys! I couldn't tell if he said that because he thinks it would be fun to go with them or if he just wanted to write about what he saw in the picture. It's so hard to tell what is in a child's brain!
This afternoon we made paper versions of the Mayflower. It was the perfect way to end the week - lots of cutting and pasting! They were so excited to make their own Mayflowers and there would have been mutiny if I tried to keep their Mayflowers for a bulletin board display!
We had a little extra time so they asked if they could draw Pilgrims on their Mayflowers. I love to walk around and have them explain their pictures:
This (pointing to a circle) is the CANON!
I drew rope that goes to the sails and this guy (pointing to guy with giant hands) is working!
This is the plank.
I put bad guys on my ship!
My ship has a flag!
Mine has a anchor!
Mine too!
They weren't historically accurate, but their enthusiasm was priceless.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Growth Charts
While other moms complained that their babies would only wear an outfit once or twice before the child grew out of it, I kept quiet. I was dressing my 6 month old in 3-6 months sized clothes because he finally outgrew the 0-3 months size. When he was a toddler he was tested for growth hormone deficiency. He was just so small and seemed to grow so slowly that we had concerns. Turned out he didn't have growth hormone deficiency - just vertically challenged parents! At every doctor appointment my son's growth was charted and our kind pediatrician would say - "He's on his own path and making progress. As long as he makes progress everything is fine."
Today I met with parents of students who are still struggling to learn their letters. Inevitably they ask the question for which they don't really want to know the answer, "Does my child have a learning disability?" To these anxious parents I answer honestly - "It's too soon to tell." Because it is too soon too tell - we don't have enough information yet. I explain to the parents that learning to read and write is a developmental and individual process.
Ask yourself this question - how old are children when they learn to walk? Did you think of an exact age? No, you probably thought of a range of possibilities. Some children learn to walk at nine months while other children are not independent walkers until fifteen to eighteen months. In a room full of ten month old children you may have a few crawlers, a few cruisers (walking while holding on to furniture), a few tentative walkers, and some runners. Of course there may be some more variations in between! It's all very developmental and individual. So is the acquisition of literacy.
It's important to keep in mind the developmental nature of literacy acquisition despite the pressure to have students reading when they enter first grade. Even though our little ones won't take their first state sponsored assessment until third grade, the effect of high stakes testing has changed Kindergarten.
During my student teaching fourteen years ago, my mentor teacher encouraged me to spend time in the Kindergarten classroom. I loved visiting this classroom. The decorations were so cheerful an brightly colored. There was a huge, multicolored carpet with a rocking chair for story-time. One corner of the room had a few small tables with tiny chairs. The rest of the classroom was taken up by the housekeeping center, the dress-up center, a huge bookshelf of blocks with a building area, a puzzles place, a painting easel, and lots of age-appropriate games.
My Kindergarten classroom looks more like a first grade classroom. Half of our classroom is set up with tables and chairs for seat work. There is a huge carpet with a rocking chair for group work. I have a few puzzles and games, but only when inclement weather forces us to stay inside for recess do we have the opportunity to use them. Our focus is on academics.
On the one hand, I feel strongly that we should have high expectations in our classrooms and that students can rise to the challenge. The last two years, teaching in Lake Wobegone showed me how far some children can fly. This year I see a number of my students who are not developmentally ready for the content of our curriculum. This doesn't mean they have learning disabilities, it just means they're not ready. Just like child who walks at 15 months - he walked when he was ready.
I always feel bad that I cannot completely alleviate a parent's anxiety regarding learning disabilities. Students in Kindergarten are just beginning to learn, oftentimes there isn't enough data to know whether or not there is a disability. Like my son's pediatrician, I just keep monitoring their personal growth charts.
At the age of three, my child finally joined the ranks of all the other children his age as his height landed him ON the growth chart. Of course, he's still one of the shortest kids in his grade, but so were his parents.
Today I met with parents of students who are still struggling to learn their letters. Inevitably they ask the question for which they don't really want to know the answer, "Does my child have a learning disability?" To these anxious parents I answer honestly - "It's too soon to tell." Because it is too soon too tell - we don't have enough information yet. I explain to the parents that learning to read and write is a developmental and individual process.
Ask yourself this question - how old are children when they learn to walk? Did you think of an exact age? No, you probably thought of a range of possibilities. Some children learn to walk at nine months while other children are not independent walkers until fifteen to eighteen months. In a room full of ten month old children you may have a few crawlers, a few cruisers (walking while holding on to furniture), a few tentative walkers, and some runners. Of course there may be some more variations in between! It's all very developmental and individual. So is the acquisition of literacy.
It's important to keep in mind the developmental nature of literacy acquisition despite the pressure to have students reading when they enter first grade. Even though our little ones won't take their first state sponsored assessment until third grade, the effect of high stakes testing has changed Kindergarten.
During my student teaching fourteen years ago, my mentor teacher encouraged me to spend time in the Kindergarten classroom. I loved visiting this classroom. The decorations were so cheerful an brightly colored. There was a huge, multicolored carpet with a rocking chair for story-time. One corner of the room had a few small tables with tiny chairs. The rest of the classroom was taken up by the housekeeping center, the dress-up center, a huge bookshelf of blocks with a building area, a puzzles place, a painting easel, and lots of age-appropriate games.
My Kindergarten classroom looks more like a first grade classroom. Half of our classroom is set up with tables and chairs for seat work. There is a huge carpet with a rocking chair for group work. I have a few puzzles and games, but only when inclement weather forces us to stay inside for recess do we have the opportunity to use them. Our focus is on academics.
On the one hand, I feel strongly that we should have high expectations in our classrooms and that students can rise to the challenge. The last two years, teaching in Lake Wobegone showed me how far some children can fly. This year I see a number of my students who are not developmentally ready for the content of our curriculum. This doesn't mean they have learning disabilities, it just means they're not ready. Just like child who walks at 15 months - he walked when he was ready.
I always feel bad that I cannot completely alleviate a parent's anxiety regarding learning disabilities. Students in Kindergarten are just beginning to learn, oftentimes there isn't enough data to know whether or not there is a disability. Like my son's pediatrician, I just keep monitoring their personal growth charts.
At the age of three, my child finally joined the ranks of all the other children his age as his height landed him ON the growth chart. Of course, he's still one of the shortest kids in his grade, but so were his parents.
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