Snapshots of the Week

Taking apart the mixer to fix it

Concentrating in science

Trying new foods

Eating pomegranates for snack

Carie Szalay and Virginia talking fossils

Where are the fossils?

Paleontology is cold work

The reading house in process of being created

Turning the box into an airplane

Sometimes an airplane - other times Santa's sleigh

Art history usually comes in college - not so with Bill Cromar, who gave us art history, girls' style, in kindergarten

Cozy and listening intently to Bill 

The seat of honor when listening to your dad

Word for word dictated thank you note to Bill

What do writers do

They take the stories in their heads and put them on paper.

They practice their handwriting so others can read what they write.

They try to remember three things.

They concentrate.

They help each other with sounds.

They share their writing tools, such as crayons, while illustrating the story.

They read to each other.

They listen to each other.

They share ideas.

Learning to be a reader

People who love to read love books of all kinds and that is what I hope for the girls - that they discover the joy of being immersed in a good book, with a constant, slightly tipping pile of more books they want to read right next to them and that they learn to follow their interests and grow their passions through reading.  

Learning to read in kindergarten is hard work but from hard work comes much joy, pride and a blossoming confidence in yourself.  As with lots of things, learning to read takes practice, practice, practice.  Most mornings after circle, we gather together for a mini lesson about reading, and then the girls get to the business of being readers.  Our lessons will range from talking about where we love to read to how to find a just right book to what you do when you cannot read a word.  

With book baskets by their sides, the girls move to find their spots of comfort. We keep the habits simple so they are easy to remember.  The photographs below illustrate the habits we have been working on. Although there are lots of places where children encounter text, such as the computer, in the grocery store, reading signs in the hallway, we are focusing on the ways you can read a book.  Sometimes the books are simple with a few words on each page, and other times, the books are complex picture books with beautiful illustrations or books filled with photographs.   Each time we settle in to read, the girls are encouraged to read in the ways illustrated below. 

Find your own space.

Read the words.

Retell the story.

Look at the pictures.

Read to a friend, knee to knee and elbow to elbow.

When you read knee to knee and elbow to elbow, you can see the pages of your friend's book.

Teamwork

Mr. Grogan, Lower School math specialist, came to do math work on the SMART board the other day.  He wanted the girls to give the answers one-by-one.  They could not do it – not because they do not know the answers.  They love to have the answers, and they can think.  They couldn’t give the answers one-by-one because they are developing the habits of helping each out and thinking collaboratively.  They were paying attention the whole time.  You have to if you are going to help a friend.  They were not just waiting until their name was called to think.  After several minutes, Mr. Grogan looked at me and said, “You have quite a team.”  I couldn’t agree more or be more thrilled for them.

The examples of working as a team come often in our class.

Karen Kolka noticed a difference in the way the girls work together on the laptops.  They are much more likely to help each other solve a problem now.  Lots of people say when children are on laptops, they are not socializing.  Not so.  Give two children one laptop to share and watch the collaboration blossom.  Upper School believes in the one-to-one laptop program.  I believe in the one-to-two laptop program:  one laptop to two girls.  Then, they have to work as a team.

Often we fill five minutes here and there with a game.  It’s Mrs. Trueblood against the girls.  The other day I tried filling the five minutes with a straight Q and A review of the seasons, months and days of the week.  After about two questions, someone on the side, politely but honestly, told me, “This isn’t a very fun game.”  They were right.  I asked if they wanted to play against me.  YES!  When they compete against me, they operate as a team.   They are all thinking all the time.

In our traditional ways of education, this teamwork is exactly what the teachers frowned upon, and you might be worrying why I think it is okay if they help each other think.  There are lots of times when the girls turn their own thoughts into a solo product but to work as a team takes a much more complex set of skills than working alone.  It takes listening, empathy, speaking skills, negotiating, management of your body in space, and patience to produce teamwork.  When Chris Lehmann spoke to the faculty on in-service day, he described working collaboratively as an essential skill for the future.  “We have to care what kids can do together.  That’s where they synthesize.”  Collaboration is a key skill in 2010 and beyond.  The world’s problems are not being solved by an individual.  Could one individual have solved the oil spill in the gulf?  Teams of people are tackling the world’s problems. 

Just try to get one girl in our class to solve a problem.  It probably won’t happen.  Something richer and better will happen.  I hope this is the beginning of a lifetime of caring, imaginative, intelligent teamwork. ~Kristin

Guess who

The girls learned how to use Photo Booth, and each one took a picture of herself.  See if you can figure out who each photo is.   They picked out their own special effects.  Think of it as technological Halloween disguises.

Discovering the colors of fall