Month by Month Reading and Writing for Kindergarten |
The Teacher's Guide to the Building Blocks |
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aggie/1/ca - do you do Building Blocks?
Mrs S too - I am an advocate of Building Blocks I don't have a class this year yet tho
Mrs S too - came to learn more
aggie/1/ca - I'm trying to do BB w/a transitional first grade class this year.....one where most of the class is not fluent in English. I'm having some difficulties!
Mrs S too - what about you?
aggie/1/ca - ((((((((pezzie!)))))))))) Glad to see ya!
Mrs S too - why are you using it in first grade? have these kids been in K using it?
pez - I'm seeing great gains from my kids already
Mrs S too - or are u using it because they are non english speakers and need to lkearn K skills in English?
aggie/1/ca - Mrs. S----- they are kids who could have been retained in K but weren't for various reasons. So I'm doing a K re-dux until Christmas.
pez - aggie, you watch how much they will learn by Dec.
aggie/1/ca - most of them are at a pre-school level academically.
aggie/1/ca - I know they've learned a lot already, pez....I just panic at the thoughts of getting them where I want them to be by the end of the year!
pez - My 2 lowest children (alphabet rec. wise) went from knowing 5 letters to 10
pez - aggie, what reading level do you have to have them at
aggie/1/ca - Well, pez........I'll be happy with just having them READING by May! LOL!
Mrs S too - well nothing is posting that I write
aggie/1/ca - Now it is, Mrs S!
pez - My new boy is fascinated with books. I have to wonder if he's ever seen a book in his house
pez - Mrs. S., do you teach K?
aggie/1/ca - Poor little guy......but maybe that's how you'll "hook" him!
Mrs S too - what I ahd said before . . . .sicne young kids learn languages very fast compared to adults I would think the phonemes of BB would be great way to go with them. Did their K teacher(s) use BB last year for them?
Mrs S too - I used to
pez - Mrs. S., i had great success last year using BBwith my ESL kids.
Mrs S too - pez I would think so
aggie/1/ca - No, Mrs S------ I'm a lone ranger.....
Mrs S too - so aggie, did they have BB in K?
Mrs S too - o that is tough
Mrs S too - maybe they would not be in this class if they ahd ahd BB in K
aggie/1/ca - I'm a lone ranger in my DISTRICT!
pez - aggie, that's a shame. Most of us in K do BB, no one in 1st and my sister does 4 Blocks in 2nd. Nothing to build on
Mrs S too - good for U aggie
Mrs S too - o no!
aggie/1/ca - I agree, Mrs S------- our K's are just sooooooo into phonics, phonics, phonics------- and more phonics!
pez - In your district? wow
aggie/1/ca - they are very ditto driven
pez - I get more phonics out of my morning message then I have time for
pez - ((((((((((((((REI))))))))))
Mrs S too - think maybe principals should get trained in BB I remember one year the principal gave us all 4 Blcoks book and said use it! I told her I already used BB for K and that 4 blocks was inappropriate for K
Mrs S too - hi REI
aggie/1/ca - Yup, pez! Which is why I'm sooooo anxious to do more workshops. Hopefully I'll have some people try it and we can talk more people into doing it, too.
Mrs S too - K don't need dittos
Mrs S too - or very few
REI - Hi Everyone!
aggie/1/ca - sounds typical, Mrs. S
pez - The only dittos my kids take home are the ones that have our morning message on so the parents can see what we've written
aggie/1/ca - ((((((((((((((((((((((((((REI!))))))))))))))))))))))))
Mrs S too - but phonics is a part of the BB program
Mrs S too - hey have to remember that phonemes is a big part of phonics
Mrs S too - they
aggie/1/ca - Yeah.......I hope the parents know that I'm working my but off w/these kiddos----- cos they don't have a whole lot going home each night!
pez - aggie, I know exactly what you mean
Mrs S too - didn't u have a parent mtg? when u discussed BB program?
aggie/1/ca - As I told someone recently--- "Yes! Phonics INSTRUCTION is very effective! But phonics DITTOS are not!".........I was a bit hot under the collar at the time......
pez - Yes, Mrs., but parents still want to see something go home in their book bags
aggie/1/ca - Mrs S------ I did! I had 4 show up! And not a one of 'em spoke English!
Mrs S too - sad aggie
REI - Great response, Aggie!
aggie/1/ca - REI----- it was to our lousy excuse for a school psychologist----- who has NEVER been in my room----- but who has decided I'm a lousy teacher.......
pez - REI, I was telling aggie before, after we write our m message we play I SPy. The kids tell me "I Spy 2 and's and we circle it, Today they found 'We' in Wednesday
Mrs S too - pez sounds wonderful
pez - I have one little one that doesn't know what a t and an o look like but she can recognize 'to' because we write it everyday
Cecilia from Peru - We are beginning to use BB in our kindergarten - a Peruvian British school so for my kids it is ESL
Mrs S too - I think you might put out a weekly newsletter that explains what u are doing in class and also some things the parents could do to reinforce -- that will explain why lots of hands on and not lots of "handouts" going home
aggie/1/ca - Cecillia!!!! Same for me! My kiddos are mainly hispanic----- but I also have one Vietnamese.
Mrs S too - neat pez it is these little discoveries that will help them with the individual letters and sounds too
myrtelisa - i love the idea of BB for "foreign" language instruction as well.
Mrs S too - well until the little ones learn to read and write our english language, it is foreign
Mrs S too - Did you guys start BB the first day of school?
pez - Yes, I did
myrtelisa - I'm going to try looking for words in words, maybe popcorn words tomorrow! thanks folks. the whole teachers net site is so good at passing on good ideas! ciao for now!
REI - Most of our teachers do
pez - The Getting to know you activities are a great way to start
aggie/1/ca - REI------ I copied and pasted that IM stuff into an email to me at school!
Mrs S too - are u guys half day K or whold day (I know one is first . . .)
pez - Full day
Cecilia from Peru - We are going to use BB starting next year so any recom. for ESL Kindergarteners is welcome
aggie/1/ca - Our K's are only half day----- and have 30 or more students!
Mrs S too - wow
REI - The stuff I shared about predictable charts...
Mrs S too - I thought CA had gone 20-1
pez - I don't know how they do that. Do they have an aide?
aggie/1/ca - Cecillia------ do you have the BB book? I read it 2x the summer before school started
aggie/1/ca - It has, Mrs. S----- but there's a loophole for K.......very sad.
pez - Our pred. chart is about fire prevention this week. "I will not touch a _____"
aggie/1/ca - Nope, pez! No aides!
laura - I teach 1/2 days
Mrs S too - I keep reding the book because it gives me morre insights each time I do
aggie/1/ca - Now! I have a question about the charts----- what do you do if 2 kids say the same thing? Do you make the 2nd one think of something else?
Mrs S too - when I taught K in so CA we had team teacher s and taught half days and each ahd an aide
laura - yes, i do
pez - No, they can have the same sentence
aggie/1/ca - All my Pat C books are bookmarked and flagged and nearly trashed!
laura - I have trouble fitting in everything
pez - at least the way I do it
REI - Aggie...nI don't early in the year.
aggie/1/ca - what district in CA, Mrs. S? I'm in Fullerton, in orange county.
Mrs S too - I am just wonderinf if we shouldn't photocopy and put the pages in a binder and save the book for re-photocopying??? wonder if you could do that?
REI - Geesh...I need to stop eating Oreo's so I can type correctly.
aggie/1/ca - Really! OH! That would help a LOT!!!!
Mrs S too - lausd then
Cecilia from Peru - The BB book i have is The Teachers Guide to Building Blocks by Dorothy Hall and Elaine Williams. Is that the one you mean by the BB book?
pez - Cecilia, that's one of the books
Mrs S too - Williams doesn't sound right . . .
aggie/1/ca - Yes, Cecillia! It's WONNNDERFUL! You might also get the month by month phonics for K by Pat Cunningham and Dorothy Hall. It's also helpful!
aggie/1/ca - Actually----- the K book has a different title, doesn't it?
REI - Yes it is Elaine Williams.
aggie/1/ca - Yes, Mrs. S------ it's Elaine Williams----- REI and I have met her!
Mrs S too - ok sorry I don't have mine in front of me
Mrs S too - great
REI - Reading and Writing in Kindergarten
aggie/1/ca - That's it------- R and W in Kindergarten.
REI - That is the MxM Kinder book.
aggie/1/ca - Hiya Vic! Do you teach K?
Cecilia from Peru - I'm so glad I joined the chat room. What other book do you recommend?
Vic - Hi everyone. I teach k-3 special needs, self-contained.
pez - I'm on my 3rd round of Getting to Know You activities. Now we take the special person's name and create a web of words that begin with the same sound as the child's name. They love it
Mrs S too - pez how long u been in school to be on the third round already?
pez - Since Aug, 7
Vic - pez, what a great idea. Is that in one of the books
laura - we are sharing pictures of our families
REI - Hmmmm...our Kinder teachers are starting their 2nd cycle right now.
pez - Vic, not sure, I make things up as I go along. I haven't read the book since last summer
pez - Trying to think of 4th round stuff to do
Vic - what are some of you doing for 2nd round?
pez - I made name puzzles
Mrs S too - pez tell us the first three you did and maybe we can help
Mrs S too - what are name puzzles?
Vic - I just got 2 new students today, so we have to do the interviews.
laura - do you keep drawing the special friend? in the second round?
pez - 1st round we interviewed and made a class book, 2nd round we cheered/made puzzles and now 3rd round the name webs
pez - the special person is the line leader for the day. It goes alphabetically
Mrs S too - Vic it should work good with two new ones since you been thru the rest of the class already
Mrs S too - not with building blocks program
aggie/1/ca - Let me look in my book marks, jnsallv........are you looking for ideas for a Kdgn class?
jnsallv - looking for a lesson plan to expand this book!
aggie/1/ca - Cecilia------ when you read the BB book, you'll understand the interviews. It's something the children do at the very beginning of the year.
Mrs S too - good place to find out book extensions is to post to a chat board
pez - Just off the top of my head, I bet you could do a categorizing lesson
Vic - yep, I'm not worried about the interviews. I even have some of the same students as last year, and they LOVEEEEEE doing these.
laura - day/night chart, we write a class book Stellaluna saw ____, we make bat bracelets
REI - Aggie...going to Leadership???????
pez - I like that, laura
aggie/1/ca - Not this year, REI------ I got 2 other trips to NC planned for other times in the year---- can't swing a third unless I win the Lotto!
Mrs S too - pez, I can't think of the next one just now Why don't u post it on the chat board in BB and maybe we will ahve more tiem to think?
Vic - How is everyone's writing block going? I am new at BB and I feel like I am spinning my wheels in this block.
Mr. Teacher - we just did stellaluna
laura - i am using kid writing
REI - Aggie :-/
laura - we do it every day for 1/2 an hour
aggie/1/ca - I know REI.......*sigh*
Mrs S too - Vic how long u been in school doing it?
pez - I just started my journal writing this week. I'm using some kidwriting strategies and they are working well
REI - We use Kidwriting as well.
laura - the kids are doing great
Vic - 27 days
aggie/1/ca - Do y'all recommend that Kidwriting book? I've wondered about ordering it----- but I wish I could see it before I buy it.
Mrs S too - well that is just the beginning of school If they draw a picture and write any letters for it that should be ok
laura - i think it has great ideas-some of them conflict with BB
Mrs S too - I think Kid writing sounds wonderful I will get it when I get a class again
pez - I wasn't too keen on magic lines last year because we didn't get the books till mid year, but this year I'm having them draw a line for each word they say and they are really going back and putting sounds in the correct boxes
Vic - The problem is, my little kinders don't know letter names nor sounds and I have one who hasn't figured out which hand to use yet. They function around 2 year level.
REI - Aggie...you would love Kidwriting. IT is a great addition to BB.
aggie/1/ca - Then I'm getting it, REI! Thanks!
Mrs S too - wow Vic that is definitely a challenge
laura - most of my kids can at least hear the beg. letters-they use magic lines for "the"
REI - LOL....Gosh, who knew I had so much "Power".
aggie/1/ca - Oh! Now I do that line thing--- it works pretty well!
Cecilia from Peru - What are magic lines?
Mrs S too - aren't they getting any of the beginning name letters from your chants and other stuff for BB?
laura - they love being King of Ing
Vic - yep, for the older students, dictionaries (Words, words, words) and writing the sounds they hear, and minilessons are going well, just kinders I'm really struggling with.
laura - magic lines are used when they can't hear any of the sounds in a word to write it
Vic - Mrs S, yes, but the transfer isn't there.
Mrs S too - Vic how many grade levels are u teaching?
laura - are you sp ed?
aggie/1/ca - Cecilia----- you have the kids repeat several times what they want to write. Then the teacher draws lines on the paper for each word------ you point to the words and repeat the sentence. Then the kids write at least one letter on each line for the words.
Vic - 4
Mrs S too - then keep doing it
Vic - yep
Mrs S too - wow one room schoolhouse?
Mrs S too - can u pair up older students as buddies then Vic?
Vic - you got that right. I model, model, model, model so hopefully one of these days it will click.
laura - write the room is another activity they really love
aggie/1/ca - OK------ I'm off for tonight! Thanks y'all for your great ideas!
Mrs S too - where is it that you teach four grades?
Vic - Thanks Mrs S, duh, hadn't thought about that. Where has my head been?
laura - our sp ed students are included in the reg ed calssroom
Vic - laura, my students also love writing the room, but the kinders aren't even forming letters yet.
Vic - Mrs S, didn't take it that way, it was a GREAT idea.
laura - well, then i guess you get to play with shaving cream and playdoh to begin the year, right?
pez - Mine have finally realized that the writing center is for writing and not coloring. Their big thing right now is making birthday party lists. They go around writing everyone's name to invite them to their party
Mrs S too - o ok Vic sorry sometiems written words don't tell because u don't hear the expression I ahve always ahd 5th gr reading buddies
Vic - laura, yep, play doh wasn't very successful, shaving cream went OK.
Mrs S too - then there are salt trays to write in
REI - Vic~what about letter stamps. My team partner (I teach an inclusion class) uses letter stamps with kiddos that aren't able to form letters yet.
Mrs S too - right on the desks
Cecilia from Peru - or cornmeal trays
Mrs S too - rite letters in the fingerpaint you can put a paper over the whole desk and make an art print
Cecilia from Peru - doesn't it come out in reverse?
REI - They love stamping their own name.
Vic - I also have letters with raised grids on them to follow. My little girl (the only of of 9 students) has trouble forming a pointing finger.
pez - Time for me to go. Good night all
Mrs S too - part of my words did not appear I said "fingerpainting right on the desk and writing words in the fingerpaint and then printing it as art by placeing paper over it and lightly rubbing
Vic - So far, they have just stamped stamped stamped using the letter stamps, they know l,s,t,and n only at this point and the first letter of their name.
Mrs S too - maybe she can wear something on her finger to help make it pointed?
Cecilia from Peru - What themes do you use?
Mrs S too - a short popsicle stick ring?
Vic - I've thought about those witch fingers, what do you think?
REI - Going to call it a night as well.
Erin - I like that idea, Vic
Vic - What is a short popsicle stick ring?
Mrs S too - but then everyone would want thema nd it might be distracting
Erin - That's assuming she can manipulate the fake finger.
Vic - Yep, she has such little fingers, it might just be a major distraction.
Erin - Not necessarily, Mrs S; my kids use the fingers as read-the-room pointers.
Mrs S too - You buy the short sticks and attach to an elastic which would be worn under the finger to hold the pencil I don't know I jsut made it up
Mrs S too - read the room is far different than trying to get a child to hold their finger out to write
Vic - I bought a "magic wand" in the costume dept. and they love using that to read the room or predictable charts.
Erin - I found a wand with a star at the end; my special name person (Star of the Day) gets to use it.
Cecilia from Peru - Anyone use fairy tales?
Vic - I am
Erin - I use fairy tales in December
Mrs S too - fairy tales and nursery rhymes are good to use with BB because you can make predictabe charts from them
Erin - I like to start with the traditional ones, then read lots of fractured fairy tales to show story structure.
Cecilia from Peru - Do you buy or make your own big books
Vic - How do you make predictable charts from them?
Erin - Both, Cecilia
Mrs S too - I love fractured fairy tales
Mrs S too - both
Vic - Do your kinders understand them.
Erin - Understand the fractured tales?
Vic - yes
Cecilia from Peru - I use traditional fairy tales they would have heard in Spanish so I don't translate
Mrs S too - take gingerbread man write sentences that have the story on it -- many words are the same thing "run run fast as u can u can't catch me i am the (picture of GB man)
Mrs S too - will know to read the words as you point to each
Erin - Yes, they get that the stories change in funny ways. We talk about which elements stay the same and which changed. Then, we make up and act out one of their own choice.
Mrs S too - K don't need to understand fractured fairy tales they just give another chance tor ead
Vic - Remember, I teach sped. and I'm new at this. I really don't know what to expect.
Erin - I just got the coolest pointers from Oriental Trading: Spider back-scratchers!
Cecilia from Peru - Where do you get big books with appropriate sentences for shared and guided readingreading
Erin - Wright Group is a great source for shared reading Big Books.
Cecilia from Peru - good idea to use back scratchers!!
Erin - Scholastic and the other book order companies have some great offers going now, too, for favorite books "blown up" to big size.
Cecilia from Peru - Who sells Wright Group books?
Erin - They have a web site, Cecilia. I don't know it off the top of my head, but you can probably do a search and find it.
jnsallv - thanks aggie i will try it
Mrs S - gosh it said I could not send 502 connection failed too many people accessing this room and I was already ehre
Vic - we missed you and all of your terrific ideas
Erin - I started my second round of name activities yesterday; so far, so good.
Mrs S - Vic in the fractured fairy tales you are using characters amny tiems from the old ones they are familiar with
Mrs S - We are all new and are all trying new things Vic
Mrs S - o thank Vic
Vic - yep, I've got a couple, mainly different versions of The Three Little Pigs.
Vic - and Cinderella
Erin - We are clapping syllabels and counting letters. What do you folks find is good for the early rounds?
Mrs S - I collect pig books so I ahve amny of them
Mrs S - My favorite is Piggie Pie
Erin - There seem to be a lot of funny Little Red books out there.
Cecilia from Peru - Dom you have middle sized books? Big books are almost too big!!! Where do you put them when you read?
Mrs S - cheerleading letters too
Vic - Have you got the new one that came out last spring where the pigs jump in and out of the original story? The illustrations are FANTASTIC, but tooooo advanced for my kiddos.
Erin - I use an easel, Cecilia
Mrs S - I have a book stand that has a slanted board to hold the book and on the bottom storage for all big books
Erin - I saw that one, Vic, but didn't get it. I agree, too advanced for now.
Mrs S - Vic do u know the name I don't think I ahve it
Erin - It's in one of the October book orders, Mrs S
Vic - Sorry, no, and it's at school. Just released in April or May though. Got it at Amazon.
Mrs S - the Piggie Pie one is a witch looking for pigs to have a pie and the farm animals hide the pigs In the end the wolf comes along, all thin and haggard from chasing the three pigs and the witch invites him home for dinner FOR is the operative word hehehehe
Erin - It's got a close up view of three realistic looking pig heads on the cover
Mrs S - ok thanks anyway Vic will ahve to look for it
Mrs S - thanks Erin
Cecilia from Peru - Do you have Perfect the pig?
Mrs S - nope another one I don't have have about 40 of them
Erin - I like the Pig inthe Puddle ( or something like that) book
Cecilia from Peru - The one pig book I don't like is Mrs. Pig's evening out.
Mrs S - Puddle Pig I think
Mrs S - the puppets for that
Mrs S - I don't have that evening one either maybe i did not like it either
Erin - I loved There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie last year. Now, I just got There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat
Mrs S - a abt? wow
Cecilia from Peru - Horrible story - baby sitter is a wolf and parents leave children!!!
Mrs S - bat
Mrs S - hehe Cecilia I might liek that after all lol
Erin - It's great! (The bat story.. not the wolf one)
Mrs S - I will ahve to put it on wish lsit
Vic - I've decided not to do bats this year. Here in Iowa, we just had our first case of someone dying of rabies and it was from a bat bite. Some fears possibly.
Erin - This is the first year I am trying to keep Halloween out of the October curriculum; we are still allowed to celebrate it, but I have a girl who doesn't for religious reasons.
Mrs S - good plan Vic
Erin - So, I'm doing bats and owls and pumpkins, but "scientifically."
Mrs S - bats do not have to be halloween
Vic - thanks Mrs S
Erin - Oh, and apples! We went to an orchard today, and tomorrow we're making applesauce!
Mrs S - I never did halloween
Mrs S - and apples goes into farms if u did Johnny appleseed planting where farmers might build a farmouse and farm
Cecilia from Peru - We used to do Halloween but not any more.
Erin - The K teachers where I am make a really big deal over Halloween. It's traditional in the small community I'm in.
Vic - My students LOVED the applesauce that THEY made. It was Yummy. We finished up apples today, and tomorrow we start pumpkins. Pumpkin farm here we come on Friday.
Mrs S - I used to even dress up for halloween when i was a teaching aide
Cecilia from Peru - K kids love to dress up so we got that on a special day of Book Week
Erin - We all dress up, too. I am going to be............a bat!
Mrs S - schools I taught in didn't even ahve a halloween parade so I jsut skipped it and did things like have suggested ehre as alternatives
Vic - During our apples unit, we saved the seeds. Students took them home and planted them. I hope they ALL aren't disappointed.
Erin - We dress up on Dr. Seuss' birthday, too.
Mrs S - well we suggested books characters but then they said there are books about monsters and such so . . .
Cecilia from Peru - When is Dr. Seuss b'day?
Erin - March 1? Or thereabouts?
Mrs S - why didn't u keep the seeds at school to plant in cups of dirt and then take home?
Mrs S - march 2
Erin - That's a good idea, Mrs S
Erin - Could you do that with pumpkin seeds?
Vic - Still can, we still have some left. Thanks for the suggestion.
Cecilia from Peru - Do apple seeds grow???
Mrs S - a parent is more inclined to plant something if it has sprouted
Mrs S - sure they do
Cecilia from Peru - That is true
Mrs S - how do u think Johnny appleseed spread his apple trees all across the US? he got the seeds from the mills that processed apples
Vic - Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of parental support this year, so the students did it themselves.
Erin - I sent home some pathetic-looking little marigold seedlings for Mother's Day; kids brought in pictures of ENORMOUS plants from the summer when school came back!
Vic - I've never had much luck with marigolds.
Cecilia from Peru - My kids will be bringing in seeds from different fruit and will do seed pictures, sorting, etc
Erin - Must have been that Miracle Grow.
Mrs S - great Erin
Mrs S - lol
Erin -
Erin - We have a pumpklin observation sheet that we all use.
Mrs S - marigolds are good to plant if you have a school garden -- they keep bugs away
Mrs S - I liek to do bunch of math with a pumpkin
Erin - It has a place to draw a picture of their pumpkin, to write how many seeds it had, to compare it to a small, medium, or large pumpkin, etc.
Mrs S - t u tie tht into ahrves t and not halloween
Erin - Are you trying to test our ability to read invented spelling, Mrs S? lol
Mrs S - sorry my typing has been getting cut off at the beginning
Mrs S - I said but U
Mrs S - type too fast sometimes and forget to check it
Erin - <grin>
Mrs S - tie that into harvest and not halloweed
Cecilia from Peru - When will you meet again about BB? I need to read my book thoroughly
Mrs S -
Mrs S - oops
Mrs S - oween
Mrs S - always on Wed the 2nd wed of month
Mrs S - halloween
Erin - Well, I'd better hit the hay. Applesauce day always takes a lot out of me.
Erin - Good night, all. Thanks for the ideas.
Mrs S - We did get a little off the BB format discussion lol
Cecilia from Peru - It starts at 9EST and ends at what time?
Mrs S - me too bye til next tiem
Mrs S - one hour we are extending now lol
Cecilia from Peru - Thank you everyone. Good night
Vic - Yep, I need to go also, just got a call. Father-in-law has a 104.5 degree temp and urinary tract infection again. Back to the hospital we go. He has Alzheimers and is failing fast.
