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Jamie - what grade you guys teach?
sotpteacher - hope everyone is enjoying the school year so far
Lori - k
Jamie - having a great year! you guys?
sotpteacher - i teach kindergarten in rhode island
Lori - I'm k in TX
Edu-Kate - I'm having one of my best years ever.
Jamie - i'm third grade...am i too old to attend this meeting?
Edu-Kate - I'm Kdg. in Michigan
sotpteacher - i have been blessed with small classes. 15 in my morning session and 16 in my afternoon session. we have a lot of issues both personal and developmental
Jamie - what grade, edu-kate
Jamie - edu-i'm in michigan too
Edu-Kate - Our kdg. is full day, you?
Lori - full-day
sotpteacher - two and a half hours each session
Edu-Kate - Do you visit the Chat board for Early Elem? It's been helpful.
Jamie - can i ask you all for some advice about centers, or do you have something else you want to discuss...i'll try to keep it short
Lori - Yes, I find some great ideas there.
Edu-Kate - I'm t;rying to make more literacy based centers this year
Jamie - i tried centers last year for a few months. haven't started yet this year. not sure exactly how to run them. last year it was entirely free-choice for about 20 mins a day. this year i'd like more structure.
sotpteacher - what activities do you use for literacy centers in kindergarten
Edu-Kate - how long has everyone been teaching?
Edu-Kate - I have several centers
Edu-Kate - I try to make all of the literacy based
Lori - I taught 1st for 2 years; k-1 for 5 years. This is my first year to go straight k.
Edu-Kate - I have a writing center
Jamie - i'm thinking about a guided reading center with me, writing center, math center, listening center, and a miscellaneous senter. i was thinking about doing them 4-5x a week for 30 mins. what do you think??
Lori - I use writing, word play, reading, computers, etc.
sotpteacher - this is my third year of k in public. i subbed in elem for four years and have taught k in a social service agency. i also have an extensive pre-k background
Jamie - do you all require your students to go to each one? do you have some free choice? how do you select/tell them who is in their groups?
jud - I have taught 17 years pk &K.
sotpteacher - i put them in random groups which rotate thorugh each center daily. i try to include two centers or multiple materials at each center
Lori - Jamie, there's a book Guided Reading by Fountas and Pinnell that may help. It is very helpful with establishing centers and the teacher being a center for guided reading. We were trained in it a couple of years ago. That's the most successful I'd felt in a while.
Edu-Kate - Besides the writing center i have an overhead with plastic letters and a magnet center and a listening center and playdough and painting.. my drama is only semi literacy... paper, pencils, paper with words needs for theme... this week community helpers, doctor's notes are available and police tickets
Jamie - it's difficult to teach third grade sometimes.....we're not the little kids, but we're not the big kids yet either.....there are some teachers at my school who don't believe in using centers in third grade. i think that my kids could really benefit from them. what do you think?
Edu-Kate - I have 'read the room''..... yes, I use Fountas and Pinnells ideas alot
Edu-Kate - then there is our Poster center and my pocket chart station, oh, and our library
sotpteacher - centers are great for any age.
Jamie - i haven't read that book. thanks for the tip...i'll check it out!
Jamie - of course there are some who feel i am a bad teacher if my kids are talking and moving around the room! haha
Lori - Jamie, you should be applauded for trying to implement centers in your classroom. Don't be frustrated and give up because some other teachers don't use them. The key is good classroom management.
Edu-Kate - I think Fountas and Pinnell recommend small guided groups second semester for Kdg, is that right?
sotpteacher - there is so much opportunity for the children to have some control over their learning, discuss learning and interact with peers, and extra work on needs
Lori - You need to know that everyone is working while you're pulling small groups.
sotpteacher - guided reading is strictly for first grade and up
Jamie - how do you tell your kids what groups they are in? do you just tell them or do you have a visual? looking for a management tip.
Edu-Kate - Why would you think that?
Lori - I'm doing guided reading with my kinders. Now I'm only able to pull them a couple of times a week. It's taking some time to teach routines and procedures thoroughly.
sotpteacher - kate who are you asking?
Edu-Kate - Do you think there is room for small group instruction in Kdg.? If so, what then if not Guided Reading?
Jamie - should i just have the kids do centers without pulling guided reading groups first so i can trouble-shoot...then move into guided reading groups in a week or two?
sotpteacher - i do a lot of small group instruction however fountas and pinnell themselves state that guided reading is not intended for kindergarten
Lori - Jamie, yes. That's how I introduce my centers.
sotpteacher - jamie you have to do what makes you feel comfortable
Jamie - how long a day do you do centers? how many do you have going at one time? how many kids in a center?
Lori - My centers work independently while I monitor behavior. You have to teach them what to do if they have a question so they won't interrupt you when you start pulling groups. They need to learn to work without having your attention.
sotpteacher - i have four or five and in k we do them daily. they are a mainstay of my curriculum. usually 30 - 40 minutes
Jamie - i have an idea about listening centers. you probably have heard of this, but i just heard the idea lately.....
jud - I agree that reading groups are not intended for K. They are just not ready. OK, a few might get 2nd semster.
Jamie - a teacher in our district bought several headsets for $5.00 each at wal-mart. she places them inside an ice cream pail. she has several pails with books and tapes available for selection. then the kids can move around and sit by themselves. mine argue over who will hold the book!
Lori - I think it depends on the students. Ten of my kinders started school knowing all of the alphabet letters and sounds. They are working successfully in guided reading groups with leveled books.
sotpteacher - lori do you have full day?
jud - Are the headsets and tape recorders plugged in or what?
Jamie - i may try the pails so my kids won't argue over who holds the book, presses the buttons, etc. the headsets don't have a rewind button, so there still needs to be a tape recorder available. or it's no problem if the tape is two-sided. she said that she only bought batteries once for each headset last year.
Lori - Jamie, I've used that before but I used sand pails and the kids loved them. It's nice to free them up to listen at different stations around the room instead of all sitting around one cassette player.
Lori - yes
Jamie - jud, they are individual headsets
sotpteacher - what types of comprehension activities do you do?
jud - I don't have that many plug ins in my room. Portables?
Jamie - we just got $370 from a fundraiser to spend on our rooms any way we want. It was an awesome fundraiser!
Jamie - jud, they are headsets that run on batteries. place a headset, book, and cassette inside an ice cream pail (or whatever) and the kids can pick them up and move around the room.
sotpteacher - our system has promised us $250 each teacher every year to buy books
jud - I must not be getting the idea right. Walkmans?
Jamie - that's great! we just purchased the Scholastic reading series. Got TONS of books!!
Jamie - yes jud
Lori - Jamie, the only problem I had was that some of the students would twist the cords on the headsets and the wiring is very tiny and sometimes the wire would snap. Then the headsets would stop working. Older kids might be easier on the cords.
Jamie - sorry, jud, i'm tired tonight
Jamie - lori, thanks for the tip...i'll have to make sure to address that!
Jamie - so you think 30-40 minutes is good for centers? what do students do if they finish early, or won't they "finish"
sotpteacher - my centers are open ended and long enough so they can finish
jud - Sorry, I have never heard of walkmans in a K classroom. It's a great idea. I have a parent willing to spend $1000 on my room this year. Hard decision!
sotpteacher - wow!!! why the $1000 donation?
Lori - It depends on how many groups of students you need to meet with.
Jamie - $1,000?? Lucky you!!!!
sotpteacher - center time also depends on the kids. there has to be enough so they do not get bored
jud - It's hard to decide! Teachers don't get money for our rooms everyday!
Jamie - i still have to iron out the details i guess. i am slowly introducing centers. one every week or two. right now they are just places to go when students are finished with their work.
Jamie - jud, send it my way...i won't have trouble spending it!
Jamie - thanks for the tips everybody.... you guys have anything to ask? i didn't mean to take up the whole conversation.....but thanks!
sotpteacher - i tried the walkmans in my k and they were hard. i don't use headphones and the kids really enjoy the stories in a group setting
Jamie - i guess i'll just take the centers slowly. you guys gave me lots of ideas and things to think about...thanks for everything!
sotpteacher - well i must be going. it's 10 pm here on the east coast! have a good week everyone!!
Jamie - bye sotp.....thanks!
Jamie - 10pm here too....
sotpteacher - jamie where are you?
Jamie - michigan, you?
sotpteacher - i am in rhode island
sotpteacher - i will see you all later!
Jamie - jemal..i'm in third.....gotta get to bed...thanks again...happy chatting!
jud - How long do the headsets last? I have a listenig center with the standard stuff.
Jamie - hi donna....bye donna......
Jamie - jud, no idea...haven't used them yet, but i probably will. other third grade teacher sadi they kept up pretty well
Jamie - bye
