Spiders

Today after recess two students brought in a piece of bark they tore off a tree. Another student proceeded to remind them that bark is like skin for a tree and that it protects the tree. She also continued to remind them that they learned that while reading Wild Horse Winter,

The inside of the bark was covered in silk. Immediately the kids made the connection that spiders make silk. Suddenly the silk started to move and two little yellow spiders crawled out. Both dropped to the ground dragging a line of silk behind them. After a minute of mild chaos, both spiders were released outside.

At this point Mrs. Kempton began asking the kids what they know about spiders.

"What is a baby spider called"

"A spiderling! Like a duckling!"

"How do you know these are baby spiders?"

"Because spiderlings are yellow."

She then informed them that spiders wrap their eggs in silk to protect them, and that is why the spiderlings were nestled in a cocoon of silk. They went on to talk about the drag line trailing behind the spiders as they dropped to the floor.

In moments such as these teachers have two options. They can either disregard whatever it is students bring into class. Or they can listen to the student's natural inquiries and build the class around them. Mrs. Kempton could have asked the kids to put the bark away in their backpacks. When the spiders crawled out she could have squashed them and reprimanded the students for bringing bugs into class. Instead a beautiful lesson unfurled before everyone's eyes. Who could have planned a better lesson out on spiders?

Learning is messy. It cannot be organized into little boxes and perfect lesson plans. A good teacher supports students in their own natural inquiries and doesn't shut them down for the sake of a schedule. The kids in Mrs. Kempton's class knew that if they brought something they thought was exciting into class, that Mrs. Kempton would support them and help them learn more about their finding. Builing that trust and relationship with students is important, especially in their younger years when they are learning to take risks and discover new things. Students need to remain interested and curious about the world around them. Supporting them and helping them solve these mysteries helps keep that wonder alive.

Kid Quote

"Would you like to lead the line Nia?"

"Oh I would LOVE to, Mrs. Parker!"

Literacy and Writing

Language is crucial to both reading and writing so it is important to develop background knowledge and language skills. There are three factors in what Sue Kempton describes as the language wheel, Talking, Writing, and Reading. These three steps should be used at all times in building comprehension. They can be used in any order.

Today a boy read a book about wolves during free read. He got so excited and then shared everything he learned about wolves and their territories during the circle. At first he was calling them spaces, each wolf pack had it's own space. But another boy raised his hand and told him about tigers and how their space is called a territory. After he divulged to the class all he learned about wolves, their territory, alpha males, and quite a bit more, it was time for writing. This student went and proceeded to write a fiction story about a pack of wolves using the knowledge he developed just earlier that day. This is a prime example of a student first reading about something, followed by talking about it, and ending by writing about it.

When kindergarteners are writing I've learned that it is also important to NOT worry about spelling at all. Is it better for a student to express everything they want to say with imperfect spelling? Or is it better for the student to stick with simple words and phrases that they already know? Would you rather read,

"I love my mom. We go to the park. It is fun."

Or would you rather see, "I DurldoD (discovered) at h (that) a Polar ber (bear) Sim (swims) in the wodr (water) to cach (catch) fish with his shorp (sharp) clos(claws)!"

In this phrase the student spelled all sight words correctly but still took risks in writing words she did not know, such as discover. It is important to teach kids how to communicate and think and put their thinking down on paper. When thinking is captured and written down it becomes permanent. This is the ground work for further building and developing. Grammar can be taught when students know how to express themselves. Encourage students to finish their thoughts and sentences. Add depth by asking questions to pull out their thinking.

In order to learn from past mistakes it is important to see and remember where mistakes were made. In the classroom I am in currently, there are no erasers on pencils, instead students put a single straight line through it.

"The dintis pulld for four teeth"

This makes the teacher and the student able to see the mistakes that were made as well as how they were fixed. Over time it shows the progress wrought in the students writing.

So what it comes down to is using the language wheel, talking, writing, and reading, to build understanding and language skills in students. Remember that it is more important that a student expresses themselves and there understanding rather than convey things perfectly. Building the confidence of students and their abilities is vital.

Kid Quote

"These waterfalls are here so that the wolves can jump over them."

Harrington Elementary School

Harrington Elementary school is located in north Denver. The school has a 98% free and reduced lunch rate. The racial breakdown is shown in the following graph.

Many kindergarten students began the year not recognizing any letters and numbers. Many couldn't even point to there name written on the board. Very few of them had had preschool experience. Students are constantly coming and going, always entering with little school experience, and always leaving without notice. The school provides snacks for the kids both during and after school. During breaks the kids don't go on vacations to the beach, they sit at home and stare at the television. There was even a boy who wrote a story the first day back about visiting his uncle in jail over break and how it made him sad.

The kids at this school live a very different life than my own. Visiting this school has definitely shown me a new perspective on schools, teachers, and the difference they can make in the life of a child.

Kid Quote

‎"We care for other people's feelings around here. That's what we do. Even teachers have feelings you know."

Week One - Yale Elementary School

Alright since this post is a little delayed some initial thoughts and thinking has been lost in the mines. So this here will just be an over view of my first week, which was pretty much just me being an observer.

I spent the week at Yale elementary school. Yale has a 58% free and reduced lunch rate for students. The student population is as follows,

Hispanic:	46.57%	(2009)
White, non-Hispanic:	26.40%	(2009)
Black, non-Hispanic:	21.83%	(2009)
Asian/Pacific Islander:	3.33%	(2009)
American Indian/Alaskan Native:	1.87%	(2009)
Multiracial:	0.00%	(2009)

While some of the students begin kindergarten with preschool experience most of them do not. Here I noticed a large gap in the students abilities. Those with parental involvement at home preformed much higher than those who did not.

General observations of the classroom were that students had a set routine, the schedule was posted and the students knew where to be and when to be there. The day was filled with many short activities that allowed the kids to stay focused. Both large group, small group, and independent work time was implemented. The kids would read aloud while the teacher was reading a book. They would start the day in circle and share something that they were looking forward to that day and the things they needed from the rest of the class in order to have a productive day.

The kids had an amazing sense of community and always supported one another. Whenever a student was struggling, another would come over and help them out in any manner they could. At one point there was a girl who was just really having an awful day. She didn't feel like she was cared for and thereby acted out and distracted other students. The teacher pointed this out to the class by saying, "Katie's bucket looks a little low today, does anyone have any ideas on how we can help her fill her bucket?" Immediately five or six students came over and gave Katie a great big hug. The rest of the day, Katie was focused and happy.

This is just a rough outline of some things I noticed. I will follow up later with a few videos from the kids. Luckily I have another week in this class room to gather my thoughts a little better.