Welcome to Mr. Zamora and Ms. Karras' Full Day Kindergarten at Blythwood Junior Public School

We are pleased to welcome you to our Kindergarten Classroom. Teaching Kindergarten is fun and hard work at the same time. As teachers, we need to make sure that we are able to manage the classroom in a way that the students will learn to make good choices for themselves while giving them the full Kindergarten Experience.

Classroom Management is an aspect that you cannot ignore in a Kindergarten classroom. Without it, handling different kids of different ages, backgrounds and abilities would be difficult. Strategies have to come in place to handle the classroom. There are many strategies being suggested by experts and resources. You have to choose strategies that you feel comfortable with.

A kindergarten class needs to provide children with various opportunities of learning at the same time to a certain number of children. Centres are made to give children these opportunities.

Let's talk about classroom management. Here are the strategies that we have implemented in our classroom.

Green, Yellow, Red Faces

Each child comes in at the start of the day and locates his/her name printed on a clothes pin to be placed on the green face. This reminds them that they are starting the day with good behaviour. Just like the lights of a traffic light, the colours indicate the behaviour of the child:

green - good behaviour
yellow - behaviour that is given a warning and must proceed with caution. It would be possible for the child to go back to green if he/she does an act of kindness (e.g., helping someone) and fills someone's bucket (we read the story, How Full Is Your Bucket? and follow the big idea of the book - If you do something good, you are filling someone's bucket and if you hurt someone's feelings, you are depleting the good things in his/her bucket.)
red - behaviour that has been really considered to be inappropriate and parents have to be told about the behaviour (e.g., pushing someone in line, pouring paint on the table intentionally)

Sticker Chart

The child gets a sticker if the child remains on green. For kids at this age to recognize their success, they need something concrete and tangible to aim for as a prize. For 20 stickers, a child gets a prize (e.g., a dinosaur eraser with a dinosaur pencil). As the school year passes, a child will have to earn more stickers to win a prize. Next level is 30 stickers.

Schedule Day Chart, Classroom Jobs

For the children to keep track of the activities of the day, each activity, represented by a laminated strip with the activity name, is placed in the correct period indicated by the numbers 1, 2, 3, etc. on the chart. Every time we finish an activity, a child takes the name of the activity down. This is for them to keep track of the day.

Classroom jobs are given to a child everyday. It gives them a sense of responsibility and importance to handle a certain task. The jobs are:

Centre supervisors (2) - inspect the centres when we clean up. They decide whether a centre has to be closed or not depending on how clean the centre is.
Toy Managers (2) - pick up the toys if they see it on the ground or the floor on the classroom.
Equipment Managers (2) - getting the small bins for pencils, crayons and markers during work time and putting them away
Librarian - handles the books around the classroom and library centre
Mail Person - gives the mails/correspondences of the day to the children before going home
Weather Forecaster - predicts/forecasts the weather of the day and graphs it
Teacher Helper - helps the teacher in various tasks (e.g., doing calendar, counting, accompanying me to do errands like photocopying and giving the copies to Ms. K.)
Cubby Checker - checks the cubbies to make sure that no clothes, bags or items are on the floor (very significant job especially during winter time when we have big winter coats and boots!)
Line Leader - leads the line and calls the children by name to line up. He chooses people who are listening and acting well on the carpet.

At the start of the day, a child, usually the teacher helper, assists in the calendar. Also, children are encouraged to share his/her news of the day (e.g., Filip saw a rattle snake at the cottage! or Emma has a baby sister!). Weather is also forecast and graphed for the day. Then, either a read-aloud or a mini-lesson is done during carpet time.

When Ms. K and I will work with a certain number of kids accomplishing the needed tasks for assessment of their learning, children are given centre time. Centre time allows the child to choose an activity which is play-based and geared towards learning in the different strands (e.g., Math, Science).

Choice Board

Children need to be given a choice about the activity that they want to do for their learning. Thus, a choice board is found in our classroom where a child can choose the centre that he/she wishes to get into. This is to keep track of the number of children at the centre and who is in a given centre . We can monitor who is responsible for the centre if it needs to be cleaned up. A centre is closed up as decided by the centre supervisors to show everyone that all our actions have consequences.

Centres

Let's look at some of the centres in our classroom and see the learning that is occuring within each one:

Drama/Puppet Centre

When I play at the Drama/Puppet Centre, I am learning:

To use my imagination and role play

To work cooperatively with peers

To explore elements of drama

To retell stories or familiar events

To communicate my ideas with others

To take turns and use kind words

To write lists, letters, and notes

To be a nurturer and care for others

To use puppets and props to enhance my play and learning

To tidy up materials when I am finished

Reading/Library Centre

When I play at the Reading/Library Centre, I am learning

To look at pictures and make meaning

To love reading fiction and non-fiction

To identify the types of books I like

To know about authors and illustrators

How to point to words and turn pages

How to sort books into genres

To use prior knowledge to make connections and ask questions about what I am reading

To find letters and sight words

To explore rhyming and opposites

House/Kitchen Centre

When I play at the House/Kitchen Centre, I am learning:

To use my imagination and role play about the people in my community
To work cooperatively with peers in taking turns at role playing
To explore elements of drama/role playing
To retell stories or familiar events at home
To communicate my ideas with others
To take turns and use kind words
To write lists, letters, and notes
To use props to enhance my play and learning
To tidy up materials when I am finished
To help others in tidying up

Sand Centre

When I play at the Sand Centre, I am learning:

To use my imagination in creating different things (e.g., castles, towers) in the sand
To select and use different tools in creating different things
To create a plan and follow it through
To create designs with peers
To communicate my discoveries about sand
To use problem solving skills effectively
To explore how tools help me in my creation
To share materials and tools with others
To experiment with different ideas in my head
To develop my fine motor skills
To discover the properties of sand

Water Centre

When I play at the Water Centre, I am learning:

To use my imagination in creating different scenarios (e.g., Sea World, sea creatures) in the water
To select and use different tools in creating my different scenarios
To communicate my discoveries about water
To use problem solving skills effectively
To share materials and tools with others at the water table
To experiment with different ideas in my head about water (e.g., test tubes)
To develop my fine motor skills
To discover the properties of water

Writing Centre

When I am at the Writing Centre, I am learning:

To select and use different materials
To experiment with different forms of writing
To label illustrations and write stories or letters
To communicate to others through writing
To use problem solving skills effectively
To practice pincer grasp while printing
To learn how to use writing tools like word walls, and dictionaries
To make labels for things I construct or make
To share my feeling and ideas in a journal
To be creative with a variety of materials
To make signs for other activities I engage in at different centres

Art/Paint Centre

When I am at the Art/Paint Centre, I am learning:

To use my imagination in creating various art expression
To learn the different elements of art in my art expression (e.g., line, form, shape)
To explore elements of drama/role playing
To retell stories or familiar events at home
To communicate my ideas with others
To take turns and use kind words
To write lists, letters, and notes
To use props to enhance my play and learning
To tidy up materials when I am finished
To help others in tidying up

Math Centre

When I am at the Math Centre, I am learning:

To sequence and compare objects
To work cooperatively with peers
To create patterns and build designs
To communicate my ideas with others
To take turns and use kind words
To measure in different ways
To name shapes and their attributes
To make observations and show findings
To count and recognize numbers
To investigate new ideas and pectize old ones using a variety of manipulatives
To organize materials use math words

Science Centre

When I am at the Science Centre, I am learning:

To wonder and inquire about the world
To describe patterns and cycles of the natural world and show my understanding
To make observations about things I see
To investigate how things work
To explore and share a variety of tools and materials to carry out explorations
To pose questions and make predictions
To use problem solving skills effectively
To investigate properties of materials
To sort, classify, and share my findings
How I can care for the environment

Not really considered as a centre, but children learn a lot when they go for their snack.

Snacking Time

When I go for my snack, I am learning:

To self-regulate when I am hungry

About hygiene when I wash my hands

About table manners and how to be polite

How I can help the environment by bringing reusable containers and water bottles

To be independent

About healthy foods for my body

To make healthy choices

To discuss my likes and dislikes with others

To develop fine motor skills when I open and close containers

To clean up after myself when I am done

The kindergarten classroom will add more centres as seen fit for the children's exploration and learning.

Please let us know if you have inputs about the centres. And parents are always welcome to share their talents and knowledge so we can create a centre based on your sharing.

We are looking forward to a great year 2014 - 2015.

Full Day Kindergarten 2014 - 2015

Wednesday, October 1, 2014