Kindergarten Problem Solvers

First, a brief walk down memory lane:
So you may have seen or heard some of the crazy math that older grades are doing now... this is because things are constantly being shaken up and reassigned to different grade levels. Just a few years ago for instance, some 7th grade level material was reassigned to 4th graders (say what?! yep, true!). 2nd grade got some stuff that was once taught in 4th, 1st got stuff previously taught in 2nd and 3rd... and on and on. Totally crazy, right! Now teachers weren't cool with this, so some changes have been made to help bridge the gap and are still being made... however, it doesn't lighten the work load for the content expected to be taught in that grade level. It's mega important that we teach everything that is "in our lane" because the following year the next grade level will be building a High 5 over that lane, and without understanding the previous year kids will miss the exit ramp to get on the High 5. Math builds on itself. Teachers call this spiraling (where we go deeper into a concept. like a drill bit spirals). Why did the content get shifted you ask? Well I'm not really sure... that's a question/ comment/ concern for your representatives in the State of Texas (none of which are educators). However, as an educator and an educated person actively involved in my community and helping to mold 21st century learns here's my guesstimate of why things have shifted so...

The world is changing.

That's it. Expectations for mathematical thinking in the world around us are so changing! What once was OKAY and ENOUGH to get by on is now not at all enough (say "ohhh scary"). We are developing kids that are going to be part of a high-tech world with complex math and problem solving-type situations and the world that is developing around us is becoming even more mathematical and problem filled... As a teacher and an educated, observant individual it's my opinion that these shifts in when we teach things is due to keeping up with and preparing kids, as best as we can, for said changes in the world. After all, in order for the public education system to be a success, we have to produce successful, independent, contributing members of society. If society is changing then we too must change our system (basically).

So, how in the world does this apply to kindergarten?

Answer: We aren't just playing.

Things that were taught in 1st and 2nd grades are now being taught in KINDERGARTEN. (Let me pick your jaw up off the floor mom and dad.) Don't freak out though because your kids can do it.

Say it with me: YES THEY CAN! 

Kindergarten is all about the expectations and pushing kids. It's instilling a drive to work and question things, and a want to find the answer!

Say it with me again: YES THEY CAN! 

That is you mantra now, from kindergarten, all the way to their senior year of high school (and higher education should that be their path).

How can you help at home? The first and foremost thing for your child's mathematical success in the remainder of their academic and adult career is having a good understanding of numbers. Here's how you start with 3 easy steps:

1. Rote memory of what the numbers look like- Can they recall the name of the number? Can they recall it when in order and scrambled order? Can they write the number?

We LOVE Jack Hartmann's videos for learning our numbers, letters, calendar, etc. Here's his YouTube link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVcQH8A634mauPrGbWs7QlQ .

Jack Hartmann has a lot of math videos, just go to the playlist tab and find his counting playlist of videos. Every video has some sort of movement with it as well which helps them memorize.

Websites: ABCMouse, StarFall, ABCYa

Apps: Splash Math Kindergarten, Preschool and Kindergarten Learning Games, 10 Frame Fill, Friends of Ten, Animals Counting Writing Game Free, Number Rack, Count Sort, Number Sense HD, Virtual Manipulatives!, Sushi Monster, Aahh! Math Zombies, Math Ninja.

2. Ordering the numbers/ Counting with 1-1 Correspondence- Once we know their names we need to be able to put them in order and say which number comes before and after a number. They need to be able to do this first with numbers in front of them and then be able to do this from their memory. For example, driving down the road, they don't have numbers in front of them to manipulate. You see the number 10. Ask them what comes one before 10? One after 10? etc. Counting with 1-1 Correspondence means they can count in number order (1,2,3,4,5,6,7) and touch 1 object at a time, giving that object the number name and NOT miscounting or touching an object more than once.

Putting the numbers in order and using 1-1 correspondence to count them would be like this video has done:

Here's a video explanation of 1-1 Correspondence

3. Subitize the numbers- Subitizing is when we can see a set of items (like the dots on playing cards/ dice/ dominoes) and quickly tell how many are there. When they get it with regularly patterned dots, move onto randomly placed dots. They love this game! You can also have them subitize with their fingers. A big part of subitizing is the discussion. Ask them how they know it is that number. This is when they will explain to you how they saw it for example if there are 7 dots they may tell you it was a group of 2 and group of 5 or group of 3 and group of 4. Subitizing is when kids start to build their basic math facts because they can recall those simple facts quickly.

Here's a great video explanation of what subitizing is!

These are the skills I want you to focus on at home this year with your child (unless otherwise told based on your child's independent needs). Please do not have them working on other skills like adding and subtracting number sentences, greater than/ less than (unless they are right near each other on the number line), fractions, place value... these are way out of our lane in kindergarten!

Here is another teacher with some great overall math tips!

Creatively Learning Letters

So a friend tagged me in this post on Facebook and I'd like to share it with you. Sometimes we get confused with which way letters face and how to form letters. This approach to learning how we write the letters uses drawing different animals/ things with the letter itself being the base of the drawing. So as your child practices writing letters at home, and maybe it's no fun... see if drawing animals using the letters sparks their interests! It'll certainly help them remember the letter forms and letter sounds. Click the picture below to see the other letters.

Now in this they are "drawing letters" but I do like to clarify with them in class that when we write and when we trace we aren't drawing, we are writing. I clarify this because they try to "draw" letters (where they fist the crayon and scribble over the tracing lines). This isn't proper practice so I tell them when we write or trace we aren't drawing- we are writing. This means we don't mark over the line like we are coloring the line. We trace over it 1 and only 1 time (unless it's rainbow writing).

Also if your child flips their letters (b, d) check out these videos for some tips. I'll be using the thumbs up/ BED strategy in class as well as the saying "bat before the ball" and "doorknob before the door" in class!

Tracing, Cutting and Coloring: Fine Motor Practice

You may hear your teacher, other parents or other educators referring to fine motor skills and how important it is to build up these fine motor muscles, but you may not actually understand this term "fine motor" so first lets talk about what fine motor skills actually are. Simply put fine motor is your ability to move your small muscles in your body. Usually this means within your hands and wrists. I also teach swimming and in swimming it refers to your ability to point your toes and move your ankles in a controlled way.

SO! Fine motor = your little muscles. Having good fine motor skills leads to:
clean handwriting
ability to trace lines
better strength in your hands
ability to cut lines with scissors
coloring inside the lines cleanly
can manipulate things like tweezers/ chopsticks/ tools with more control
better control over the small movements your hand/ wrist makes
more accuracy with your hands
tie shoes easier

Children are working on developing their fine motor skills birth-about 6 years old. Come 2nd grade, the expectations around children at home and school tend to require more developed/ confident fine motor skills. So it's vital that kids are working those fingers and toes early on in many different ways.

I love Pinterest for finding fine motor skills practices activites that use common household items. Here are a few items you may have around your home that are GREAT for fine motor practice.
single hole punchers
tongs
tweezers
clothespins
beads
cereal like Cheerios
rubberbands
pool noodles
play doh
spaghetti noodles
straws
pipecleaners
Legos
Waterbottles/ squirt guns
paperclips
paper towel/ TP tube
Barbie clothes
Small toy parts
Baster/ eye dropper
General tools (especially nuts and bolts)
Stickers (peeling it from the backing)
Lacing shoes/cards

I love working on fine motor skills because it's so easy to integrate educational topics into the activities or just have a really fun, creative activity. For activities you can do at home check out my Pinterest board called Sensory/ Motor Skills. (Some of these make for good busy bags you can take in the car, to the drs office, or other places kids get impatient easily at!)

The whole enchilada... or maybe just half! Fractions in Kindergarten!

We have been working on fractions in math, specifically half and whole. I love connecting math and other content areas. Here are some activities I use for this unit:

Activity 1
For this unit, we used a lot of literature. To start our fractions we defined half and whole. Then we created our very own pizza's with our partners, here's a picture of the finished product.

When they finished decorating they had to write about their whole pizza, their half of the pizza, and their partner's half of the pizza.

Drew and I have one whole pizza. On my half there is pepeorny [pepperoni] met [meat] and cheese. On Drew's cnadenbacn [Canadian bacon] and peprony [pepperoni]. 

Gracyn and I have a hol [whole] pizza. The hol [whole] flavr [flavor] is piprone [pepperoni] meet [meat] in [and] chese [cheese]. My half ov [of] my pizza flavr [flavor] is meet [meat] in [and] chese [cheese]. My partnr [partner's] half pizza flavr [flavor] is piprone [pepperoni] meet [meat] n [and] ches [cheese]. 

Activity 2
The following day we read a book call Whole-y Cow. With this book we discussed how we write fractions. After each page we would discuss the picture and that there is a whole and a part. Wholes go on the bottom- because they are the bigger number and the big number has to hold up the small number. Parts go on top because they are the small number. We reviewed that parts cannot be bigger than the whole. Then we drew our own half and whole Whole-y Cow's!

Activity 3
Later in our week we read a book called My Half Day, this book is also in Spanish and is a series of math books. I love this series because it puts math into real-world situations. For instance in this book he wakes up and imagines that half of his head is shaved, then he starts to think about what it would be like if everything was only half. (There is also My Even Day and My Odd Day, if you are interested in more literature to incorporate math skills. I will include a list of other books as well at the end of this post.) Anywho...after reading this book we discussed what it would be like if normal things in our lives were only half. We did a role playing exercise for this! You could also have them create a book. How fun would it be to make a script/ book and then have them act it out and record the skit?!


Activity 4
Today we read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and made a small book to discuss halves and whole that I found at GrowinginPre-K and K. After we made our books, the kids in their learning groups created their own books in the similar style of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie...only in our version we give a mouse half of a cookie. Check out Laura Numeroff's books, she has a lot that can be used for many different types of lessons. I love them for half and whole as well as cause and effect. Her books are also great for sequencing lessons, retelling, and comprehension in ELAR.

Check out our Haiku Deck stories!

         

Technology in the hands of babes…is that really a good thing? By Myra Williams

I'd like to introduce my first guest blogger. Myra Williams is a 4^th grade teacher at Smith Elementary School in Wylie ISD, Wylie, TX. Mrs. Williams has been teaching for 28 years and has taught grades 2-12. Without further adieu I bring you, my wonderful mom, Myra Williams. 

Technology in the hands of babes...is that really a good thing? 

We took our 4^th graders to Austin to tour the capitol and the Bob Bullock Museum as we do each year.  Yesterday a student made a comment that really made me think.  As we were walking through the House of Representatives talking about how they have telephones under their desks and why they are there, the tour guide said they probably use it to contact their office about current updates. Then he [the tour guide] said,

“But they probably all have iPads with them too and they could just email their office.”  One of my students commented,

“I have an iPad.” We adults looked at each other and commented how students don’t realize how good they have it…or is it good? 

Do kids go outside and play pretend anymore? or do they choose to sit around, by themselves, and surf the web…which is not always a good thing. Is social media really making us more social? Is it really good that an elementary aged child can play a game on the internet, and actually communicate with someone around the world?  Do students who do this, do their parents know???

I feel the younger we place electronic devices in the hands of our children, the sooner we rob them of their childhood.  They won’t play pretend anymore.  They won’t know what to do when the electricity goes out or their device is broken or they’ve left it at home.  They won’t know how to be creative on their own.  We have students who go out to recess now and do not know what to do when there is no recess equipment.  They just walk around like zombies[Zombies figuratively speaking, they aren’t playing a game of The Walking Dead although some do play The Walking Dead in my Kindergarten…that’s a whole different subject for a different blog on a different day though!].  They ask if they can go get their devices.  We say, “No, you have to think of something else to do!” and they respond with, “Awww!” or “I don’t want to.” or “How do I do that?”  [“How do I do that” is the scariest to me.] Where will our future inventors come from if they don’t play pretend?  This up-and-coming generation will know nothing but the use of electronic devices and that scares me! 

Parents of young children, please think twice before you give your child your phone to play with.  You might be creating a monster! My challenge to you is to rethink the use of electronic devices by your children.  The next time you offer your phone to your child as an instant babysitter, try asking them questions about their surroundings.  If you are a coupon clipper, give them a coupon and tell them to go find  the item on the aisle you are on.  Play “I Spy” in the car instead of putting on a video or the radio.  Teach them a song you used to sing as a kid.  Give them sidewalk chalk or a real paintbrush.  I used to buy my girls water color books.  All you need is a cup of water and a paintbrush. Have them look for the colors of cars and when you get to your destination, ask them what color did they see the most.  All of these are a lot cheaper than an iPad!  Make the use of an electronic device a special treat…a reward…and limit the amount of time they spend on them.
Kids ask a lot of “why” questions so why not ask them “why” questions?  I guarantee you it will make you laugh and it will make them think! 

- Myra Williams

While technology is the world our students are growing up in and has it's advantages, it certainly has it's disadvantages. We must be responsible and consider the pros and cons in order for children to use the technology and still gain valuable life skills! It is okay to allow your child to use your phone or use an iPad, we just need to be cautious and conscientiousness of how often we do so and how long they are on devices along with what they are doing while on the device. It is our job as the adult to protect their childhood and make sure they have a full childhood. Teach your children how to use an old fashioned dictionary or encyclopedia, read books not on an e-reader, play the actual board game or card game and draw outside of an app. Technology can be a great tool and great reward/ relaxation, but fundamentals should never be forgotten. 

Moms rock!

Happy early Mother's Day from my class!

Reading and Writing in Nature

Remember the blog I shared with all of you a couple weeks ago? The one listing people from our past who appreciated nature and became great leaders in our country? Lets revisit that... Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Therau, Frost, Twain- imagine any of these men. What do you see? At least one image is probably of them sitting under a tree with pen and paper.

Now lets think about kids. What do they love? I don't know about y'all but at school, if they can't get outside sometime within the day, the jitters takes them over! On some days I ask students to write or draw or read in class and for whatever reason, they are too jittery. Now, my classroom is different to start with. In my room we are cattle- we roam. So for students to not be able to sit still is common, and when this type of jitters sets in it's extreme because they are already roaming. If I move them and their jitters outside to complete the task, then it's painlessly done 100%. Kids love sitting outside to work!

So, if it's nice out push them out the door! Throw a book or two and a journal in their hands, and let their minds roam naturally! They need some structure, a tool box of things to do though if we want them to think higher and be in an academic mindset while outside.

Questions- give your child standard questions to generate thinking before, during, and after reading/ writing. Questions could include:

• Who is the story about?
• What is the story about?
• What happens to the character?
• What does the story remind you of?
• What if you changed the end of the story?
• What do you think they were smelling/ tasting/ hearing/ feeling/ seeing?
• When does the story happen? Season/ time of day...
• Where does the story happen?
• Why do you think the author wrote the story?
• How does the character feel in the story?
• Is the story fiction/ non-fiction? How do you know?

How do we read? We read in 3 ways:

1. Read the pictures.
2. Read the words.
3. Retell the story.

While reading the pictures students should be making predictions and thinking about the questions above.

Reading the Words- I have students read at least 2 times before retelling. While reading use post-it notes to mark answers to the questions listed above. 

Retelling Activities- there are plenty out there, but here are a few outdoor friendly activities that are the favorites of my students.

• draw or paint a picture of your favorite part of the story
• rewrite the ending
• acting out the story
• news casts
• creating a song/ poem
• writing using their senses (great for poems and adding description into writing)

For more great ideas about reading and comprehension check out these blogs!

• Kids Activities Blog- 10 ways to help them understand what they read. This blog shows practical and time considerate activities.
• Retelling Beach Ball Activity- This beach ball has questions on it. Students catch it and answer the question that they catch.

When I let me kids read and write while sitting outside, I always get a better product and they seem to learn more during the process. So give it a try!