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| watch the video version of the story here. |
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There are so many activities to choose from when it comes to linking name work with reviewing the alphabet. I continued with whole group lessons before attempting workshop center rotations this upcoming week. I did so in efforts to provide my students opportunities to model and practice the procedures of using class materials, how to cut and glue into their notebooks, and becoming familiar with the routines during class time.
Here's what we did...
DAY 1: Chicka Name Trees
After reading the story to the class I introduced to them their first activity. We had linking discussions that this year in kindergarten we are going to review the letters of the alphabet, but begin learning that the letters and sounds we hear form words and those words form the sentences we read all over the place. In fact, the most important (and special!) words they have are their names!This activity was a fun introduction to whole group work time because my students were engaged the whole time and did a wonderful job identifying the letters in their names.
letter stickers | amazon
Each child selected the color construction paper they wanted and began gluing their trees together. Afterwards I had them write their name and count the number of the letters on the label, to which they glued to the bottom of their page. Finally, (and the most exciting part for them) was hunting for the letters in their names and sticking them on their trees. The final product was so cute and a colorful addition to the empty back to school walls in the classroom!
DAY 2: STEAM Tree Challenge/SEL Lesson
As a review of the story, I found this STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) activity that challenges students to create their own chicka coconut trees but only with a block and craft sticks. They were to try and design their trees to hold as many letters as they could and needless to say, this activity was a huge hit among all three of my kinder classes.Although the activity itself was not based in a language arts objective explicitly, I chose it as an introduction to perseverance, getting comfortable with making mistakes, and finding new ways to solve problems. In the year ahead I expect to grow these skills within my students as it relates to their English language development, reading, phonics, and writing skills. Not to mention, encourage and support them in their speaking and communication skills as well. So, I found this lesson to foster just that.
I gave students about 10 or so minutes to complete the challenge, meanwhile taking a craft stick away periodically; making it more difficult to hold the same amount of letters. This kind of activity so soon in the year was a great observation of student responses to challenge or setbacks. I was impressed with each class and their enthusiasm and engagement in their learning! Not one became frustrated or upset; rather they were excited to see how many letters their "tree" could hold.
Extension Idea: this activity was a wonderful whole group activity, but it can easily be revisited as a literacy center. For example, I would have students make their "tree" once more and stack as many letters as they could. Then, have them record each letter (practicing letter formation, pencil grip, etc.) in some fashion such as writing or stamping them on a handout in their notebooks or to be turned in.
DAY 3: Letter Sorting
Day three our class focused on identifying letters, using tools and references in the classroom to help (i.e. the alphabet posters), and sorting uppercase from lowercase letters. I also wanted to choose activities that could be easily glued and included in their interactive notebooks for English workshops. I'm so proud that by this day my students were getting the hang of all the cutting and gluing and getting much faster with this procedure. This practice during class time helps them develop those skills, but their homework is in a similar interactive notebook format so the more time they have to practice the easier it'll be for them at home.
Introducing interactive notebooks!
A component of their interactive notebooks that I wanted to introduce them to were how to use the spinners and 'rainbow writing'. So, I created this page where they practiced using a paper clip and pencil to spin. In the boxes they were to practice writing their names but in four different ways: with a pencil, marker, crayon, or rainbow write.As you can imagine, many of these procedures are new for my kinders so these moments to use whole group class time to practice is purposeful in more ways than one. I modeled for them what rainbow writing looked like for this activity, which is choosing a different color for each letter of their name. Rainbow writing will be prevalent this year in their word work both in class workshops and at home for homework. This particular activity took some time for them to grasp, but I found they enjoyed it nonetheless.
And that was a wrap of our second week in kindergarten English class! I have been so proud of how well my students are working and working together each day. Over the last few days I've been able to connect with my kids and it's always a pleasure knowing they're having fun. I've already received a number of emails or have heard from my colleagues that English class has been one of a few students' favorite times of the day. I'm looking forward to many more moments where I can leave that kind of impression and encourage these little learners that learning can, indeed, be fun!
Happy weekend and cheers to the upcoming week!
