February 28, 2024

Kindergarten Writing Portfolios

 



In kindergarten, it's so exciting to see the growth each child goes through within a school year. It's one of the most treasured moments I have year after year. One way my students can show off their growth and success is with their Writing Portfolios!

I love incorporating a writing portfolio each year because it's one of the easiest ways to track their progress and having these work samples available also makes for great references during writing conferences (or even parent conferences). I remember when a student of mine was so discouraged and didn't think they were writing as well as their peers. But one look at their work and how it's progressed over the year gave them the confidence to keep going. Such a powerful moment!


Storing Portfolios



I have a black crate that I use with hanging file folders for each child and I just keep it tucked away in my classroom. There are so many different ways you can use to store your student's writing, but this has been a system that has worked for me. I've seen teachers use binders or folders...either way, just find a system that keeps your student's work organized and easy to access.

Monthly Self-Portraits



One of the skills that I love building in my students is their sense of self. I stock my classroom with skin-tone crayons and markers and we spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year discussing and drawing ourselves. I love using personal mirrors (used for phonics when learning how to make the correct mouth formations) so they can notice the different qualities about themselves - often for the first time!


We notice how we're alike and how we're different (Social Studies objective right there!), what our skin, hair, and face look like. We notice our hairstyles and eye color. We have discussions around these concepts and students are given plenty of practice to draw. We also discuss how we can draw using different shapes and lines. Curved lines for our faces, spirals for curly hair, lines for straight hair, and circles for eyes. With all of this foundation laying, students are ready to begin their self-portraits for their portfolios!



I heavily model how to draw a self-portrait at first. It takes quite a bit of scaffolding and practice for something so simple. Students first watch me as I bring their attention to different features about myself as I draw. Then, we add color - this is an awesome time to introduce those skin-toned crayons! Finally, they begin to write their names.


Each month students will continue this process all the way to the last month of school! You'll notice that they'll need less and less support as they get more comfortable drawing themselves. You'll also start to notice them applying these skills to other people in their stories during writing time - which is also very cool to see.

End-of-the-Year Gift

When it comes to the end of the school year I love presenting parents and families with their child's hard work. After our kindergarten graduation ceremony, parents return to our classroom where they're presented with their child's portfolio and other keepsakes. 


Parents are always so excited and proud of their child's hard work because their portfolios give them a snapshot of where they started and where they're ending the year! Plus, as a teacher, this gift is completely FREE and very meaningful.





I hope you find writing portfolios to be a successful addition to your classroom this year or upcoming year!

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February 25, 2024

Gingerbread Composing Activity



One of my favorite concepts to teach my kinders in math is composing and decomposing numbers. If you're not familiar with the term, it simply references how numbers are made by combining different quantities. It's foundational number sense that builds over the school year to eventually being able to add and subtract (or join and separate).


What I enjoy about it is that you can see how students begin to make connections and for them to demonstrate how numbers are created. At the beginning of the year, we begin with composing numbers to 5, then to 10, and at the end of the year we jump up to 20. It's very cool to see how this progression allows students to become little number experts and truly understand how numbers represent quantities and that we can manipulate those quantities in different ways.

...but anyways...


One activity I enjoy doing with them around the holidays is this gingerbread composing craftivity!


Gingerbread Composing

Sorry, it's not a great photo, but here's an example of one of my student's work.

I use this activity after we've spent a lot of time building upon the understanding of number sense to 10. We spend weeks learning how to represent, count, compare, and write numbers in different ways. Then, as a means to have students show off what they've learned they complete this fun and engaging craftivity!

Students are provided a set of 10 gingerbreads that are both boys and girls. They are to select a quantity of each to compose numbers of their choice from 5-10. I encourage students to think about the different "number pairs" or "number partners" that we've discussed in previous lessons when composing. It helps them stretch their understanding beyond the easy peasy number pairs like 5 and 5 make 10. 

Words vs Symbols

To finish, my students must complete the solution statement that describes the number they're composing. In my district, we use the phrase: "____ and _____ make ______" and not the symbols. We move towards working with the symbols at the end of the year as to make the link between building numbers to addition. 

I see a lot of great resources on TpT and other teacher blogs, but rarely do I see "and" and "make" being used. So, I've included both versions just because I know different classrooms use different verbiage to describe composing. 



I've seen teachers get super creative with this activity by adding foil to the background to make it look like the gingerbreads are baked on a cookie sheet. So cute!


In addition to the gingerbreads, I've also included marshmallows to represent the same concept of composing to 10. Simply choose the activity that best suits your learners.





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Sprouting Seeds: Living & Non-Living Science

 


One of my favorite science units to teach in kindergarten is our unit on Living and Non-Living! We spend a few weeks building our knowledge around what makes an object living or non-living then explore the differences between needs and wants.


What's more, this unit is a wonderful opportunity to expose students to non-fiction texts if they haven't learned about them already. I highly recommend digging through your school's library for some NF texts on living and nonliving things to have students read and explore. Epic Books and Pebble Go are other great virtual resources as well!


Week 1: What is Living/Non-Living

This introductory week allows students to develop a strong understanding of what makes an object living or non-living. They will use key vocabulary to describe objects (tying in their vocabulary from a previous unit on attributes/properties) and sort them based on what makes them living or not.


Week 2: Needs of Living Things: Animals & Plants

This week students build on their understandings and focus on living things as plants and animals. Students begin to identify the certain "needs" of living things and how they require these things to survive. This is a great opportunity to discuss needs vs wants...which ends up being a bonus discussion about accepting no. 


I really enjoy using this resource from Kindergarten Creations. It has a lot of great visuals for this unit and for the student work pages, I size my copies down so students can glue their work/thinking into their science journals. 


And who doesn't love a good Cookie Monster moment?? This is a fun video to share with students to drive concepts home about the basic needs of living things.



Week 3: Seed Sprouting Lab

In this week our class begins to apply what they've learned to a lab where they sprout a lima bean seed! 


This ends up being my favorite week because students get the opportunity to sprout their own seeds and observe the beginning of a plant life cycle! In our class, we use lima beans (nice connection to our read-aloud A Bad Case of Stripes) and place them inside Ziplocs. You can use any type of bean (I've used some pinto beans from my sensory bins before!) as they all begin sprouting relatively quickly. I found this cute greenhouse cover where students write their names and decorate them. Afterward, I tape them up to our window and the watching begins!


It ends up taking a week or so before students can begin to see changes in their seeds. I place 3 inside their greenhouses to give them a greater chance of sprouting something. 


Pick up this FREEBIE over at my TpT store so your students can begin sprouting their own seeds in a classroom greenhouse!




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