An Important Summer Mission
5/25/2019
The early reading years are critical to reading success. Study after study has shown literacy researchers that the more time children spend reading, the more skilled they become at reading. The opposite is true as well. The less children read, the more they struggle with reading. This is especially true for developing readers. This summer provides an important time for you to build the culture of reading for your child at home, one that will let them know that reading is a fun and enjoyable part of LIFE, not just something we do at school. We spent the entire year building this culture of reading at school. Almost all of our little ones love reading and are very excited to read because they can actually read the words now and that is highly motivating for them. I urge you to build on this momentum and make reading part of your family's daily routine, to make it fun, inviting, and enjoyable for your little one. If your child has not fallen in love with reading yet, I urge you to help them do so. It could make the difference between whether or not your child becomes a lifelong reader. Ideas to make reading fun and inviting for your little ones:
Not only will our little ones read to learn throughout their lives, but many of the most successful individuals in our society, such as Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, read daily and attribute their success to this habit. Furthermore, a study of 1200 wealthy people revealed that they all read regularly. These individuals read for self-improvement, education, and success, as well as enjoyment. Perhaps more importantly, reading opens our little ones up to new perspectives, ideas, places, people, and things and can help build and maintain their creativity and imagination. Building the habit of reading now will help our budding readers become more skilled at reading and build important reading habits, so let's work together to make our little ones voracious readers who love reading and learning!
Taking Ownership
5/18/2019
As an educator, I want my students to take ownership of and responsibility for their learning. At PNA, we encourage this throughout the year by giving students choice within limits and structure. Each day, students choose which books to read at their just-right level, what to write about within our narrative, informational, and persuasive units, and which math games to play to help them further develop the targeted skills and concepts. Through the structure of project based learning, students direct and shape their current studies and projects as "student voice and choice" is an important element of PBL. During our castle study, students have the opportunity to take ownership in a big way. Although the build does require adult assistance (thank you again to all who lent a hand, supervising eye, or box), students completely guide the build. They turn their dreams into designs, work with peers to revise those designs, and then bring those designs to life during construction. On Friday, students were asked to think about what else the castle needed. Those students were then responsible for adding whatever element they chose. Students are completely engaged when they are working towards something that is important to them. It truly helps them take ownership of the project. The project also provides ample opportunity for students to collaborate with peers and make compromises so that the castle truly reflects the vision of the entire class. Relationships and interactions with peers is another area in which we encourage students to take responsibility. Through Responsive Classroom practices, we guide students towards solving their own problems and conflicts with peers with modeling and opportunities for practice. Through PBL, we build and grow their ability to communicate their ideas and collaborate with one another. In this project, this was particularly important during the revision stage in which students worked to create three plans from all of their individual plans. After working to build collaboration skills all year, my teacher heart was bursting as I watched our little ones excitedly combine the best ideas from not only their own designs, but their classmates' designs as well, adapting and changing them as they worked together and shared ideas. (I was also so proud that they added labels throughout the castle, without prompting. It's nice to see that the skills we're teaching become natural to them, because that's always the goal.) Because they design and create the castle, students take great pride in it. Towards the end of the week, I've heard students whispering to each other: "I think this is the best kindergarten castle yet!" "Yeah, it's definitely the best kindergarten castle ever." One student even told me, "This is just like a real castle, except it's better because it's magical-er and colorful-er!" Adults might notice the scribbles on the walls or the uneven windows, but to the students who designed and created it down to the last detail, it's pure perfection. What more can I ask for than for each successive class to think their castle is the absolute best? That's the power of allowing students to have voice, choice, and ownership in their learning.
Castle Dreams
5/11/2019
This week was full of castle dreams. Our sweet little ones have been excited to build and sleep in the castle since the beginning of school. Throughout the year, I have been asked almost weekly about when we would be building the castle and having our sleepover. Now that it's time to build, our engineers couldn't be more excited. I framed the project with the question, "How can we, as engineers, build a castle out of cardboard that we can play and sleep in?" Of course, if you're going to build a castle, you need to study castles! Our engineers have been busy studying castle books. We took a look at what castles historically included: walls, weapon rooms, and guardhouses for protection, dungeons, stables, kitchens, great halls, and bedrooms (among other things). Then, we had to think about what we would need to do in the castle: eat, sleep, play, and take care of horses and other animals. We would need to make space for all of these things within the castle in our classroom. Our little ones worked hard this week to make individual plans and then provide each other with feedback so they could refine those plans and make them even better. It also provided the opportunity for us to talk about the constraints of our building material and available building space. Some of their elaborate three-story bunk beds and spiraling staircases would need to be reimagined and redesigned. After refining their plans, they chose their favorite parts from their individual plans to combine into one castle plan in small groups. It truly melted my teacher heart to see them pouring excitedly over their designs and working together to include each other's ideas and dream up their castle. Next week, we build! It is always so fun to bring their dreams to life. This project, which is also kindergarten's spring "trip," is one of the many reminders of why I love teaching at PNA. Students are motivated and excited because building a life-sized cardboard castle with your classmates is PURE FUN, but the entire project is framed around standards, such as engineering and comparing life in the past to life now, and refining important soft skills, such as communication, collaboration, social-emotional and community building. It's just another example of the beauty of PBL... and PNA. (Each class at PNA goes on a Spring Trip together, which is a truly wonderful community building and bonding experience for students that also helps them gain independence and confidence.)
Making a Difference
5/4/2019
One of my favorite things about project based learning is the way it teaches our students that they can make a difference in the world and help solve its problems, now. When we first started studying animals and endangered animals, one of our sweet little ones said, "When we're older, we can help." This led to a discussion about how they can actually help make the world a better place and solve its problems right now, as kids. (For more about how PBL empowers kids to make a difference in our world now, check out this blog post.) Since then, our kindergartners have created and run a pop-up museum and raised almost $400 for WWF- NOW, as 5 and 6 year olds. What an amazing accomplishment and empowering opportunity for our little ones. Our wildlife ecologists worked hard to teach others about a problem, provide lots of solutions, and convince them to help by making different choices, taking action, and partnering with them and WWF. For a tour of the museum, watch the video below. After the museum was built, I shared with students that my goal for the museum was to raise $100 for endangered animals and my goal for the entire fundraiser was $500. Neither of those was good enough for these kindergarten world changers, who wanted a "mega, mega, mega gigantor" goal of $1000. If you'd like to help us help protect our animals and reach our mega, gigantor goal, you can give to our campaign here. We're so thankful for the generosity of everyone who has already partnered with us! Thank you for helping our little ones make the world a better place NOW and helping them see that their actions can and do make a difference. And a very special thank you to Ms. Laura, who helped our artists create all of the masterpieces for the museum and made a special trip to celebrate with us at the Grand Opening.
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Saania AliMs. Ali graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelors of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies. She specializes in Early Childhood Education, ESL, and Special Education. Her hobbies include traveling, reading, and painting! Archives
April 2021
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