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Differentiation with Kinder & TK

9/29/2016

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Hi there.  Yisel here.  You may know that I am the Kinder League teacher that teaches transitional kindergarten (TK).  This year I have 19 TK students and 6 kindergarten students.  Yup, I have a total of 25 students.  I know, I know.  Yes, it's hard work,...but I think I am close to perfecting my differentiation approach during my workshop block.    Plus, these kiddos are super sweet, and I enjoy watching them grow and learn.  
I thought I'd do a quick little write-up on what differentiation currently looks like in my classroom.  I'd love to hear what you think.  Even better, I'd love to learn about how you tackle the diverse academic (and social) levels we see in the first year of elementary.   

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My workshop graphic organizer.
#1: teacher table; #2: desk work; #3: quick desk work and then library; #4: free choice (puzzles, blocks, dramatic, doll house, etc)

Here is the graphic organizer that I use during workshop.  I project the image on the smart board as a reminder for both the students and myself.  My groups fluctuate.  Although I mostly work with leveled groups, I also like to use heterogeneous groupings from time to time. 
In the past, I have used badges and color coordinated yarn necklaces to help us keep track of groups. But I wanted to try something new that would allow for a faster set-up and transition.  I'm loving it so far!

This activity took place at the Teacher Table (TT).  I meet with my advanced kindergarten students first.  This is an example of the writing activity we worked on. I hope you are able to see (the photo is not very clear) that these students wrote 3 sentences using the sentence frame:
We like_________.  I did a mini lesson on spacing and punctuation with this group, since sight word reading was not a need.

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This group needed a little more guidance with sentence writing.  They could read the sight words: we & like in isolation but needed practice with word order, so I did a dictation approach with them. 
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This group can read the sight words also, but needed extra practice with vocabulary.  We did a lot of talking in this group.  You might be able to see that I highlighted the words as I spoke the sentence.  Working in a small group allows me the time to do this to everyone's paper.  In other words, I would not be able to deliver this type of individualized instruction in a whole group setting.  Students then read the sentence back to me, one at a time.  We concluded by writing one sentence.  I wrote along with them.  Being that it's still the beginning of the school year, they still need that teacher model.  
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These little darlings are not ready for the "writing."  And I don't believe in putting unnecessary stress on them.  They are in TK and have TWO years to master the program.The focus here was letter formation.  I frequently use the same resources as the rest of the class but switch the focus to letter formation or letter identification for those that need it.  As you can see, we used the back of the worksheet to play a quick letter identification game using the letters in the word "like." 

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Kinder League gets a lot of questions on how we differentiate our instruction to help meet the individual needs of our students.  We promised many of the wonderful teachers we meet at conferences that we would share more about the process.  I hope this was helpful.

I also get lots of questions about the types of activities that are going in the other 3 centers and how the students manage themselves since I don't have an aide during this time.   In particular, teachers ask about the "choice" center.  More on this next time....
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Sight Words in TK

9/9/2016

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Some of you have asked me if I teach sight words in Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and the answer is yes. The focus at the beginning of the school year for the TK student is letter matching.  I do have the big Rainbow posted in my classroom and the students receive all sight word resources (e.g., flash cards, coloring rainbow, homework folder word list).  Transitional kindergarten students are enrolled in a two year program and they have the two years to master the kindergarten standards.  The curriculum of the first year, the TK year, is exposure to the kindergarten curriculum and they are not expected to master it.  Although I cover the material, I certainly do not put the pressure of learning all those words on these 4 year olds.  We typically focus mostly on the first four colors of the rainbow list. 
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As the TK teacher, I work hard on presenting the material in a different way, with a twist, if you will.  My goal is to NOT have these little ones go through TWO years of the same program taught the same way.  I have found that if I turn the sight word lesson into a bit of an art project, the stress is eliminated some what.  Today we reviewed "I" and "can."  Just getting the letters glued down in the correct order and not upside down was an ordeal for this group.  I had to keep walking away because they continuously asked me to do it for them.  Gaining independence is going to be a big struggle this year, I can already see that.
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After we got the letters glued, I gave them markers to decorate them.  We usually get a little more fancy with sequence and glitter paint but this group is not ready for that.  We kept it simple today.  By the way, this activity was done at the teacher center during workshop. 
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Shoebox Library

9/3/2016

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A number of you have asked us about our Shoebox Library so we decided to put up a quick blog entry on this family project.

The purpose of the Shoebox Library is to hold all of the little homework readers and class-made-sight word/CVC based-readers that we use and make in class.  



We use little reader books for homework and in class.  Some come from our reading program and others are created by the students.  The point is that A LOT of books are accumulated throughout the school year.  These little books are a perfect way to do all of the reading practice that is required of the emergent reader. Instead of recycling these books, the the Shoebox Library gives parents a designated place to keep these useful resources.  Below you will find the project sheet we sent home last week (right after we explained it at Back-To-School Night).    

shoeboxchandlerblog.pdf
File Size: 478 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


We also take this opportunity of project sharing to begin having the students develop their public speaking skills.  Students are asked to stand at the front of the class with their box and talk about 1) who helped them decorate it and 2) what materials they used.

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These are some of the Shoe Box Libraries we got this year.  The students' first oral presentations are always a favorite for us!  We focus on projection of voice and speaking in complete sentences. And now we take the next week to fill their boxes with books from class and we practice "quiet reading time" with them so they know what to do when they go home.  We love this family project!
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My ABC Journals

9/2/2016

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I am finally ready to blog about my ABC journals.
I have been making these for years.  I am a stickler for letter formation instruction in kinder & TK.  If WE, kinder teachers, don't take the time now to teach proper letter formation,...then when will it happen? 

My ABC journals take me back to when I was in 3rd grade.  My teacher was huge on proper letter formation and I think I have retained a little of Mrs. Kramer inside of me.  This year I am excited about trying something new with my ABC journals- direct drawing lessons from First And Kinder Blues Skies.
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abc_journals_label.pdf
File Size: 1840 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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So first I created this cute label which you can download by clicking on the link above.  I used letter stickers from the dollar bin at Target to decorate the covers.  I then laminated the front and back covers.
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The sequence of pages above shows the first few pages of the journal.  Each journal has 30 pages.  On the first day of letter practice (which usually happens on the first day of school) we all practice printing lines.  We do this for two days (2 pages) for about 5 minutes each day.  Then we move into circles, lines, and X's.  The homework during these first days of school is also on printing lines, circles, and X's. All we are focusing on up until this point is following directions: finding pencils, finding the ABC journal, turning to the correct page, holding the pencil, etc.  I stress to the students that they are not to go ahead of me.  We take our time.  I walk around and monitor their progress.  I stamp their page if they are doing a good job of following directions (no drawing yet).  Finally, a few days later, we move onto our first letter: Mm (this is the first letter that our Treasures Reading curriculum teaches).  Step by step, the children finish each row of letters. I teach letter formation using my SmartBoard to project the paper image, and we work on one letter at a time.

Now that the letter printing is complete, we move into direct drawing instruction.  After completing the printing of M's, I will help the students draw a picture that begins with that letter.  We will complete one page in our ABC journal per week.  I used to help them draw the pictures from our Treasures Reading alphabet cards, c for camel for example, but I'm changing things up this year.  You see, I teach Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and their program is "exposure" to the kindergarten curriculum without the stress of mastery (at least not yet).  I am changing the pictures mostly because I don't want to give them a repeat of the program and because using different drawings will allow for additional vocabulary development.  I purchased Alphabet Letter Directed Drawings from First and Kinder Blues Skies during the bts sale this summer and I'm very excited abut trying those! 

Be sure to check back.  I will be blogging about the progress.....

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Ok, so I promised to share the progress of our ABC journals with you.  Here is the first letter printed, Mm.  And the "monkey" is the first direct drawing we attempted.  I think the students did great!  I opted for no color because I was a afraid it would cover up the drawing.  Plus, I have to admit that this first-time activity took a long time and we didn't really have the extra minutes for coloring. 
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This yellow submarine is precious!
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    Here We Come to Save the Day!

    We are three energetic kindergarten teachers who want to share our kinder experience with you!

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