I wouldn't ask the principal. I would just do it. That's what I did when I taught Kindergarten.
Renee On Jul 6, 2008, at 6:28 AM, Linda Collins wrote: > Lori- > I also teach kindergarten. I have not used "Letter of the Week" > in years! We immerge our students in letters - focusing on the > letters in their names initially. Our K - 2 does use Wilson > Fundations, but I do not do all the activities. I pick & choose. I > also introduce upper & lower case together. I typically begin guided > reading groups in November with my kinders. If I were you, I would > certainly talk with the new principal to see if you could make some > changes in your classroom. You might want to look at Building Blocks > by Dottie Hall & Pat Cunningham. > > > Linda > http://teacherweb.com/OH/Union-SciotoElementarySchool/LCollins/ > index.html > > --- On Sat, 7/5/08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] kindergarten > To: [email protected] > Date: Saturday, July 5, 2008, 10:39 AM > > Susan and Kendra, > > I feel that I am stuck at the present time with the letter of the week > because it is what "the team has always done". Being the new kid on > > the team I rearranged the introduction of the letters but did not give > up on the system. We have a new principal starting this fall so I am > hopeful that he will want to look at some different ways to do things. > Kendra...as far as your question about thinking strategies with > kindergarteners, I was determined not to "dumb down" the thining > strategies that I did with my first graders so I taught my kids what > schema was and why it was important. I carefully chose books that > would demonstrate how we use our schema (tooth losing books were a > hit) I also taught making connections and started to teach the > difference between a surface type connection and connections that help > us to understand what we are reading. Many of my colleagues said "you > are using the word schema with kinders?" YES! It is kind of a goofy > word so they remember it! What will be interesting to me is to see > what happens when my kinders get mixed with the other kinders in first > grade. Will what I taught them stick? Will it make a difference. I > have a friend in first grade who is going to help me with that > observation. Baby steps I guess! > > Lori > LoriQuoting [EMAIL PROTECTED]: > >> Kendra, >> >> K teachers in my school do not do letter of the week at all! They >> also do not use fundations. They are using reading and writing >> wokshop entirely and meeting children for guided reading in groups >> using Jan Richardson's approach to Guided Reading. It is working >> great! I teach 2nd grade and we are seeing a much higher percentage >> of students coming to first and second grade on graed level because >> of the great work they are doing in K. I am also one of the >> reading coaches at my school. Some of the teachers had a very hard >> time moving away from letter of the week. Once they saw the >> difference and what their children were capable of doing they have >> not looked back. >> >> Good luck, >> Susan/TN > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ > mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ > mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > "You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to find it within himself." ~ Galileo _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
