Literacy Centers on the Computer click here

Each Thursday morning, Mrs. Batchelder, our computer teacher, comes into our classroom with her rolling cart equipped with her laptop and projector. She researches and introduces the children to 3 different activities on line. These computer games reinforce literacy and math skills. After the group lesson, children take turns on the computers in the classroom as Mrs. Batchelder assists them. The rest of the children are at literacy centers as they anxiously await their turn. These computer lessons can be accessed at home if you go on our school website. Click next to the title of this posting.

Counting and Measuring

In this activity, the children line up popsical sticks end to end as a way of measuring lengths of tape on various objects throughout the room. They count the sticks and record those measurements with pictures, numbers, or words. Again, any activity with a clip board is worthwhile!

Spring Literacy Centers

Several mornings a week, children work with a teacher, teacher's aide, or parent volunteer in small groups on specific literacy skills. When this lesson is completed, children may go to a literacy center. There are so many and they change weekly. Among these centers are: literacy games, magnetic letters, dry erase boards, word families, light table, pocket chart activities, listening center, read the room, etc. All of these activities are intended to reinforce the literacy skills the children are introduced to daily. It's an active time of day, but the children are engaged and learning and having fun!

Developing a strong sight word vocabulary is an important outcome at the end of the kindergarten year. There are many games to increase this awareness. One is sight word bingo and another is called, "Sorry!". In the latter game, sight words are written on the end of a tongue depressor. Children take turns taking a stick out of the can and if they can read the word, they get to keep it. One of the sticks has the word "sorry" written on it. Whoever chooses that one, has to put all his/her sticks back in the can and begin again. They love this game!

Learning about weather has been an on-going unit this year. After many activities relating to wind and wind speed, the children made a class book called, "The Wind Blew". Here are children gluing their sentences down and illustrating pictures.

Using the light table is a fun way to reconstruct a nursery rhyme using transparencies. The nursery rhyme is copied on a transparency which is cut apart sentence by sentence. Looking at a copy of the nursery rhyme on the wall, the children put the sentences in order.

These children are on a shape hunt. They are using clipboards and a recording sheet to find shapes around the room.

Literacy Centers

Children are writing "silly sentences" choosing a word from each ray of the rainbow. They create a silly sentence, write it and then illustrate. Jordan's read: His horse skated over your jacuzzi!

Time For Recess!

I thought you might like to see the children in action on our little playground. Recess is the highlight of the day!

Little Scientists

After listening to stories about colors and rainbows, the children had an opportunity to mix primary colors to make new ones. They had to wear a lab coat and goggles as they used eye droppers to mix 2 colors together. They were able to make green, orange, and purple using yellow, red, and blue. After the activity, the children had to complete a booklet showing which colors they mixed and what they created. They also created black and brown...this thrilled them!