exploring the zones

We began our week with a further investigation of the zones of regulation. My focus was on a deeper understanding as well as a recognition that throughout the day you may be in multiple zones - it's okay to feel angry or stuck, we all do at times. Exploring the zones in this way will help support our conversations and reflections throughout the year, as I may ask, what zone were you in during reading today? Or, did it feel like that was green zone work? Or, show me what reading in the green zone looks and sounds like. The zones are a concrete tool to support and encourage children to reflect on their feelings as well as their level of engagement. The Grouchy Ladybug provided a colorful read aloud touching upon big feelings, emotions, and language. I wanted children to name the zone they were in, share their zone on the morning message, and represent what it looks or feels like to be in a certain zone. We connected back to our conversation at the end of the day with this closing circle prompt;

When you find yourself out of the green zone, 
what do you do to get yourself back in the green zone?

IM - "I was feeling sad this morning, because I wanted to pick my own clothes. But, then I came to school. I just came to school and now it's okay"

CS - "It sounds like having time helped to get in the green zone. I often find that when I give myself time, I begin to feel better"

ZM - "I was in the blue zone this morning. I was so tired. I wanted to keep sleeping, so I said to my dad, one more minute. I had one more minute and then - I got up!"

CS - "So, I'm hearing that you made a plan with dad - having one more minute to rest helped you to get up and start your day"

 

 

Some children used the message as a tool for writing or labeling the zone they were representing;

 

Next Steps;

I will take their drawings and writing and put it into a book about the zones. It will be our third book that we've made this year! I find books to be a powerful way to document an experience as well as a rich means for revisiting. It is empowering for the children to see their work cared for and shared. Their writing, drawing, and ideas are important. Our work will also be used to connect to future teaching. In the writing unit we use, there is a focus on writing How To Books. As the Kindergarteners become experts on naming zones and feelings as well as strategies for being in the green zone, how authentic for them to write a book about How To Be in the Green Zone! This book could then be shared with future Kindergarteners or across classrooms. Of course, these are connections and dreams that go through my mind. The authentic and meaningful learning will come from the children - I will support and help scaffold the paths they choose.

what does it mean to listen?

What does it mean to listen?

What does it look like to listen?

How does it feel to be listened to?

We began our conversation as a reflection following the read aloud, What Does It Mean To Be Present? This was a book given to our classroom at the start of the school year, a wonderful gift from KC's family.

We focused on the act of listening - what it looks like and how it feels. As a whole group, the Kindergarteners shared their reflections from the story as I wrote their thoughts on large chart paper. Together, we investigated the question; What does it mean to listen?

Later, I invited the children to represent their ideas. While children were independently working, I asked them to tell me about their drawings and writing. I transcribed their words. For some children, their drawings were a representation of a feeling - the green zone, happy, good. It feels good to be listened to. For other children, they processed a difficult feeling through their work - some things don’t feel good to listen to.

For many children, their representations and words are the beginning of a bigger story, a story about community and relationships, a story about learning how to be together, a story we have yet to tell as we are living it now.  

I encourage you to read the children’s transcribed words. Kindergarteners tell their stories in many different ways. Too often we ask children to write their ideas or stories on paper, without taking the time to orally discuss or represent their ideas and stories. The art of oral storytelling is an important skill to practice and explore, to invite and advocate for, to share with our whole learning community.

As with all of our learning, I am amazed at where our conversation has brought us. I am enlightened and excited at where it has brought me - recognizing the importance of transcribing children’s words for us to go back to and revisit. A conversation about understanding what listening really means, has brought me to a place of exploring and investigating the act of storytelling and the role that listening and being present plays in the sharing of our stories.

Aren’t our lives a collection of stories? Our ideas shaped by experiences? What stories will the children tell this year? What kind of connections will we make?

How can we - as teachers and adults - continue to encourage and practice being present? How can we ensure that children have the opportunity to tell their stories and that their peers have the opportunity to listen?

 

 

 

 

 

 

our first celebration

In recognizing the safe, kind, and responsible choices the Kindergarteners have been making, we had our first community celebration. We made a list of six choices and voted from three of them. Our morning message provided our voting tool, the children - once again - wrote their name on a sticky note and attached the note under their choice for our first celebration. We counted and recorded. The majority of the children voted to finally open our loft!

 

We opened our loft during choice time. We discussed expectations and modeled a safe way to climb and descend the stairs. We brought drawing materials, books, and literacy puzzles up. Some investigations and experiences children have been returning to for choice this week are;

Construction
Shapes
Dot Art
Sunflower Art
Science Puzzles
Notes

 

 

 

Three children share about their structures following choice. 

 

the carrot seed

There are many books that we will reread throughout the year. When readers reread, they practice reading in different ways - sounding like the characters or acting out the stories. This week, we talked about the characters in one of the books we've been rereading - The Carrot Seed. We made a list of the characters and talked about the lines of those characters in the story. We then brought chairs to our rug area for our audience. We discussed what it means to be an audience, what it looks and sounds like. The children acted out the story twice - there was incredible joy throughout our rereading of this familiar story!

 

 

In the series of photographs, KC is our carrot seed. 

He suddenly grows into a carrot at the end of the story! 

In the above photograph, CM weeds around the carrot seed and 

sprinkles the ground with water! 

gathering together on the rug

The early morning is full of teaching and learning opportunities. It is a time for the community to come together over a greeting, share or reflection. We always start our meeting on the edge of the rug, standing tall. We stretch up high, recognizing personal space, by slowly bringing our arms down. Once our hands hang at our sides, the children bring their bodies down. We take one scoot back, as we must fit many bodies around our rug! As I've previously shared, when we greet one another, it is expected that we greet with our whole body. The children turn slightly towards their community member, look, and respond. Some of our greetings we've learned and practiced;

Pass the stone or wooden heart - passing the love with a friendly good morning.

A wave with a good morning and a peer's name.

The butterfly greeting, connecting hands together to make the wings of a butterfly.

Rolling a ball across the rug to a peer with a joyful, Hi _____ !

Passing a drum around the oval and drumming the parts (syllables) in your name.

Singing, Who Came to School Today, with a dance in the middle.

Singing a shortened version of Willaby Wallaby, with a focus on individual names and rhyme.

Following our greeting, we often have a quick share. The quick share is a structured share in which I invite the children to think about a hope for the day, reflect on an experience, or reflect on their role and personal goal for the day. I pull 4 - 5 names at random and transcribe the children's words. We often have a quick share at our closing circle as well! Some questions or invitations for share;

How will you help our community today?

What zone are you in and why?

What is your hope for the day?

How will you be a kind friend today?

What do you want to learn?

What did you work hard on today?

Did you laugh today? What made you laugh?

The children then move into their four rows to review our schedule and morning message - all full of literacy and math concepts!

On this particular morning message, we talked about a T-Chart and collecting data. Each Kindergartener wrote their name on a sticky note and added it to our chart. We then counted and compared. We talked about which number is more and how you can show which number is more. As we notice and discuss, I record children's observations and knowledge.

This message encouraged finding a letter in written text as well as counting and recording how many. On this day, the children were letter detectives, hearing the letter T in many words and finding the letter T in books and print throughout the classroom.







Your name is a word. Words have letters. How many letters in your name?

 

 

We also come together on our rug for number corner, a time in our day to talk about the date, the calendar, making predictions, how many days we've been in school, and playing various math games. Our rug is a space to gather for read alouds, stories, community meetings, and to revisit documentation and conversation about our community work.