nurturing literacy 10.9 - 10.13

Each day is rich with opportunities for the Kindergarteners to engage with print - through our morning message work, the reading of our schedule, the reviewing of classroom signs, read alouds and the sharing of books. The sharing of work provides yet another way to integrate authentic language learning - encouraged and inspired by the children's interests.

Morning Message Noticings

Our morning message work provides a daily invitation for the Kindergarteners to circle a noticing. Perhaps it is a known letter or word. Sometimes it is a deeper investigation into a new word. In the following photographs, JF notices the word is. He finds, reads and circles the word. We talk about how the word is will always be in our message and can be found in many of our books. 

Thinking about Characters

In the below message, we reflected as a whole group about the character Lilly from the story Chester's Way written by Kevin Henkes. One child shared, Lilly is a storybook character - not a real character. Their peer responded with, She isn't real, but she wears costumes and carries a squirt gun in her back pocket! She is silly! One final reflection helped all of the Kindergarteners to think deeply about an essential character quality -

Lilly has a mind of her own!

Our conversation about the character Lilly prepared the children for the following read aloud - Lilly's purple plastic purse.

Asking and Answering Questions

Connecting a new morning greeting to a question for the class - Do you like to jump? We first talked about the number of parts in the word jump, what letter the word starts with, and how many letters. The Kindergarteners answered the question, counted and compared how many. It was a meaningful and exciting way for the children to engage with our morning message. 

Transitions - a social experience!

The Kindergarteners engage in independent and partner reading during transitions from snack and work time. It is often the most authentic and engaged reading that I observe and hear. Children find their favorite books to reread, inviting their peers to read with them. 

 


Name Stamps

The children are excited to explore their own name as well as the names of their peers. We make connections between the letters in our names and the letters we are learning. When there is a C at the beginning of a word, many of the children will say, "There is a C like in your name, Cassidy!" 

Name stamps are a way to honor the interest and excitement about names while building foundational literacy knowledge.