This section of my professional website will take a more in depth look how I run my classroom. Here there will be examples of classroom management and design. This section will be regularly updated as I grow and change as an educator.
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/6/6/126698774/editor/814461489.jpg?1591763952)
EXTENSION CENTERS
Thanks to an increase in the rigor and academic requirements in kindergarten; many classrooms have moved away from any sort of play to meet the increasing demands on kindergarten students. However in our class I believe it is possible to mix academic skills with that “free choice” time that used to be a staple in kindergarten. In my “free choice centers” each student gets their own clothespin with their name on it. They take their pin and place it on a dot under the specific center that they want. If all the dots are filled they are taught that the center is full. If a student wishes to change centers, they simple take the clip and move it to the new center that they wish to go to.
Thanks to an increase in the rigor and academic requirements in kindergarten; many classrooms have moved away from any sort of play to meet the increasing demands on kindergarten students. However in our class I believe it is possible to mix academic skills with that “free choice” time that used to be a staple in kindergarten. In my “free choice centers” each student gets their own clothespin with their name on it. They take their pin and place it on a dot under the specific center that they want. If all the dots are filled they are taught that the center is full. If a student wishes to change centers, they simple take the clip and move it to the new center that they wish to go to.
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/6/6/126698774/published/248167655.jpg?1591764025)
Each center has a sign that hangs above it and it matches the picture of the free choice dots. Students will be able to look at the sign and determine where the center is that they picked. The centers that you use in your own classroom can vary but most kindergarten classrooms should include something similar to the following;
- reading center (classroom library)
- home living center (dramatic play / make believe center)
- science center
- math center
- computer center
- writing center
- literacy center
- art center
- blocks center (can include puzzles, Legos, building blocks, Lincoln Logs)
- SMART board center
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/6/6/126698774/published/754307965.jpg?1591764199)
The pictures are examples from a few of my centers. The first picture is from my science center where students will be exploring the topic of sink and float. The tub will be filled with water and students will take assorted items and determine if they sink or float. Then there is a folder game and a matching worksheet activity. The science center allows children to freely explore the items in the water. If a student gets bored with the water they can choose to do the extra activities that also support the skill.
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/6/6/126698774/published/453416948.jpg?250)
In the blocks / puzzles center there are a wide variety of activities that allow students to not only strengthen their fine motor skills but also support academic skills. While I do have building blocks in the blocks / puzzles center; I also have puzzles that match upper and lower case letters, build cvc words, match numbers and quantities, and a whole lot more. I also have magnetic letters that students can explore freely. To help direct the students play, I may put sight word strips, cvc words strips, or abc order strips in the centers that the students can copy / build using the magnetic letters. This helps students build those academic skills that they need will still learning to share and work together.
In the library center I have books organized books both by themes and leveled readers. The leveled readers are from the Reading A-Z website. Students know what level they are on and they can pick from any of the books in their specific level. If they want to read or look through a book that we’ve read aloud in class, or find a book about a specific topic they can use these bins. I make sure that students can self manage this by putting a colorful sticky dot on each bin, each theme has their own specific sticker. All the books that belong in that theme bin will have the same sticker on the book. The students can just match the sticker to the bin to make sure they put the book back where it belongs.
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/6/6/126698774/published/700491282.jpg?1591765395)
The writing center is one of my favorite centers. At my writing center I have many different activities available for the students to do including tracing pages to help students improve their fine motor skills especially at the beginning of the year. On the back of the bookshelf I have chalkboard paint where I can write in chalk a writing prompt for students to respond to if they don’t have an idea for what they want to write. I also have many different tools available for them to use at the station to help them wit their writing. There are crayons for drawing their picture, clipboards if they want to do some write around the room, individual chalk boards if they want to do some writing in chalk, spacing tools to help students make spaces between their words, sight word cards, and alphabet postings to help them remember how to write their letters. Plenty of things for students to explore in this center!
LITERACY WORKSHOP
Those three choices that each group gets are based on three categories:
Those three choices that each group gets are based on three categories:
- Main workstations tubs (5 tubs) or Computers
- Extension tubs – Write the Room materials, Phonics Games, sight word lessons & flash cards, book bags
- Room Activities – These are centers that rarely change but students can go to around the room. Examples: classroom library, magnetic letters, poetry journals, journal writing, and pocket chart area
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/6/6/126698774/published/353043602.jpg?1591766731)
GUIDED READING
During my literacy workshop section of the day is when I also run my guided reading. During my guided reading students are learning a number of skills. They gain fluency by learning basics of language such as initial sounds, vowel sounds, word blending, and sight word knowledge. They gain comprehension through facilitated practice of various comprehension strategies. Student’s also use their background knowledge (or what they already know about the world) to help them get what the author is trying to tell them.
In my guided reading program books are leveled based on the number of words, difficulty of words, and the level of comprehension needed to successfully read the book. I use Reading A-Z for my guided reading program as well as Raz-Kids as the online component to support. Books are broken down into levels by letter.
aa, A, B, C – Kindergarten
D-J – 1st Grade
K-P – 2nd Grade
Q-T – 3rd Grade
U-W – 4th Grade
X-Z – 5th Grade
Student’s in our kindergarten class will move up through the levels in reading by gaining knowledge in phonics and letter sounds, sight word knowledge, and comprehension skills. There are several comprehension skills we go over throughout guided reading.
Main Idea / Details – Student’s learn about the big picture of the story and what the story is about overall. Then they use the story to find details to support that main idea. For example if a student reads a story titled “Fruit” they will learn that the main idea is that there are many different kids of fruit. Then they will look through the book to find the different fruits that were discussed in the book.
Compare and Contrast – Compare and contrast can be used in many different ways. Students can compare and contrast two different topics within the same book. They can compare and contrast two or more characters within the same book or between two different books. Students can use compare and contrast to find similarities and differences between two different stories.
Classifying Information – Many stories require students to understand how to put topics into different groups. For example referring back to the story about “Fruit”, students are asked to sort fruit into groups of “fruit you peel” and “fruit you do not peel”.
Problem and Solution – Books that are literature and not informational text often has a problem or an issue that the characters in the story has to face. Students learn how to identify problem and the solution to that problem in the story.
Predicting – A part of being a good reader is being able to use their knowledge of the clues in the book to help guess what may happen next in the story. Learning and practicing this skill will help students learn to look deeper within the text other than just at the surface.
Inference – Many times authors in stories may try to tell their readers something but may not clearly state it within the text. Students inference when the use what they know about the world around them and apply it to the clues within the text. Students combine the evidence with their prior knowledge to come to a conclusion about the author’s message.
Sequencing – Another important comprehension tool is being able to retell the story in the order in which it’s supposed to happen. This is very important for students to learn how to give directions, follow directions, or just retelling a story to someone else.
During my literacy workshop section of the day is when I also run my guided reading. During my guided reading students are learning a number of skills. They gain fluency by learning basics of language such as initial sounds, vowel sounds, word blending, and sight word knowledge. They gain comprehension through facilitated practice of various comprehension strategies. Student’s also use their background knowledge (or what they already know about the world) to help them get what the author is trying to tell them.
In my guided reading program books are leveled based on the number of words, difficulty of words, and the level of comprehension needed to successfully read the book. I use Reading A-Z for my guided reading program as well as Raz-Kids as the online component to support. Books are broken down into levels by letter.
aa, A, B, C – Kindergarten
D-J – 1st Grade
K-P – 2nd Grade
Q-T – 3rd Grade
U-W – 4th Grade
X-Z – 5th Grade
Student’s in our kindergarten class will move up through the levels in reading by gaining knowledge in phonics and letter sounds, sight word knowledge, and comprehension skills. There are several comprehension skills we go over throughout guided reading.
Main Idea / Details – Student’s learn about the big picture of the story and what the story is about overall. Then they use the story to find details to support that main idea. For example if a student reads a story titled “Fruit” they will learn that the main idea is that there are many different kids of fruit. Then they will look through the book to find the different fruits that were discussed in the book.
Compare and Contrast – Compare and contrast can be used in many different ways. Students can compare and contrast two different topics within the same book. They can compare and contrast two or more characters within the same book or between two different books. Students can use compare and contrast to find similarities and differences between two different stories.
Classifying Information – Many stories require students to understand how to put topics into different groups. For example referring back to the story about “Fruit”, students are asked to sort fruit into groups of “fruit you peel” and “fruit you do not peel”.
Problem and Solution – Books that are literature and not informational text often has a problem or an issue that the characters in the story has to face. Students learn how to identify problem and the solution to that problem in the story.
Predicting – A part of being a good reader is being able to use their knowledge of the clues in the book to help guess what may happen next in the story. Learning and practicing this skill will help students learn to look deeper within the text other than just at the surface.
Inference – Many times authors in stories may try to tell their readers something but may not clearly state it within the text. Students inference when the use what they know about the world around them and apply it to the clues within the text. Students combine the evidence with their prior knowledge to come to a conclusion about the author’s message.
Sequencing – Another important comprehension tool is being able to retell the story in the order in which it’s supposed to happen. This is very important for students to learn how to give directions, follow directions, or just retelling a story to someone else.