1. So yesterday, I showed how I organized my Work Station groups. I think every year Work Stations time becomes my student's favorite part of the day. They work in their families (small groups that stay the same all year) and rotate through 5 areas of the room per week. One group uses the Promethean Board, another completes a Write the Room, and one goes to my teacher assistant and works with her. There are always books available in these areas in case they finish early. The other two areas vary. One can have a pocket chart activity, puzzles, math or phonics game. The last area is the Free Play rug. This is one way with all the Common Core standards, I can still get some play time in for my kids. They may use the blocks, kitchen area, or a bucket of toys from the shelf. I rotate the options. It's the perfect time to do those choices because there are a limited number of kids in the families- smaller group=less arguing!
2. Another time of day the kids love are afternoon workshops. This idea was born when I decided to get rid of our nap time. Right after lunch, the children are again divided and placed in groups. These groups vary from week to week. I ask for volunteers to come in for 45 minutes and work with the children on an activity. It's perfect! The kids get to transition back to school work after lunch and they get so excited when their parent/grandparent leads their group. It also gives the parents an idea of what the classroom is like and how their child is interacting with their peers. I even have grandparents who continue to volunteer even though their grandson has been out of kindergarten for two years. They love it...and the fact that they are retired teachers plays a small part too :)
3. Project/Playtime, as I call it, is right before our Writer's Workshop time. The children get a chance to play and socialize and then they are able to focus and write. This is another time where I squeeze in the play. My assistant and I each have an activity to complete- usually the activities are a craft project of some sort. We work on a lot of coloring, cutting, and gluing at this time. While we call the children to our tables, the remaining students are on the rugs playing with selected choices. Here is where I keep my eye out to see who is getting along, who is off alone. I also "eavesdrop" and see how they are solving the little issues that come up. No matter how academic kindergarten becomes, it's still so important they learn to get along without an adult to help them. Of course I intervene if needed, but more often than not, they solve it on their own.
The other blocks of our day include our prayer time, calendar notebook, Math, Reader's and Writer's Workshop, and a mix of science and social studies. All of this plus Spanish, art, music, gym, computer, and library classes. Throw in a Mass here and there and...how long is our school day?!
Thanks for reading about our day. Sorry about the lack of photos this time. Head back and keep Bloghoppin!
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