Last semester, while I was completing my final undergrad class, I also took time to volunteer in a couple of classrooms. One of these classrooms I volunteered in was a kindergarten classroom. First of all, I must say, kindergarten teachers are amazing. In September, some students came into the classroom unfamiliar with what some of the letters in the alphabet looked like. When I left the classroom in December, students were forming sentences and reading to me!
I am absolutely amazed by the methods that this kindergarten teacher uses to develop the foundational blocks of literacy.
1. She first taught the students her multi-sensory alphabet. Day by day, she would introduce one letter at a time, such as Amy the Apple. Take notice that the 'A' in Amy and the 'a' in apple are two different sounds that the letter 'A' can make. While introducing the letter shapes and sounds, the teacher would also teach the children hand signals to represent the sounds. For instance, if the teacher pretended to bite an apple, the students would make an "ahhh" sound that is heard when saying "apple". The teacher would practice this throughout the day while noting any students that needed more practice with it.
2. As the students became familiarized with the actions and the sounds that the actions represented, the teacher would do a number of actions in a certain order. The students would make the sounds that were associated with the actions. After repeating the sounds a couple of times, they would recognize the word that she or I was spelling with our actions. It was amazing to see!
3. As students were progressing through her multisensory alphabet, she had them begin to think about syllables. Aware
that students may have different strategies that suit them best, students were encouraged to clap out the syllables, take steps with their feet, say words slowly, etc.
4. Students would then think of a simple sentence. They would create the sentence using colored 3-D blocks. If the word was one syllable, they would use a single white block to represent the word. If it was two syllable, the would use a green block, followed by a yellow block. If it was a three syllable word, they would use a green block, followed by a yellow, which was then followed by a red. Now, of course, if it was a three syllable word, all the blocks would be touching because it was still one word. White blocks though, should never be touching any other blocks because they represent a single word. (Therefore spaces between the blocks are indicating spaces in sentences.)
4. Once students have shown they understood how to use the blocks correctly, they would then 'transfer' the blocks to paper via colored paper, glue, and their notebooks (this is pictured below). The teacher and I had precut small strips of white, green, yellow, and red paper. So students would still use their blocks to create their sentences, and once their block sentences were approved, they would begin gluing the paper in their notebooks.
5. If students wanted to take on the challenge themselves, or if the teacher or I felt they were ready for it, they were encouraged to start filling in the sounds that they heard. For example, a student may of had a white piece of paper representing the word 'tree'. If the student believe he/she hears an 'r', they will write an 'r' on that white piece of paper. Once they are satisfied with their work, the teacher or a volunteer would write their sentence below to look back upon as further assessment.
6. Just before the December break, the teacher was starting to push students towards using punctuation at their end of their sentences too. What outstanding progress for a kindergarten student!
This multi-sensory alphabet combined with the students book-bag (that was changed regularly) assisted the students in developing their reading and writing skills! I also didn't mention the countless stations she created that had students practice the formation of letters while using fine-motor skills.
I'm so glad that I got to volunteer with this wonderful lady. I learned so much and I know it's going to assist me for years to come!
I am absolutely amazed by the methods that this kindergarten teacher uses to develop the foundational blocks of literacy.
1. She first taught the students her multi-sensory alphabet. Day by day, she would introduce one letter at a time, such as Amy the Apple. Take notice that the 'A' in Amy and the 'a' in apple are two different sounds that the letter 'A' can make. While introducing the letter shapes and sounds, the teacher would also teach the children hand signals to represent the sounds. For instance, if the teacher pretended to bite an apple, the students would make an "ahhh" sound that is heard when saying "apple". The teacher would practice this throughout the day while noting any students that needed more practice with it.
2. As the students became familiarized with the actions and the sounds that the actions represented, the teacher would do a number of actions in a certain order. The students would make the sounds that were associated with the actions. After repeating the sounds a couple of times, they would recognize the word that she or I was spelling with our actions. It was amazing to see!
3. As students were progressing through her multisensory alphabet, she had them begin to think about syllables. Aware
that students may have different strategies that suit them best, students were encouraged to clap out the syllables, take steps with their feet, say words slowly, etc.
4. Students would then think of a simple sentence. They would create the sentence using colored 3-D blocks. If the word was one syllable, they would use a single white block to represent the word. If it was two syllable, the would use a green block, followed by a yellow block. If it was a three syllable word, they would use a green block, followed by a yellow, which was then followed by a red. Now, of course, if it was a three syllable word, all the blocks would be touching because it was still one word. White blocks though, should never be touching any other blocks because they represent a single word. (Therefore spaces between the blocks are indicating spaces in sentences.)
4. Once students have shown they understood how to use the blocks correctly, they would then 'transfer' the blocks to paper via colored paper, glue, and their notebooks (this is pictured below). The teacher and I had precut small strips of white, green, yellow, and red paper. So students would still use their blocks to create their sentences, and once their block sentences were approved, they would begin gluing the paper in their notebooks.
5. If students wanted to take on the challenge themselves, or if the teacher or I felt they were ready for it, they were encouraged to start filling in the sounds that they heard. For example, a student may of had a white piece of paper representing the word 'tree'. If the student believe he/she hears an 'r', they will write an 'r' on that white piece of paper. Once they are satisfied with their work, the teacher or a volunteer would write their sentence below to look back upon as further assessment.
6. Just before the December break, the teacher was starting to push students towards using punctuation at their end of their sentences too. What outstanding progress for a kindergarten student!
This multi-sensory alphabet combined with the students book-bag (that was changed regularly) assisted the students in developing their reading and writing skills! I also didn't mention the countless stations she created that had students practice the formation of letters while using fine-motor skills.
I'm so glad that I got to volunteer with this wonderful lady. I learned so much and I know it's going to assist me for years to come!