Viewing Guide: Kindergarten Matters: Building Blocks for Learning
Video Length: 58 minutes
The following information is provided as a means of stimulating dialogue and enhancing your viewing of Kindergarten Matters: Building Blocks for Learning
Segment / Content / Time1. / Introducing the Kindergarten Program
This segment provides a general overview of the essential components of an effective Kindergarten classroom as outlined in the Revised Kindergarten Program, 2006.
Guiding Questions:
1. What words can be used to describe learning in these Kindergarten classrooms?
2. What is the role of the teacher?
Points of Viewing Interest:
· The child is learning to write the letter “s” after completing a letter identification task where he searched for the letter “s” around the room.
· This questioning chart enables the teacher to teach students how to ask effective higher-order questions to enhance their reading comprehension. The teacher scaffolds the students’ learning by choosing two words from the chart to act as a question starter. Children’s questions are recorded on post-its and placed in the appropriate intersecting spots on the chart.
· The red funnel which is suspended from the ceiling provokes the students to engage in inquiry-based learning.
· The teacher is holding her “Guess Who” game. This game helps students to learn to differentiate between the letters of the alphabet by studying their physical features. See the additional viewing option entitled, Guess Who Game, to hear the teacher describe how this game is played.
· This word wall is placed at the height of the students on the outside of their coat cubbies for easy use. The students’ names are the first words to appear on the word wall.
· Heavy-duty plastic plates can act as inexpensive mini whiteboards.
· Activities where students use tongs to pick up items encourage the small-muscle development that supports proper pencil grip.
· This student is using a paint stir stick with a foam letter “s” glued to the end to help him search for letters around the room. / 00:00 – 03:22
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2. / Scheduling and Timetabling
This segment introduces us to Lynn Howarth who has been a Kindergarten teacher for twenty years. She shares her philosophy of education for young children and describes how this philosophy influences her classroom and timetable organization.
Guiding Question:
1. What core beliefs about young children and how they learn influence decisions about classroom setup and programming?
Points of Viewing Interest:
· Communication between the home and school is
encouraged through the use of Important Bags.
These waterproof cloth bags with zippers across the
top are available from office supply stores.
· Math manipulatives include pattern blocks, plastic and wooden blocks, attribute blocks, plastic bears, 3D foam shapes, and puzzles.
· For a copy of Lynn’s schedule, see the additional
viewing option entitled “Lynn Howarth’s
Timetable”
· This “It takes a village to raise a child” math mural helps students to link math concepts to the real world. At this time, the students are practising their counting and number formation skills by creating a tally of various mural items. / 03:23 – 05:52
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3. / Organizing for Independence
In this segment, Lynn discusses how she organizes the materials at the Creative Centre to promote independence.
Guiding Question:
1. What organizational strategies are utilized to foster independence?
Points of Viewing Interest:
· This alphabet centre has been created using plastic shoe organizers. It encourages students to identify and sort the magnetic letters into the correct pockets after they have been used to make high-frequency words on a cookie sheet.
· Clear plastic bins enable students to easily access and sort manipulative materials.
· The paper cut-outs on this block shelf help the students to know where to place the various blocks. Please see the additional viewing option, The Block Centre for more information. / 05:53 – 07:03
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4. / Using Time Effectively
In this segment, Lynn discusses how she maximizes learning time throughout the day. She makes suggestions about activities that might be done instead of traditional “calendar math”.
Guiding Questions:
1. What aspects of the timetable might be reconsidered in order to maximize learning?
2. What alternative activities reinforce the concepts of number, patterning and time traditionally taught through calendar math?
3. What role does functional print play in the classroom?
Points of Viewing Interest:
· Displaying your daily schedule using words and pictures is a great way to encourage students to read functional print in the classroom. Additional examples of functional and environmental print can be found in Environmental Print I Can Read! I Can Write! Written by Terri Beeler. Published by Creative Teaching Press, ISBN 305-540-033-28
· Sample timetables for both half day and full-day Kindergarten programs are provided in the additional viewing option, Schedules K, L, R.
· Lynn is modeling how to “think aloud” while reading a story. In this example, she is demonstrating how she makes text-to-self connections to help her better comprehend text. For more information about “thinking aloud”, please see pages 4-6 to 4-7 of the Guide to Effective Instruction in Reading, Kindergarten to Grade 3.
· Traditional “calendar math” often requires children to sit for inappropriately long periods of time. There are other more engaging ways to teach the same skills through music and movement.
· This teacher has the students count up from 0 to 100 as a way to measure how long it takes the helper of the day to get down to the office and back with the morning attendance. The colour coding on the hundreds boards reinforces the significance of 5 and 10.
· There are many counting songs that students can help to act out as a way to reinforce number concepts. / 07:04 – 08:30
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5. / Fostering Self-Directed Learning
In this segment, Lynn describes how she teaches her students to be self-directed learners taking responsibility for their own actions and behaviour.
Guiding Questions:
1. What organizational structures promote self-directed learning?
2. How are students helped to know what is expected of them?
Points of Viewing Interest:
· Students are independently practising their name writing skills as they are making a class birthday card.
· Students sign their names to this chart to indicate that they have something to share with the class.
· Students independently sign out books using this chart.
· This is an example of an “anchor chart” that helps students remember how to work with a learning buddy. For more information about “anchor charts”, please see p. 117 in A Guide to Effective Literacy Instruction, Grades 4 to 6, Volume One.
· This is Lynn’s “What We Need to Do” necklace that illustrates in pictures and words the expected behaviours on the carpet. At the beginning of the year, Lynn models and teaches the behaviours that match each of the pictures. If someone needs a gentle reminder on the carpet, she simply shows the appropriate picture.
· The game of criss-cross applesauce provides the students with an opportunity to practise crossing their legs in a playful manner. The goal of the game is to have everyone sitting cross-legged by the time the teacher has completed saying “criss- cross applesauce”. / 08:31 - 10:30
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6. / The Language Centre
In this segment, Lynn takes us on a tour of her Language Centre that features small-group or individual literacy activities, individual book boxes and a journal writing table.
Guiding Questions:
1. What organizational structures enable small-group instruction to occur?
2. How does one create literacy centres that develop print awareness and alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness, oral language and writing skills?
Points of Viewing Interest
· Ideas for centre-based literacy activities can be found in the books by Miriam Trehearne, Lesley Mandel Morrow or Literacy Centers for Primary Classrooms by Caroline Jackson Blakemore and Barbara Weston Ramirez (ISBN 076850273X)
· The expectations and criteria for journal entries are taught to the students at the start of the year.
· The plexi-glass writing table consists of two pieces of plexi-glass fastened to a wooden base. / 10:31 – 12:12
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7. / Thinking about Learning Centres
In this segment, Lynn shares some of the questions that need to be considered when creating learning centres.
Guiding Question:
1. What role can students play in the co-construction of centres?
Points of Viewing Interest
· Recording information anecdotally right in a student’s portfolio reduces time spent re-copying information.
· Lynn puts an elephant stamp in the top left corner of painting paper to help students remember where to start printing their names. She also folds up the bottom of the paper about 3 inches to provide a clean spot for story writing. Please see the additional viewing option, Painting Paper, for more information.
· When the tops of markers are glued onto a large wooden block, it is easy for students to put away the markers. Please see the additional viewing option, The Marker Block, for more information.
· Colour-coding centre signs and the labels on bins of materials helps students to know where materials belong in the classroom. Please see the additional viewing option, The ICARE Board, for more information. / 12:13 – 14:18
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8. / System Leadership for Kindergarten – Jill Worthy
In this segment, Jill Worthy, a Superintendent from the Toronto District School Board, outlines the critical role played by teachers, principals, superintendents and trustees in the establishment of effective Kindergarten programs.
Guiding Questions:
1. What role does “system leadership” play in effective Kindergarten programming?
2. What constitutes a “seamless day” for children?
Points of Viewing Interest:
· For additional information about the Best Start
initiative, please visit: www.children.gov.on.ca/CS/en/program/BestStart/default.htm / 14:19 – 18:36
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9. / Assessment in the Kindergarten
In this segment, Lynn discusses some of the assessment challenges faced by Kindergarten teachers. We see her utilising checklists, anecdotal notes, the Developmental Writing Continuum and portfolios.
Guiding Questions:
1. What are the elements of effective assessment in Kindergarten?
2. How is assessment linked to “the zone of proximal development”?
Points of Viewing Interest:
· For additional information about the Zone of Proximal Development, please see p. 2.15 in The Guide to Effective Instruction in Reading, Kindergarten to Grade 3.
· Lynn models how to write the first few words on a chart that will later be completed by the students using interactive writing.
· An overview of the First Steps Writing Continuum is found on p. 67 in A Guide to Effective Literacy Instruction, Grades 4 to 6.
· An explanation of the levels of text reading expected by the end of Senior Kindergarten can be found on
p. 38 of the Revised Kindergarten Program. It is essential to consider what knowledge and skills students need to acquire to successfully read (decode and comprehend) text at each level. This knowledge and skill set must become the basis of literacy instruction in Kindergarten. / 18:37 – 21:49
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10. / Focussed Observation – Dr. Pat Dickinson
In this segment, Dr. Pat Dickinson, of Charles Sturt University, analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of a variety of assessment tools including checklists and anecdotal record sheets. She introduces a more comprehensive Focused Anecdotal Record /At-A-Glance Sheet.
Guiding Questions:
1. What does it mean to have comprehensive and systematic assessment practices in Kindergarten?
2. What are the strengths of the focussed Anecdotal Record/At-A-Glance Sheet?
Points of Viewing Interest:
· For additional information about assessment, please see pages 12.3 to 12.56 in A Guide to Effective Instruction in Reading, Kindergarten to Grade 3.
· For additional information about “kidwatching”, please see Owocki, G. & Goodman, Y. (2002). Kidwatching – Documenting Children’s Literacy Development. Portsmouth: Heinemann. (ISBN 0-325-00461-7) Study notes for this book will be available at a later date.
· For additional information about assessment in the Kindergarten program, please see pages 8-10 of The Revised Kindergarten Program.
· An example of the Focused Anecdotal Record / At –A-Glance Sheet is provided as an additional viewing option.
· Additional information is provided about the following assessment tools: Using Photographs, Student Self Reflection, Using Technology and Formative Assessment. / 21:50 – 28:48
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11. / Encouraging Purposeful Talk
The importance of helping all students acquire a strong oral language foundation is discussed in this segment.
Lynn stresses the essential role that she plays in modeling how language can be used effectively and in creating an environment where her students are engaged in purposeful talk.
Guiding Questions:
1. How can oral language development be fostered throughout the Kindergarten day for all children?
Points of Viewing Interest:
· Turn and Talk or Think-Pair-Share is an effective way to keep students actively engaged in whole group learning experiences. In the beginning, students need to be taught how to sit “knee to-knee” and “eye-to-eye” with a partner, how to share an answer and how to listen respectfully.
· For more information about how to support English Language Learners, please access Many Roots, Many Voices at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/docment/manyroots
· Additional ways to encourage purposeful talk are provided: Shoemaker’s Shop, The Mystery Can You Guess Box, The Birthday Bag, The Dramatic Play Centre. / 28:49 – 31:10
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12. / The Role of Talk in the Classroom – Dr. Carmel Crevola
In this segment, Dr. Carmel Crevola discusses how music and pictures can be used to stimulate oral language development. She offers practical advice to teachers about asking questions, utilizing wait time and differentiating instruction.
Guiding Questions:
1. What skills and strategies are essential to observe?
2. How can one gather samples of oral language?
3. What can be done to help those students who seem
reluctant to speak in any language?
Points of Viewing Interest:
· For more information about use of pictures to encourage oral language development, please see Carmel’s Let’s Talk About It program published by Mondo Publishing.