Alaska 'There are 48 states that are close together and 2 that are far away. Today we are going to learn about Alaska, one of the states that is further away.' - Kindergarten Mentor Teacher In Kindergarten, there is a real art to simplifying ideas and concepts for 5 and 6 year olds and I wanted to showcase how well my mentor teacher makes learning accessible to her students. This past week, Kindergarteners began learning about Alaska and what makes it a unique place to live. Topics we covered: - Alaska's culture - History including the Inuit people - Animals - Things to do - Nature The lesson began by building students knowledge around the geographical locations of Colorado, Alaska and Hawaii. Together, the teacher and students colored and labeled each state. Kopp wrote ' Note taking may begin in kindergarten with the recording and posting of information on anchor charts, drawing paper, and personal learning journals' (Kopp, 2017, p. 77). This lesson is a perfect...
Colorado - Learning about the state we live in! Reading Around the half-way point in Kindergarten, we begin introducing nonfictional reading text into our literacy groups. Up until that point, we have mostly explored many fictional genres such as picture books, poems, and storybooks from the literacy curriculum. The only nonfiction text the students are exposed to formally at school are the Scholastic Kids magazines. Once students learn to write, they do start with more nonfictional prompts such as 'Weekend News' (what they did over the weekend), creating wish lists around various topics, wants and needs, or opinion pieces. Their exposure to both genres are continuous, but are practiced at different times of development. We began reading an Informational text book during our literacy centers this week. These decodable books are part of our literacy program. Kopp said 'nonfiction picture books can be used effectively with students...as they are engaging tools for int...