Welcome to our
Classroom Doorway Page!
Here you'll find poems songs, photos, and other fun stuff as the year goes on. (Go to our private classroom page for in-class updates, co-op schedules, and more.)
Let's begin with a letter from Mrs. Vincent and Mrs. Bethel.
A Letter from Mrs. Vincent and Mrs. Bethel
Dear Parents
All classes in the elementary schools in Derry Cooperative School District use a reading program called Four-Blocks™ Literacy Model developed by Patricia M. Cunningham and Dorothy P. Hall. There is no Four-Blocks for kindergarten because it is not developmentally appropriate for the 5-6 yr. old learner.
“A developmentally appropriate kindergarten is like a good home, where children can learn through playing, cooking, watching, listening, acting, reading or pretend reading, and writing or pretend writing. It is a place where they can explore their environment, ask questions and answer questions. It is a place where the teacher is like a parent—reading to the children and talking about the stories they read; writing for children and allowing them to write for different purposes; having time to explore their community on fieldtrips; and talking about those experiences together. It is a place where children clean up after themselves, learn more about familiar and unfamiliar topics (usually called themes), and learn more about what interests them most— themselves. Most importantly, it is a place where children learn that reading provides both enjoyment and information, and they develop the desire to learn to read and write." (Hall and Cunningham, 1997)
Knowing all this about kindergarteners, the authors, with the help of kindergarten teachers, devised a program that is developmentally appropriate for the young learner. This program is known as Building Blocks™.
The good news is the kindergarten classes at Nutfield have been using Building Blocks™ for the last several years. There are six blocks to the Building Blocks™ program.
"The six blocks are:
- Children learn that reading provides both enjoyment and information, and they develop a desire to learn to read.
- Students also learn many new concepts and add words and meaning to their speaking vocabularies.
- Children learn print concepts, including how to read from left to right, how to read a page from top to bottom, etc.
- Children develop phonemic awareness, including the concept of rhyme.
- Students learn to read and write some interesting-to-them words, such as“Pizza Hut”,”cat”, “bear.”
- Students learn some letter names and sounds usually connected to the interesting words they have learned.” The Teacher’s Guide to Building Blocks™ by Dorothy P. Hall and Elaine Williams
Regardless of where your child will be attending first grade, this program provides the necessary pieces to the puzzle that we call literacy.
This year I have also been supplementing the “Letters and Sounds” block with Zoophonics™. I like this way of teaching letters and their sounds because it uses different parts of the brain to give meaning to letters, which are nothing more than symbols without meaning to the young child’s mind. To help them make sense of these symbols they use a visual picture of an animal (e.g. Allie Alligator); they hear and say the letter sound (ặ, ặ, ặ) and they cement it into their memory when they move their bodies (move their arms like the jaws of an alligator). If you are interested in learning more, visit www.zoophonics.com.
I am often asked by parents for suggestions for things they can do at home to help their child in this learning journey. This week I will send home a letter to parents from the Building Blocks™ authors which I think explains what we are doing in class along with good, practical suggestion to do at home. Click here if you would like to view and print a copy of this letter.
If you ever have questions about what we are or aren’t doing in class, please do not hesitate to ask me. Every time you coop we should be discussing your child. If we are unable because of the schedule, you can always catch us after class, or we can set up an appointment that is more convenient.
Sincerely,
Kim and Helen
Poems and Songs
These are some poems and songs we share every day in our class. Visiti the Nutfield Music Library to learn the songs we sing in our Music Classes with Mrs. Dionne.
Poems(Mother Goose Rhymes)Old Mother Hubbard Jack and Jill Little Bo Peep Itsy, Bitsy Spider Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Humpty Dumpty |
Apple SongWay up high in a tree Two red apples looked at me. So I shook that tree as hard as I could Down came the apples….MMMM they were good! |
Orange is a CarrotOrange is a carrot. Yellow is a pear. Purple is a plum. And Brown is a bear.
Green is the grass. Blue is the sky. Black is a witch’s hat. And Red is a cherry pie.
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Head and Shoulders (with a twist!)Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Eyes and ears and mouth and nose…. Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Top to bottom, left to right, left to right. Top to bottom, left to right, left to right. My mind knows the story always goes …. Top to bottom, left to right, left to right.
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Photos
A book the children wrote and illustrated about the solar system.
Views of space from Mrs. Vincent's classroom
Scenes from Class, Dec. 8
Hansel and Gretal — Passing through our painted forest mural backdrop, the kids made their way to the Gingerbread House, but had to figure out the cryptic map to get in!
