Alphabet Project

Last year my colleague Ms. Johnston and I had the great fortune of visiting the classroom of Joanne Marie Babalis.  The first thing I noticed when I walked into her kindergarten classroom was the beautiful handcrafted alphabet.  Each letter of the alphabet related to the item that was glued to it.  For example, aqua coloured stones were glued to make the letter A and pasta was glued to make the letter P.  What a beautiful art piece for the classroom, but more importantly, what an amazing project for students to have experienced.  

Ms. Marrella and I introduced the Alphabet Project to our students a few weeks ago.  We asked them to look around their homes for toys and other objects that they were willing to donate for this project.  We were truly amazed by the excitement and enthusiasm our students showed for this project.  Each day the the children would come to school eager to donate and show off their found objects.  Because the students were responsible for the creation of the classroom alphabet they were interested. 

Here are two images of students gluing objects to alphabet letters.  

Our Alphabet Project is now completed.  I believe the learning experience during this project was truly invaluable for the children.  The students are aware of the alphabet in the classroom and have an appreciation for it because they were part of its creation.  Rather than going unnoticed, the alphabet now has meaning to the children.  The best part of this project was that students who seemed to have little interest in learning the letter names and sounds are now interested and can even identify most of the letters.    

We are looking forward to showing our handcrafted alphabet to our parents on Curriculum Night.  We want to thank the parents and guardians of our students for helping the children collect items for this beautiful work of art.

The Third Teacher

This past year I learned about the third teacher.  Simply put, the third teacher is the learning environment.

My understanding is that the third teacher is rooted in the Reggio Emilia approach of learning.  In this learning approach students learn and develop from interactions with their parents, adults and peers, and the space around them.   

Over the past two weeks Ms. Marrella and I have been observing how the students move, work and play in the classroom.  After some thought, we decided to reduce the space our own materials used, in an effort to increase the learning space of the children.  Though it wasn’t easy at first, we did decide to take the teacher’s desk out of the classroom.  We made this decision after noticing that we rarely sat there.  Furthermore, it was unfair of us to have a large permanent desk taking up a lot of room when we have been telling our students to share the classroom space.  

Space with teacher desk

Space without teacher desk

Once the teacher’s desk was removed, we were able to redesign the classroom layout and create new pockets of space.  Our classroom has transitioned again.  With the third teacher in mind, we have a variety of spaces for large and small group instruction.  We were conscious not to clutter the classroom.  We intend for furniture to be moved and reconfigured for inquiry projects and other small group investigations.  We have tried to create active and quiet areas for students to work in and explore.  Finally, materials are easily accessible for students to use and develop independence.  

Below is a video about the third teacher. 

Setting Up the Classroom for a New Year of School

This year will be particularly special in that I will be teaching the Full-Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program (FDK) for the first time.  In preparation for this new program I was fortunate enough to visit two FDK classrooms this past May and June. 

Both classrooms I visited were beautiful because student creations, discoveries and wonders were visible.  I noticed that the physical space of these two classrooms did not compete with the inquiries or learning taking place, but rather acted as a canvas. 

When I went to school this week to set up my class, I was eager to create a learning environment much like the FDK classrooms I had visited.  I had to remember though that the FDK classrooms I had seen were transformed into beautiful spaces over a period of a year, and with input from the classroom ECE and the children. 

Here are three things I did differently this year to set up my FDK classroom.

1.  I used craft paper on the cork boards instead of coloured background paper.  I noticed that the craft paper had an earthy colour to it that wouldn’t compete, but would complement student work to be displayed on it. 

2.  I didn’t fill the walls with store bought boarders or posters. I want to create an environment for students that is both authentic and natural looking.  I am making a conscious effort to only put up pieces that are meaningful to the kindergarten children (e.g. their own work).  

3.  I left lots of space for children to move, play and discover.  Creating space in the classroom meant that I had to say good-bye to some furniture I had previously collected.  

My classroom metamorphosis has just begun but is not complete.  I am looking forward to the transformation that will take place throughout the school year.