This was the first week in Kindergarten so I wanted to drop in and welcome the new group.
Of course, most of the children I already know but it was fun to see how much they have grown and quite amazing to see that they will be the new big kids on the block. During my visit, I had the chance to see how many skills they are already quite good at as they made their family apple trees.
The children were learning how to select their own supplies they needed for the project from the project table.
They gathered each item they needed for the project all by themselves. The teacher was able to observe their skills in following directions and organization.
Then they went to the tables to create their trees. They traced and cut out the tree top and trunk then glued them to their paper. The teacher was able to observe their fine motor skills and their ability to manipulate the materials.
Once they had their trees cut out and glued on, they printed the names of their family members on the apples. The teacher was able to observe their skills in cutting, gluing, and tracing.
Then they glued the apples to their tree tops. The teacher was able to assess their knowledge of their own family and family relationships and observe their writing skills.
The children did an excellent job printing the name of their mom, dad, and sibling names on their apples. Most of the children already knew how to spell the name of each member of their immediate family. Those who needed assistance with the spelling of the names could look up on the dry erase board and copy the names from there.
All the children had excellent beginning writing skills. I did notice that some of the children were writing in all capital letters – they will work on writing their name and other words with lower case letters throughout the school year.
This is truly a lovely group of children. I hope to visit with them often this school year but not because they will need me – their teacher is outstanding. I just don’t want to miss anything:)
On a side note, while the children were working on their activity, they were quiet and focused. Not because they were told to be but because they were very relaxed and there was soft music playing in the background. I was delighted to realize that it was my own CD. I had given the teacher a copy of my CD last week.
The teacher later told me that when she played the CD for the first time that day, she asked the children if they could guess who was singing? One of the boys guessed it exactly right! How cool is that? They know me well as I sing with them every chance I get. I just love these kids and these schools – I am so blessed.
{ 7 comments }
I didn’t realize there was a kindergarten at your school, too!
I like this idea!
We have infants through Kindergarten!
I love the family trees. What a wonderful idea!
When I was an assistant, I’d love seeing how much the students changed over the summer. What a difference 10 weeks makes.
That family tree idea is simply wonderful. My daughter is a bit young to write out names, but she is really into sounding out words. Maybe I can write our names and then print off some pics and have her glue them to the apples and then to the trees. What a great idea thanks!
Sounds like an excellent plan!
Thanks for this post! It gave me a great idea for my son’s homework project! Apples are a great way to represent people!
Six in the NEst would like you to read..A Family Tree
The project turned out terrific!!
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