Star of the week in preschool

Being a Star of the Week will make your students feel extra special!

This was our second year of implementing the “Star of the Week” in my classroom and all I can say is that I love, love, love the results of this process.  Let me use this post to explain to you how we approached the “Star of the Week” and later, I will share with you all the amazing results I have observed from implementing this process…

Adding a New Routine with Star of the Week

First of all, the “Star of the Week” doesn’t begin until the last half of the school year – usually in January. The reason for holding off is to give my students more time to really know each other so they feel more comfortable and confident speaking in front of each other and have a better grasp on how to ask each other questions. It also gives me a chance to know my students better so I can see what adjustments might need to made along the way. By January, my students and I are well adjusted to each other and into our classroom environment and are ready for something new to be introduced into our routine…

Family Involvement

To get the “Star of the Week” up and running, I send home a note to the parents along with a list of when each child will be the “Star of the Week.”  Each week, we have one new child star and since I have 12 students in my class so for us, the “Star of the Week” program lasts exactly 13 weeks long…

Each parent helps their child decorate a poster at home with the things they love including the people in their family, pets, favorite foods, vacations, sports, dance, and whatever else they wish to add to the poster. Lots of stickers are added to the posters, drawings, magazine pictures, and photos…

I do not give the parents much in instructions other than not to add a photo that the parent wants returned or is afraid of being damaged. I prefer the posters to be something the family chooses to do in their own way. I don’t even say that the child has to put the poster together on his or her own or what size the poster has to be. Some families clearly do more helping with the process more than others. In every case, the children are extremely proud of their posters and very excited to share it with the class…

A Special Day

We save our “Star of the Week” presentation until the very last part of our day. Although I call it “Star of the Week” it really might be better to say “Star of the Day” because everything is really done all in one day but since we only have one star each week we have stuck with “Star of the Week.” The star begins our day as “the helper of the day” – which means he or she is the line leader, weather helper, and whatever else we come up with throughout the day…

The child’s poster is hidden from the class until it is time for his or her presentation. The last 30 minutes of our day is reserved for the “Star of the Week” to share his or her poster and this works best for any child whose mom or dad would like to come in for the presentation. The last 30 minutes of our day (just before pickup time) makes it a more convenient time for the parents to join us…

Sharing with their Classmates

During each child’s presentation, the star really takes the lead. The star begins by telling the the entire class about each picture or photo or drawing or sticker on the poster. We try to encourage the star to stand to the side of the poster while talking and face the other children but not every child remembers this little detail as they go along…

Where needed, I provide prompts such as, “I see you have a photo of a dolphin on your poster, can you tell us more about that photo?” But most of the time, the children just start talking and never stop until they have covered every thing they see on the poster. In fact, I have learned that if I will stay out of their way, the children take over the entire process quite proficiently…

Reflecting and Asking Questions

After the star has concluded his or her presentation, then the star chooses at least three children, but often times more children are invited, to ask the star a question…

At first, the question and answer portion of our process is a little rocky but a few stars later, the children get very good at asking questions (usually the same questions) and giving answers. What seems to help the most is if the children are allowed to go up to the poster and point to something to ask the star about…

Special Guest Readers

Once the presentation and the question and answer section has been concluded, then the parents who join us also often stay and read the “star’s” favorite book to the class which is definitely an added bonus. This year, every parent came to read to us but if a parent (or other guest) isn’t available to read or isn’t comfortable reading, I am more than happy to read the child’s favorite book to the class instead. The child can bring a book from home or choose one from our classroom…

Culminating Event

After every child has a day to be “Star of the Week” then we have one final day where all the posters are set out like a gallery of stars to wrap up our program. The final day and the gallery of posters is really a post I should write about all by itself because my observations of this aspect of our program is really wonderful too…

Each child is presented with a “Star of the Week” certificate and a “Star of the Week” necklace for their participation and then the posters go home with the children at the end of our day…

Many Reasons to Love Star of the Week

Now that I have shared the process for “Star of the Week” be sure to come back tomorrow to read about the amazing things my students gain from this process too!

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Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

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