Building Primary Math Concepts

In most primary classrooms today, teachers seem to spend the majority of their time on Language Arts, with Math coming in a close second on the priority list. This is definitely what happens in my classroom! Because language arts instruction is so important and seems to eat up so much time, I find that it is all the more crucial to make sure that my math instruction is effective and is delivered efficiently. I use math manipulatives in small groups daily to develop math concepts and understandings, and then use the songs from my CD’s to help reinforce and review these math concepts at other times of the day as well.

The songs on the Musical Math CD and DVD are particularly helpful in reviewing the academic vocabulary associated with these math concepts. For example, when introducing a concept such as patterning, I first show the children some patterns in a whole group setting using manipulatives with magnets on them, placing them on a magnetic white board easel. We talk about what kinds of patterns I am making, then name these patterns with letters, such as an AB pattern. Then we all stand up and sing the AB pattern song. Then, when we break into small groups for practice, the children each get to make their own patterns and again attempt to label them with letters. When in the small groups, I may sing some of the songs softly that we learned to help the children remember what it is that we are trying to do. The songs help link the concrete math concepts that we are learning with the abstract math vocabulary that they must also learn. Once they have a solid label for each concept in their heads and can build their own examples of these patterns, true learning has taken place. We will work on a concept such as patterning for several weeks, and sing the songs on and off again during the actual math lessons, during transition times, or whenever the kids need a chance to get up and move a little to get those wiggles out!

For example, in the AAB pattern song, they sing, “Chug, chug, caboose! Chug, chug, caboose! Duck, duck, goose! Duck, duck, goose!” all with movements for each one. It’s definitely a favorite activity! Musical Math also has songs like this for sorting, comparing sets (more, less, and equal), coin recognition, skip counting, counting to 100, addition, and subtraction. But no matter what the concept, my basic lesson plan is to first introduce the concept whole group with magnetic manipulatives, sing the song, and then work on the concept in small groups with manipulatives. After that, if the skill must be transferred to paper, then we work on that, too. Meanwhile, we keep reviewing the songs as often as time will permit. Hopefully, when the children hear the songs, they will be visualizing their experiences with the manipulatives in their heads, and connecting this learning to the math vocabulary that the song is about.

For some children, especially those with limited preschool experiences, simple shape and number recognition from zero to ten is also a problem. Because of this, I developed the Jumpin’ Numbers and Shakin’ Shapes songs and flashcards. The flashcards each have a character embedded into each number or shape. This character jogs the child’s memory to help him remember a motion and the name of the number or shape. For example, there is a monkey on the number eight card. When the children see it, they are coached to say, “Eight!” while making a monkey motion. Often, if they cannot immediately remember the name of the numeral, when they make the motion the memory is jogged and the number often pops right out of their mouths, much to their surprise! The movement of the hands work to activate the muscle memory that some children need to help them remember the name of that number or shape. As an added bonus, many of the motions mimic the form of the number or shape. For example, the motion for number eight with the hands overhead and the knees bent forms the shape of the eight. The motion for number four is to hop with two hands up on your head like bunny ears; this is meant to look like the two top lines on a number four.

The learning that takes place here is as easy and natural for a child as learning a nursery rhyme such as “The Eency Weency Spider.” As soon as a child’s hands start making motion of the spider going up the spout, they begin to sing that little song, rarely forgetting a single word. I would be very surprised if most adults reading this cannot remember this little children’s song as well! This is because the movement combined with the music put that little song right into long term memory; it will probably be in most adults memories forever!

What I have done with the these specially designed number and shape cards is give each one a motion and a song that also incorporates those motions. For example, the Number Eight song goes like this: (sung to the tune of “This is the Way the Ladies Ride.”)

Scritchity scratch goes number eight,

Number eight, number eight!

Scritchity scratch goes number eight,

Monkey number eight!

I always try to hold the flashcard in my hand while my class sings the number songs. We also drill the children on the flashcards. After a couple of weeks, we simply change to plain old number and shape flashcards and drill the children in the same way; by having them respond verbally and physically with the associated motion, even though the character is not there. Usually, in about two or three weeks, my whole class knows the numbers and shapes out of order on plain old flashcards. (If there is a straggler or two still working on a couple of isolated numbers, I pull the children out and work with them individually on it during playtime. At the point that most of the kids know the numbers and shapes, we stop singing those songs and switch over to the Musical Math songs instead. After that, we sing the number songs for zero through ten “by request only.” But since the numbers and shapes are useful to them, I have never had a child forget any of them during the course of the school year.

At that point, learning to identify and write the numbers in the teens and twenties is a whole new challenge for many! Once again, songs and movements are my tool and have come to my rescue many a time! The Eleven Song is one case in point. One day, when helping my children write their numbers, I found myself repeating over and over that to make a number eleven, they would need to write a one and a one. I said this so many times over during the course of the day during that four group rotation that after a while, this little song just popped out of my mouth from out of nowhere! It went like this: (sung to the tune of The Fox Hunt)

Eleven, eleven, eleven!

A one, a one, I’m done!

Suddenly, children that could not remember how to make a number eleven before could now remember it- every time! I was surprised that it worked so well! Soon, everyone in my class knew The Eleven Song, and everyone could identify and write number eleven. Shortly after that, a little boy asked me to teach them The Twelve Song! I was caught off guard, and said, “I don’t have a Twelve Song!” Then one little girl with a whole lot of faith in her teacher, said, “Maybe you could go home tonight and write one, and then come back and teach it to us tomorrow!” That year, I managed to stay one number song ahead of my class each week, writing a song for each number from 11-30- and the concept for Jumpin’ Numbers Vol. 2 was born! These days, I use these songs during math instruction, during transition times, when they need to get their wiggles out, and also during our calendar time. So, on the twelfth day of the month, we sing the Twelve Song, etc. It’s a fun way to keep reviewing as we go! I have also found it useful to choose a helper of the day to build that number with magnetic base ten blocks and write the number above it on my white board easel. It’s a great way to continually reinforce how to make those numbers and record them. We also practice building those larger numbers in small groups with manipulatives and recording the number. In addition, I have found that the children also benefit from writing the numbers as the songs play on the DVD or CD. I think that when the kids are done with all of this, they have a real understanding of what it that number really is!

My Kids Know the Alphabet. What's next?

When my students seem to know most of their letters and sounds, I start them on sight words, and then some very simple books for guided reading. I look in the book that I want to start with, and see which sight words they would need to read it. Then teach them those, and have them read the book. I love teaching the sight words with music and movement, so I always use my Sing and Spell the Sight Words CD's to help teach the words in an engaging way. Every time we sing the song, I hold the

word card in my hand, and ask them immediately, "What word is this?" and hope that they answer correctly! We do this during transitions a lot, to help "sponge" up some of that extra time in a solid, academic way. Time permitting, I have them say the spelling of the word after the song plays as well, (without singing.) When a child comes to a word that he doesn't know, I start singing the song for that word, and he usually joins in and eventually says the word.

I have had good success using the little printable books from EZ2Read.com. They are predictable pattern books, using the same sentence structures over and over, so the kids get lots of practice on certain words. You can find these books all over the internet to download; sometimes you have to pay for the download, and sometimes you don't. Sometimes, if I find a book that would work with my theme but does not have the words I need in it, I print out different words and glue them on top of the old ones, and then xerox that. Sometimes, I even make two different versions of the same book- one with harder words, and one with simpler words for my lower kids. The great thing about this is that the kids rarely know that there are multiple versions of the same book, because the pictures are the same in both books.

After the child reads the book, have him look for words he knows in the story. I like to have my kids search for certain words, such as "the" or "is," and then him color each word a certain color. For example, find all of the words "is" and color those words yellow. I show them how to circle the word first with a crayon, and then color in the circle. I think that this helps them find the word boundries. Then I have them point to and track the words as they read the book.

To make coloring the words easier in a small group situation, I usually take some index cards and write the target words on them with a thin point black marker. Then I color that word yellow, etc. I do this on several index cards, and scatter them on the table where the kids are working; that way, they don't have to always ask me what color a certain word should be; that info is on the index cards. Then I file the cards with the masters for the printable books and same them for next year.

It works for me!

Fun & Games!

Here is a game that I play with the whole class to review their letters and sounds. The children always LOVE this game, without fail! This is a version of the classic game, "Bang," modified to be played with a large group of children all at once. It can be played with any flashcards at all, to review any concept that you wish.

This is how I play "Bang" whole group:

To prepare: Get 8.5 x 11 inch letter cards or Zoo-Phonics cards, and put them in a large ziplock bag. Next, type up a bunch of cards that say "Bang!" with a cute graphic on them, and put them into the same ziplock bag as the letter cards. (They should be the same size and color as the letter cards.) Mix them randomly into the set of letter cards. Put a folded piece of dark construction paper in the bag in front of the stack of cards so that the kids can't see what card is coming next.

Now here's how to play: Have the kids all start standing up. Pull the cards one at a time out of the ziplock bag and have the kids tell you what the letter or sound is. When you pull out a Bang card, the kids all shout, "Bang!" and they all sit down. They continue telling you the letter names on the cards while sitting down until you come to another Bang card. When you get to it, they all shout, "Bang!" and stand up again! So, every time they see a Bang card, they either sit down or stand up. They LOVE this game! You can put other cards in there later in the year, and have the kids do something "seasonal" rather than just say bang. For example, if they see a Santa, they might say, "Ho, ho, ho!" If they see a farm animal, they could make that animal noise, etc.

One reason why this is an effective whole group game is that the suspense of wondering when those special Bang cards will come up keeps the children focused on your flashcards. You'll have to keep mixing them up among the other flash cards to keep up the element of surprise.

Have fun!

Managing a Kindergarten Rest Time

I decided that we would have some definite rules during our rest time when our day was longer. (Now, we have dismissal at 1:20, so we can make it pretty easily without more than a quiet five minute rest with music after lunch. This is what I did. EVERYONE (and I mean EVERYONE) was expected to get a drink and go to the bathroom before we started. If they asked me later, the answer was a definite NO during rest time. It was a bit chaotic while they got their drinks and went to the bathroom, but I put a time limit on it. (It also goes faster if they all have water bottles somewhere in the classroom. My class has water bottles in colored tubs around the room, so that they can find their own quickly and not have to wait in line to get a drink.) If they weren't done preparing for rest time in five minutes, they had to give up that much time of their playtime, which followed immediately. I also put tubs of books within reach of all of the children. I taught them to get the tubs of books out and put them in specific places. We had assigned spots for their mats. They had to sit in their spots, no matter what. Friends were separated. During rest time, no one was EVER allowed to get up, no matter what. They all had books within reach. I put books on tape on, or maybe CD's. The books on tape (with no one holding the book up for to see the pictures) worked better than anything else, especially if I read them the book and showed them the pictures previously. Active types of songs (the ones that they know movements to) did not work well for rest time, so I really couldn't use ANY of my own music! Lullabies worked well. I set the timer for 20 minutes, and then no one could talk or get up and move around unless the place was on fire or they were deathly ill.

Later on in the year, I duplicated a bunch of random "fun" worksheets with dot-to-dots, etc., and also gave any that wanted one a clipboard and a baggie with some old crayons in it, and a pencil. They were allowed to get only ONE worksheet, and then color on the back when they were done. Or, they could get blank paper. Lots of kids really liked the blank paper best! Even later in the year, we switched to journaling time on the rest mats during this rest time. Again, everyone had a clipboard (I bought them cheap at Sam's club), their journal, and a bag of crayons, a pencil, and an eraser. I just kept a class set of these things for the kids to use only during this time. They were not allowed to get up or get a drink, or go to the bathroom, etc. If they asked me a question, I told them that I was not allowed to answer during rest time- the principal would be mad at me if I did! (They of course, believed this!). I made sure to NEVER answer a question from anyone during rest time, or even acknowledge their pretty pictures or work with a nod! I didn't want them to be trying to get my attention at all, so that I could have 20 minutes of peace. Consistency really paid off. Anyone that was talking or getting up, etc., during rest time, had to sit in time out for the first five minutes of their inside playtime, which followed immediately afterwards. This piece of the puzzle is very important!

I modeled my expectations during this time very clearly with my kids at the beginning of the year. We acted out the various scenarios and what would happen to those the followed my rules and those that did not. This helped a great deal. But the most important thing is to be consistent! And make sure you have assigned spots for rest time. Separating those best friends is very important.

Good luck!

Leveling Reading Books

Recently, someone asked me how to correctly identify the reading level of a book, and what levels were appropriate for Kindergarten. So I thought that I would share this information on my blog, just i case anyone else out there was wondering, too. I am always interested to hear what reading levels are expected of Kindergarten children in different parts of the country, so if you would like to comment and share what levels are expected at your school, please do so!

There are several different systems for leveling books. If you look on this site, http://bookwizard.scholastic.com, you can easily see the difference. First, look in the upper right corner of the page for these words:

Grade Level Equivalent

Lexile Framework for Reading

Guided Reading

DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment)

These are four different systems of leveling books. In other words, what we have here are four different ways of saying the same thing. All you have to do is type in the name of a book that you want to level, and then select one of these systems. Then the website searches for that book and tells you its level. Of course, you won't find every book in the system, but there are lots of them there.

For example, if I type in the book, "Biscuit" and set the leveling system at Guided Reading Level, I find that my book is Guided Reading Level F. If I change the system to DRA and then press "set," it changes the level of my Biscuit book to DRA 9-10. If I change it to Grade Level Equivalent, then it is 1.5, meaning grade one, fifth month. If I change it to Lexile framework, then it changes to 190L. Don't ask me what that means!

But what is important to me is that I am very pleased when I can get a group of my kindergarten kids to read a Biscuit book by December or January. Many kids will never get there in K, at least at my school. And of course, many kids are able to go much further! It depends a lot on the child and the type of preschool experiences he or she has had, and if there are any literacy experiences going on at home, etc. Many teachers try to level all of the reading books in their classroom and keep them separated into bins, and direct children to certain levels of books that they would consider to be a good fit to the child’s reading level.

At my school, children that are able to read a Guided Reading Level F book (such as Biscuit) sometime before the end of the year with reasonable fluency are usually considered to be reading above grade level. In an average class of 22 students, there are usually 5-7 children that easily reach that goal by February, and another group of 5-6 children that can get there by May, provided that they are motivated and their parents are also reading with them at home. The rest of the children are usually able to read simple books with just sight words and CVC words that they have been introduced to. Of course, there are usually also a few children that are struggling with other issues, and who are still just learning to decode words and build a small sight word vocabulary at the end of the year. These children are usually considered to be functioning below grade level if this is all that they can do by the end of the school year.

Back To School Night Presentations

My Back To School Night Presentation has grown over the years, and it is probably a bit too long by now! Last year, I made my first power point presentation to show for Back to School Night, and now I would never want to give the presentation without it! Below I have listed the most important elements of this presentation. Also included are lots of pictures of special events from previous years’ Kindergarten classes. I include photos of the important items that I am discussing, such as our “All About Me” bags for sharing, the children’s book bag for homework books, plus the book bags for our library books.

Back to School Night Presentation Includes:

1. Review of general procedures regarding homework, reading logs, birthdays, sharing days (or each child’s “All About Me” week.

2. Go over Monthly Themes and Special Events handout, and discuss the highlights.

3. Give library days and policy for checking out homework books.

4. Discuss the Accelerated Reader Program

5. Discuss Book Buddies Program.

6. Discuss computer lab usage.

7. Discuss the use of manipulatives and hands-on activities in the classroom, and it’s implications for make-up work. (If a child misses school, there may not be much “make-up work” for the child to do at home, since most of the work is done with real objects rather than worksheets. Regular attendance is vitally important.

8. Discuss the daily schedule including lunch procedures.

9. Review procedures for dropping of children when late to school, and where to pick up children at the end of the day.

10. Discuss the state standards and “Goals to Reach By June” handout.

11. Explain the purpose of Zoo-Phonics and Jumpin’ Numbers programs. Show hand motions.

12. Explain the use of sight word spelling songs, Rainbow Words, and the use of reading manipulatives such as letter beads and forming words out of play dough.

13. Explain the use of Zip Strips and flash cards for CVC word practice at home.

14. Discuss the handout, “How to Help Your Child with Writing Assignments.” Explain what a “word wall” is for, “kid writing vs. adult writing,” and inventive spelling used as tools to help young writers.

15. Discuss phonemic awareness expectations.

16. Discuss story retelling expectations.

17. Discuss state standards for math. Give examples of what the children will do as far as patterning, sorting, addition, and subtraction are concerned.

18. Explain the problem solving test as it is given in my district and give examples of questions.

19. Explain the district’s policy on retention/repeating the Kindergarten year, and how parents can know how their child is doing.

20. Discuss what parents can do to help their children succeed.

21. Discuss what parents can do to reinforce school rules.

22. Using a projector and a computer, show pictures of the current class doing some of these activities.

Afterwards, of course, I try to allow time for questions. In addition to the documents posted here, I give everyone a copy of the Zoo-Phonics and Jumpin’ Numbers Flash Cards to practice with at home.

Happy Teaching!

Using a Word Wall in Kindergarten

Recently, I was asked whether or not I have a word wall in my classroom, and how I use it. Yes, I do have a word wall in my classroom! I try to keep it uncluttered with not too many words, and all within view of my writing table as much as possible. I add the words to the wall as the children learn them and need them for their writing. So at the beginning of the year, there is no word wall at all in my kindergarten classroom. Then, I begin adding in each word as we learn the word and its spelling song. I also add in "seasonal" words as the need arises. For example, when we are studying zoo animals I put up pictures of zoo animals with the words next to each picture. I put up holiday words during the holidays as well. I take these words down when we are done with our unit of study due to lack of space on the wall. As our word wall gets fuller and we start to run out of space, I usually put these seasonal words on a pocket chart rather than up on the word wall with our regular sight words. This year, I also added a separate section for the children's names with their pictures, since some of them had a hard time finding their friends' names on the pocket chart when the words were mixed in with the regular sight words - even with a photo of each child next to their name.

I use it for children that can sing the song but not visualize the letters as they are singing. I demonstrate a sample sentence for my kids before I send them to write when we do guided writing. (See my blog entry on using sentence structures in the classroom.) I tell the kids what we are going to write, and then ask for a volunteer to find the word on the word wall for me as the rest of the class sings the spelling song. That child finds it and points to it, and then we all say the spelling aloud and watch as that child points to each letter. I write that word down on my big white board easel while the kids watch. Then we do the same thing with the next word in the sentence. I am also constantly going back and re-reading with the children what we have written so far. I like having the kids sing while I demonstrate the sentence of the day, because it helps keep them focused. Most of them are usually doing the motions as much as they can while they are seated on the floor watching me.

My neediest little ones seem to really benefit from watching me model exactly how to find the word that I need to write. For some of them, I later have to prompt them to physically get up from the writing table and touch the word on the wall; then they go back to their seat and write it. A few of them have to do that for every word in their sentence. It's just my very lowest ones that need it, though. Many of these children have not had the benefit of preschool, and are usually speaking English as their second language. Sometimes, their skills in their native languages are poor as well. But for children who are learning English as their second language, I find that modeling my instructions as I verbalize them is always the better way of teaching. And it’s really good for the other children, as well! I do find, though, that later it becomes necessary to push the children to write some words that are NOT on the word wall. This forces them to get used to using inventive spelling when necessary. So as the school year ends and we get closer to our Open House date, I usually remove the word wall for the last four weeks of Kindergarten.