Reading in Front of the Class

One of the things I have gotten much better at this year is reading in front of the class. I used to HATE reading to the class, or really reading out loud in general, because I read so much faster than I talk. The more I have practiced, the more I like it. I began to think of it as a way to model fluency and reading with expression and realized that if I focus on those things, just as we ask children to, I was a much better reader.

My students are a great audience and they LOVE books!We take full advantage of this and teach through our reading time as much as possible. Here is a list of things from the "Childhood 101" blog that are some basic ways for children to learn through story time. To see the full post click here.

1. As you read a new book, pause to make observations together or ask questions about what is happening in the story.

2. In picture books, illustrations are as important as words. Notice together interesting details or clues as to what is happening in the story.

3. For older children, ask what they think will happen next or what they would do if they were in a similar situation.

4. At the appropriate moment, pause as an invitation for your child to join you in reading a rhyming word or familiar phrase.

5. Ask your child to point to where the words are on a page (as separate to the illustrations). Talk about the words being the part of the book which you read.

6. Point to the words as you read them. This will show your child where you start reading, that you read English from left to right and that there is one word represented on the page for each word that you say.

7. When re-reading familiar books, point out (or ask your child to point out) any letters which are significant to them, for example, the first letter of their name.

8. For older children, notice punctuation marks, such as full stops, question marks and exclamation marks.

9. Explore the end pages of the book. SquiggleMum posted about the purpose and possibilities of end pages here.

Explore the Cover: (original post)

1. Read the title of the book. You might like to point out the words which make up the title with your finger.
2. Read and point out the name of the author.
3. And the illustrator.
4. Point out any letters which are significant to your child, for example, the first initial of their name.
5. Before reading a book for the first time, look at the cover illustration and talk about any clues you can see which might help you both to understand what the book is about.
6. Look at the spine of the book - point out the title and talk about why a book has a spine, SquiggleMum has a great post about book spines here.
7. Use the correct vocabulary - cover, title, author, words, illustrator, illustrations, spine.
Whilst you might not do all of these things every time, taking time to explore the features of the book cover helps your child to;

• Build prior knowledge of what the book is about
• Make predictions
• Set the purpose for reading

all of which are important, especially when it comes to comprehending what you (and later they) are reading.


Hopefully I will get a chance to post some specific lessons we have taught or introduced through stories, but what I like about these tips is that anyone can implement them and when done in moderation, the children won't even notice they are learning!

NYT Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2010

In Teaching Reading Through Children's Literature and many subsequent courses we learn that illustrations are not just for looks. Children learn through looking at the pictures. The illustrations in children's books tell part of the story. They are there to compliment and enhance the plot.

In our classroom, we have teach the children that there are 3 ways to read: 1. Read the words 2. Read the pictures (notice we say READ not look) and 3. Re-tell the story.

Children who practice all three ways will have the best comprehension of the story.

I am excited to read the books listed in the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2010. I will put it on my 'to do' list! I hope the books are as good as the pictures.

Field Trip Talk

One thing I love about field trips is getting a chance to talk to the children a little bit more casually than usual. Bus rides, lunch time, and down time bring about some interesting conversations:

Today we passed a cemetery on our way to the field trip:
S: "Miss Prinzo...That's where all of the dead people live!"

Talking about TV:
J: L, you watch too much TV.
L: No I don't. I only watch a million hours a day.

Revere's Levy Goes Down

I would have given anything to still bea registered voter in Bath, Ohio this week so I could vote in favor of Revere's levy. It makes me sick that the levy was turned down. The Revere Local School District has not been irresponsible with tax payer's money what so ever. They have stretched a 5-year operating levy over 9+ years. There is only so much they can do before the cuts to the budget start effecting the quality of education students receive. When I went to Revere, I knew that we might not have a lot of school spirit, but our community still cared about the education of its children. We expect the best, but this vote showed, that we aren't ready to sacrifice for it.

Election defeat: http://www.ohio.com/news/106582788.html

Pre-election scrutiny: http://www.ohio.com/news/education/105619938.html

Revere Board of Edu responds to questions about levy: http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/10/summit_county_revere_school_le.html

My mom tonight told me that she is "so thankful you are out of there." I have always believed in public education, mainly because of the Revere Local School District. A parent should not have to be grateful that her child is out of school. I know the system needs fixed, I doubt our political figures have the miracle solution they have campaigned on, but I hope the Revere community has the sense to do what they can when the Levy is placed back on the ballot again

Election Day

We spent a lot of time this week talking about elections and voting.

It was a week that really reinforced my belief that my job as an Early Childhood Educator is so much more than teaching math and reading, it is about giving children a foundation to being a  good citizen, showing them how to treat one another, and teaching them social skills that will last a lifetime.

So we talked about voting! I was amazed at how fascinated my children are about the voting process. We talked about it for about 20 minutes on Monday when we changed the calendar, and for close to 40 minutes during our Tuesday morning meeting (for those of you not in ECE...that is like an eternity for class discussion).

We also had more formal activities in which we read books about elections ("Duck for President" and "Otto Runs for President") and voted on important class issues (what to do for our Thanksgiving celebration and what to do for our January monthly project). All of the children signed in, voted secretly on the issues, and were given a "I voted today" sticker. We announced the results later in the day and conducted a short discussion on how voting results are announced.

Here are some of the topics we covered. I personally was amazed at the depth of the discussion and the questions my children asked:

- Voting is a way to show your opinion on important public matters.
- If you don't vote, you can't complain (a personal favorite).
- Poll locations are based on where you live
- What polling locations look like.
- Why you have to show your ID when you go to vote/
- Voting is a private thing. You should not feel pressured to vote for a particular candidate and you should not have to share who you voted for.
- Why political campaigns can be negative.
- You can not campaign at a polling location.
- How results are announced to the public.
- What a levy is
- What a non-presidential election is
- Election day is the first Tuesday of every month.
- You can elect people into positions or vote for or against an issue.
- Majority rules.
- People in different cities vote on different issues.

I think we have some future politicians in our classroom...or even more importantly, future caring and compassionate voters!

"A passive and ignorant citizenry will never create a sustainable world." -Andrew Gaines

Past, present, and future

Yesterday we were talking about past, present, and future. 


We were looking at pictures of a 7 year old boy (past), a 30 year old man (present) and we asked our kids what they thought he would look like in the future..."Dead." 


I can't argue with that.

Teachable Moments

During my first observation in Preschool Practicum, my supervisor spent a lot of time talking with me about the importance of teachable moments (apparently I missed quite a few). It was probably the most influential talk I have had since beginning practicum, and I can guarantee you I am a better teacher now than I was because I have been able to capitalize on "teachable moments."

The hardest thing about teaching in the moment is that it is unplanned. As a teacher, you have to be flexible and make a split-second decision on whether or not this moment is worth capitalizing on, worth taking away from your next lesson. I have found that more often or not, teachable moments are worth it. 

Being able to capitalize on a moment, and really capturing the students' interest, is an invaluable opportunity to expand a students' learning. 

This Tuesday was full of teachable moments...

I gave impromptu lessons on being courteous to authority figures, allowing people to concentrate on their work, why we shut off water when we work on plumbing, how a crock pot works, and, my favorite, the voting process. Needless to say, it was a crazy day. I do, however, believe that the lessons learned were worth the craziness! I believe we learn by living, regardless of whether or not we are in the classroom!

I found a blog forum from PBS that could not be better at explaining teachable moments...I highly recommend it:

 http://aplaceofourown.org/question_detail.php?id=599