Working with Individuals 1:PPB
I worked with a little girl named Madison. Ms. Anderson had just finished reading the class a Dr. Seuss book and the students were to go back to their seats and write in their journal about Dr. Seuss. They were told to write a sentence using rhyming words like Dr. Seuss does in his story and then draw a picture to go with it. Madison wanted to write, “A fox is in a box”. She did well to remember the first letter is capital, but she had some trouble remembering to put spaces between her words. She wrote a b instead of a d, which is a common problem for kindergarten kids. She also made sure she put a period at the end of the sentence; she was excited about that part. After she wrote the sentence she realized she wanted to include the fact that the fox was red. I explained to her that she could write another sentence and say the fox is red. She wasn’t near as focused on writing that sentence; she kept forgetting what she was writing and started getting curious about what everyone was doing around her. She finally finished it, after trying to write the same sentence twice. She drew a picture of her fox and colored it red. She drew some grass, a sunshine, and some flowers and we talked about her our favorite colors. She was excited to write her sentence at the beginning of the activity because she liked rhyming words, but I think she just got bored and was ready for something new after a while. She is a curious and happy child who seems like she is much more interested in other things than staying in her seat and remembering to space between her words. I think the activity went well, it wasn’t too long, and she managed to finish the assignment.
13 comments:
When I worked in a kindergarten class I noticed that a lot of kids had trouble putting spaces between words. My teacher gave each child a Popsicle stick and had them place it after each word so they could see how much space they needed. It sounds like Madison demonstrated some reading comprehension when she wrote that the fox was red and then colored her fox red. I know what you mean about children getting excited about knowing to put a period at the end of a sentence. They are so proud of themselves for remembering. It’s so cute!
I am in a kindergarten class this semester too and I was shocked to learn that they were writing in journals. Mine get their d's and b's mixed up as well! When they know they wrote a good sentence, you can see it on their face and it just makes your day! I don't remember this when we were in kindergarten! My kindergartener's like writing in their journal's too, but after a while they want to move on to something else. I think that having them write a rhyming sentence after being read the Dr. Seuss book went together very well. I like that they can express their creative side and draw, too!
That is so adorable and just like most of the kids in my kindergarten class right now! They will be completely focused on a task at the beginning but give them just a few minutes and that task is no longer even remotely interesting anymore. The worst part is, is once you lose their attention on something like that, it is so incredible hard to get it back! There is a little boy in my kindergarten class right now and the students were working on a worksheet that involved them to color in pictures with the given word. Well, in order to color it correctly the students had to read the color word and this particular student was having a lot of trouble. I helped him with the first couple and then he just starting looking around and seeing what everyone else was doing and how close to being done were they. Aggravating as it can get, I always have to remind myself that patience is a virtue!
I always love working one on one with the students! It gives me a chance to get to know them. It also helps me create lesson plans because I have a better understanding of each child’s capabilities after working with them. You are so right about their curiosity and keeping their attention. Students around this age have the ability to learn anything; we just have to figure out how to get them focused! I feel like that is the hardest part of this job, making learning interesting. You have to watch your time with young students, they lose interest quick.
That is so typical for a child to forget simple procedures, but they are still learning. It is also common for a kindergartener to be so curious about what is going on be side her and forget to stay focused. I have a kindergarten class now and they are all so cute and sweet. I observed them writing in their journals a few weeks ago and they had some of the same problems. They were getting certain letters mixed up and even writing some of them backwards, but we have to remember that this is kindergarten. However, they knew that they had to have some kind of punctuation at the end of their sentence. When they get finished they are all so proud of their work and want to show it off to everybody.
I worked in a kindergarten class as well, and they all seem this way. Very easily distracted and more concerned with what everyone else was writing and doing then their own work. It is hard to keep them on task. I also noticed that they are always very excited at the beginning of an assignment and half way through it they lose interest. I think it is best for them to have short assignments, like this one, write one sentence and then draw a picture.
Kindergarteners are fun to watch. They tend to have short attention spans and they worry about what others are doing. It sounds like a good activity for them though, Dr. Seuss is always fun, and coloring too. I was in a kindergarten class in curriculum and I really enjoyed it, but I don’t think I am exciting enough to keep their attention.
I always enjoy watching the learning process with little kids, they are so much fun to watch figure things out. Sentences are so tricky, so for me to try to imagine a little kindergartener remembering a story and then proceeding to write a sentence about it is really great to hear! I think that it is so funny that she was so excited to see her work completed and to know that she did it herself! Her reward was getting to color the fox and it sounded like the combination of coloring and writing worked well together!
I liked the activity used by the teacher. Dr. Suess books are fun for students. I'm sure that he class really enjoyed getting to write their own sentences! I like the way you kept the student on task and encouraged her to finish. Sometimes it is hard to keep students on task, and I feel that you did a great job with her!
I am observing 5th grade, so I don't get to see them get excited about learning punctuation or spelling words. I think it would be a rewarding experience to see children learn how to write and read. It a big milestone in their life. It's amazing that they write in their journals. I like the lower grades, more so than the upper grades because you get to see them build from not knowing anything at the beginning and learning how to write and do punctation!
I enjoyed reading your PPB assignment “Working with Individuals". I think that it's cute the way little kids express themselves. I haven't had must experience in the primary setting, but can remember how my son enjoyed his Kindergarten years. It was a bit frustrating to watch him struggle to develop skills in reading and writing. I choose to keep him back in kindergarten, because he was behind and I felt like he would just get further behind if I didn't do this. Now he is in 2nd grade and continues to thrive each week.
I also published one of my "working with individuals" journals. I think it is so interesting to sit down and listen to and observe what the children have to say as individuals. They really do say the darndest things. It is funny how the young girl you worked with reminds me so much of a kindergatener I worked with. They do get so excited when they remember things such as putting a period at the end of their sentences or how put together rhyming words. I love to watch them problem solve (in a sense) because it's like you can see the wheels turning and when they figure it out, you see that lightbulb go off and their little smiles almost make you feel like you've accomplished something yourself.
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