... this smiley sun in my classroom! Why is that? Because it is where the most learning occurred for both my students and for myself. I use the sun rug in a variety of ways. In the morning when we review our word wall words, I pick a few students to identify the letter of the week on the sun. We identify the capital letter of the week and the "small" or lower case letter of the week. In this photo, one student identified the letter Z as others play along and watch. Other times, we sing and dance to several songs including, "Wake Up!" with Matt from Dream English. You can sing with us, too, at the link below!
Other songs we sing on the carpet include, "A Tooty Ta" by Dr. Jean, "I Am A Pizza" by Charlotte Diamond, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and "3D Shapes I Know" by Harry Kindergarten.
- A Tooty Ta (a favorite movement-based song): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EER-jMojmU
- I Am A Pizza (o-reg-an-oooooo!!!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFxwqrOKeYc
- 3D Shapes I Know (I'm a 3D shape expert, yo): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFxwqrOKeYc
We also do alligator crawls in the morning to review the words of the week. The children were shy at first about crawling on the floor, but now they get so excited! One student even does a little happy dance with an air guitar when I start to lay the flash cards down. :) What is an alligator crawl? I'm not certain if it is originally from yoga, some martial art, the military, or a S.M.A.R.T. activity. Students crawl over specific academic vocabulary words on the ground and say the word aloud as they pass it. This task supports motor development and as well language reinforcement. And the children enjoy it! Therefore, alligator crawls are fun, but they are also developmentally appropriate practices.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
One day, the students embodied the letter T. I took photos on my Ipad and then uploaded all to my Educreations app. On that app, students "highlighted" the letter T on their bodies in the photo and talked into the Ipad. After everyone did their part, the entire process was made into a slide show with the students' voices in the background. An instant hit! They enjoyed seeing themselves in the final product. We watched it over and over during snack time. Unfortunately, the movie is too big to upload onto the blog, but two students are demonstrating it below.
Fun fact: When teachers encourage students to embody letters/ concepts, dance, gesture, or use premeditated movement, it is such a fabulous way to convey content with English Language Learners (ELLs). And it doesn't hurt if the teacher dances as well! Considering that the majority of these students speak Arabic at home, are part of an Arabic society, and are learning English at school, they are all ELLs. Identifying ELLs in the classroom is a vital part of lesson planning and in helping students meet their academic needs.
Another activity that integrates the carpet is the "letter maze". Students approach the white board, touch the letter we are looking for on the sun rug, and complete the maze. On the white board, I draw a tiny camel beside the first t at the top left side of the table. By the last t at the bottom right side, there is a tiny well filled with water. Students are told that the camel is thirsty and that we must bring the camel to water! But first, we must go through the letter maze.
Fun fact: When teachers encourage students to embody letters/ concepts, dance, gesture, or use premeditated movement, it is such a fabulous way to convey content with English Language Learners (ELLs). And it doesn't hurt if the teacher dances as well! Considering that the majority of these students speak Arabic at home, are part of an Arabic society, and are learning English at school, they are all ELLs. Identifying ELLs in the classroom is a vital part of lesson planning and in helping students meet their academic needs.
 |
| *** This student's face and name are not included to protect her identity. All students on this blog will have their identity protected. |
Another activity that integrates the carpet is the "letter maze". Students approach the white board, touch the letter we are looking for on the sun rug, and complete the maze. On the white board, I draw a tiny camel beside the first t at the top left side of the table. By the last t at the bottom right side, there is a tiny well filled with water. Students are told that the camel is thirsty and that we must bring the camel to water! But first, we must go through the letter maze.
t
|
t
|
f
|
a
|
X
|
t
|
K
|
a
|
B
|
t
|
t
|
t
|
a
|
H
|
O
|
t
|
Hmm, perhaps I should have titled this blog "over the same sun" because I am learning to teach over this sun daily. Nevertheless, my favorite bit of sunshine was found in the classroom, as it should be.
I'll adapt/adopt your instructional strategies all I can! Stay up, Elizabeth.
ReplyDelete