Tuesday SOL: What did you just call me?

I am participating in the
Tuesday Slice of Life.
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day.

A big thank you to Two Writing Teachers for providing this unique opportunity

for teacher-writers to share and reflect.

In these first few weeks of the school year, one of my ESL students has added so many new English words to his repertoire. He sits very quietly, observing and listening, not visibly participating in our songs, fingerplays, and stories. Later, as he falls asleep at nap, I hear him whisper and repeat, quietly to himself, playing with the English words, the unfamiliar tongue. He is very dear. I'm amazed at how quickly language can be acquired when you are three years old. 

I knew I would hook him with Audrey Woods' The Napping House. I've shared this book with children for so many years that it is a well-worn act for me...a book I can recite from memory. He stared intently at every page, as I recounted the granny, the child, the dog, the cat, the mouse, the flea. Repetition, repetition, repetition. Such a funny tale, really! I watched him watch me with the book, and I wondered - is he following this story? His classmates would spontaneously call out, as if on cue, "where everyone was sleeping!," at the end of every page, but he stayed mute, staring. He stayed quiet as the rest of us laughed together at the conclusion - the broken bed, and everyone playing outside in the sunshine. Then I closed the book and dismissed the children to their lunches.

He sidled over to me and said, "Ok, Granny!"

Ha!

He thinks the word for an old, gray-haired lady is granny! He learned this from The Napping House.  

This makes me smile. 

You tell me, are we really the same?

What opportunities for language are we missing?

Preschooler A pushes Preschooler B off of the playground balance beam and jumps on it in his place. Preschooler B is on the ground crying and I rush over to help these two problem-solve. Thankfully, I observed the incident, because neither child can explain. Preschooler B gesticulates at Preschooler A, with one word "push!" and Preschooler A just frowns at me with furrowed brow, crossing his arms defiantly, when I insist he talk with us.

I persevere - "Let's check in with Preschooler B. Are you okay? Where do you hurt?"

Preschooler B is standing sullenly at my side, holding his elbow.

Me, to Preschooler A, "You want to use the balance beam, but Preschooler B is on it. Let's do this again, this time, you say 'May I use it now?' and Preschooler B will say, "I am on it. You can be next."

Preschooler A, assessing that this isn't going precisely his way, says, "NO!" and throws himself down on the ground, and begins muttering. He is clearly very frustrated. I do not understand what he is saying.

Turn-taking is the cornerstone of all preschool learning. It feels as if I spend my entire year on this concept, helping children to understand that
you are not always first,
others get to play with something and you will be next,
you ask for what you want and listen to (and heed) what your classmates say;
you work things out together.

It is hard to do this when language skills are delayed.

It seems to me that I am increasingly seeing (hearing!) language delays in preschoolers.

Snapshots -

Dad's important job requires him to have his phone on 24 hours a day, and thus he takes a work call while having breakfast with his baby and preschooler, basically doing a charade about what and how to eat while fielding questions from a client - he shakes his head "no" when the preschooler tries to put more cereal in her bowl, he opens a yogurt container, he shakes the baby's bottle, he takes off their bibs, wipes their faces, gets the baby out of the high chair, helps the preschooler down from her chair, all the while saying "Yes, I can check that out. That's on the agenda for ..."

A city sidewalk. Mom is in the lead, with a preschooler and an elementary child walking behind her. The children have on backpacks and are walking slowly, without purpose, trudging really. Mom is talking with someone near and dear, she is very worked up, "Oh, yeah! That's what she said, but that's not what she does!" Her pace is hurried, and she turns to look at the children behind her and glares, while beckoning them to pick up their pace. They are clearly late for wherever they are headed.

Mom walks in to the classroom with her preschooler right behind her, and goes through the morning drop off ritual mechanically, automatically - Mom puts the child's lunch box in the lunch bin, hangs her back pack on the hook, puts the child's water bottle at the water bottle station. All the while, the child is transfixed by a game on Mom's phone. Mom bends down and gives her a kiss on the cheek and, saying, "time for me to have my phone back!" and the child bursts into tears. Mom takes the phone and hands the crying child to the teacher, with a cheery "Have a great day!," and Mom is out the door.

Playground, after school, adults on their phones, many children running around and playing, some adults chatting with one another, and a few solitary preschoolers sitting on benches with parents' phones in hands.

Riding on metro trains, grocery shopping, sitting at restaurants, everywhere I go, when I see adults and children together, one of the two is focused on the phone, not their companion.

I am now watching vigilantly for interactions that contradict this.

I don't know if I am on a rant or a mission, but I am truly sadden by the missed opportunities for language. I see - hear - the effects in the classroom - children who do not meet your eyes, give monosyllabic answers or even grunts, who do not have any idea how to converse with others.

Let's talk, talk, talk with children!

sol17-8 Did you just play me?

I am participating in the
Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC).
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day of March 2017. 

A big thank you to Two Writing Teachers for providing this unique opportunity

for teacher-writers to share and reflect.

Another hectic preschool lunch. Caroline is in tears because Eileen said something mean (and then raced away to the bathroom without her). Mark spills his milk on the floor. Michael won't stay in his seat and eat. Bryce doesn't like look of the food and is refusing to eat. Juan has lost the top to his very full water bottle. This last issue gets my focused attention - we are already dealing with Mark's spill (Mark is collecting paper towels and is going to try to sop up the milk himself); I am not about to let Juan's water bottle get knocked over and add to the lunch excitement. So, I console Caroline, keep an eye out for Eileen so that I may speak to her quietly, give a stink eye to Michael to get back to his seat, use my hands to give a encouraging motion for Bryce to eat, and I am crouching on the floor, looking under the table for Juan's water bottle cap. 

"Juan, are you sure it is not in your lunch box?" I stand up and ask. English is a second language for Juan and I am not always sure he understands. "Let me see your lunchbox - is the cap in there?" 

"No, Ms. Ingram!" He answers emphatically and shows me his open lunchbox, no cap in sight. 

"I just don't get it..." I mutter, running out of ideas for where this cap can be. "It's not in the trash is it?" I ask...thinking this is unlikely.  

"No, Ms. Ingram!" He again answers.

I bend over again, searching the ground. Caroline is with me, too, crawling on the floor, searching (no longer in tears! There's an adventure underway!).

Juan sidles over to me.
I say, "Buddy, I just don't know...." and
he says, "do, do - do, do - do, do, do!" 

What?! This is the Jeopardy tune!! This is what I sing when I want the children to figure something out without me telling them. It's MY playful ritual with them. What?! I look up at Juan. He is smiling broadly - and repeats, "do, do - do, do - do, do, do!" " There is a twinkle in his eye. 

"Juan, do you know where the bottle cap is?" I ask, incredulous.

"Yes! It's right here!" and he pulls it out of his pocket, where he has hidden it. "Ha! I trick you, Ms. Ingram!" And he gives a boisterous, full-belly laugh.

I guess I don't have to worry anymore about his English comprehension. He is absolutely delighted with himself. 

I have to admit, it was pretty funny.

"You silly boy, you!" I laugh and give him a big hug.

What are we wondering about?

Yesterday, I had the best of intentions of writing a "Tuesday Slice of Life for Two Writing Teachers." That didn't happen.

Let me add a post, one day late.

The autumn weather has been so inviting, I have been taking the children on neighborhood walks. I take them out in small groups during our centers time, and there's no end to the possibilities of exploration. We have gone looking for letters and numbers, particularly, reading signs. We have searched for colors - as seen in trees, leaves, flowers, sky, houses, signs, and more. We have searched for shapes, reinforcing our understanding of squares, circles, rectanges, and triangles. We think about maps and directions and which way is right or left. 

I love, love, love walking and talking and observing with children.

We often bring natural finds back to our classroom and add them to our sensory table, which in recent days has been showcasing nature items - seedpods, grass blooms, spent blossoms, leaves, feathers, more.  The children love using the tweezers, tongs, and magnifying glasses, here.

One of our early days out, we noticed the clouds in the sky. Extraordinary! Now, we don't leave school without our clipboards - so that we might sit and draw what we see. 

Let's write a baby book

Our beloved principal is expecting twins. At our staff meeting last week, we threw her a baby shower and presented her with special books created by every class. Each of these books was so sweet!

For our book, the Big Cats created watercolor paintings with black ink drawings. I asked each preschooler the simple question,
Why do you love babies?

Since this book was a gift, I wasn't able to send the children's artwork home…so, I made sure to take photos of each page. Here's what our book looked like:

Why We Love Babies

by the 

Preschool Big Cats

January 2015

"I love playing with babies." (Ellis)

"I know they are in the tummy." (Evan)

"Babies make me very, very happy. And I love how babies cry." (Naima)

"Mommy holds the baby when it goes 'WAAH!' " (Jackson)

"Sometimes they'll be happy, sometimes they'll be sad." (Ella)

"Babies, Mommy." (Rowan)

"I don't love babies. I love superheroes." (Nicky)

"Babies cry." (Wesley)

"I love that Moms hold them. I love baby dolls." (Paxton)

"I don't love babies. I love boats and crabs and big spider crabs." (Julian)

"I love babies 'cause they are cute and I love to hold them." (Luke)

"I love princess babies." (Kaelyn)

"I can hug them." (Jinyu)

"I love babies' shoes." (James)

"I love to feed her." (Simona)

"I love babies crawling." (Dmitry)

"I want to see them try to walk." (Malcolm)

"I love babies walking." (Micah)

"Babies like to play with big children all the time." (Avery)

"I like to hug them." (Katherine)

"I love babies." (Henry)

The End

Tuesday SOL What can you learn from a sharing ritual?

 This is a Tuesday "Slice of Life" for Two Writing Teachers. Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

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One of our favorite pastimes in the Big Cats is the afternoon "sharing" at our closing ritual. I have a special container that rotates alphabetically through the class; each child uses it to hide a  prized possession and the rest of the class asks questions to discover what is inside. Preschoolers love sharing their treasures with one another! Once we make rotate the container through the alphabet, I begin at the top again with another container. Our first share was in an old heart-shaped candy box - "sharing from the heart" and now we have moved onto a special bag. There's also a shoebox, a coffee tin...the containers go on and on!

This simple ritual has long been a fun way to

• encourage children to speak up in front of an audience, 
• foster their question-asking skills,
• build their math skills as they measure items for a particular size container (it must fit inside!) 
• help them with their concentration and focus as they select one dear item to go inside, and,
• cultivate their understanding of one another - what do their classmates like?

Recently, I discovered that this sharing ritual also teaches the alphabet - who knew?!

When Charlie discovered that the box rotated from child to child alphabetically by first name, he had a vested interest in knowing the alphabet. He loves that I add a new container when one has completed its rotation through the class; he knows that his letter "C" will come up again and again...and he has figured out our class pattern.

"There are FIVE A's in our class, Ms. Ingram - Ada, Akhil, Alyja, Amelie, and Ashley. 

There is one B - Bernie.

Next, it's me, C - but first Caroline and then me, Charlie."

Me - "Wow, Charlie - that is great! Who comes next, after you?"

Charlie - "Well, there are no D's."

Me - "How many E's?"

Charlie - "Three - Ellie, Eloise, and Evan."

On and on, he worked his way through our class alphabet...amazing me all the way through to Z, Zuren.

Very sweet.

SOLSC #26 A Reading Moment

I am posting every day during March as part of the annual "Slice of Life" Challenge for Two Writing Teachers.  Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

*******


Is it considered a "post" if one only shares a photo?

This non-stop day has me recognizing one very dear, overheard moment...
a reading moment...
Melissa nestled with a preschooler,
reading his favorite book,
a book so familiar,
so loved,
so dear,
that all Melissa is doing is
beginning the sentence, and
he completes it;
all Melissa is doing is
turning the page, and
he recites the words.
Each page,
each word,
a treasure.
So familiar,
so loved,
so dear.

This is the beauty of reading a book,
over and over and over again
to a little one.

SOLSC #14 Our Phillips Artwork

I am posting every day during March as part of the annual "Slice of Life" Challenge for Two Writing Teachers.  Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

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I want to share about our Phillips art project. Our school partners with the Phillips Art Gallery each year, creating an exhibit of our students artwork for their Young Artists Exhibition. This year's theme is storytelling.

Our Ezra Jack Keats focus has dovetailed beautifully. The children created a beautiful process art background and then collaged city buildings on top. Their personal photos were inserted into the windows of the city buildings, adding a whimsical Ezra Jack Keats touch! (And making it impossible for me to share the final artwork here, because I want to respect anonymity of children in this blog.)

Working on one smallish, single panel was a real constraint for us - we have 23 preschoolers to involve in the art process. We sought ways to integrate the art experience into many other aspects of our classroom work - for example, many process art panels were created, although only one chosen. Over several sessions with our art teacher, Brianna, the children painted beautiful "skies." These were created using a variety of colors and "channeling Ezra Jack Keats." (The backgrounds of his collage artwork in his picture books are so beautiful.) One of these bright pieces became the basis of our Phillips panel.

Brianna took the children in small groups to her third floor studio to observe our city neighborhood from this perspective.  Since Brianna typically comes down to our classroom for art, this was an exciting adventure!

From this higher view, the children drew cityscapes.




After creating these observational drawings, several were photocopied and reduced in size to fit the Phillips panel. The children painted these, using sponges, paints, and pastels. A beautiful city skyline was created.

Here's the story that the children wrote to accompany this art panel:

Big Cats in the City

The Big Cats live in the city. We have a train coming down the train track through the tunnel.  An underground tunnel. And there were little houses and tall apartment buildings. And a school. And there is a great, big, giant fire truck going down the road so fast. And they put out a fire in the offices. There is a doctor in the building and there is his office and there are Mommies and Daddies and a Grampa. A baby is born. Shhh! We have to have gentle hands and play gentle music. And then the baby is sick and the doctors are coming. And then she has to go to the hospital and then she will get all better. And then there is a big party and a tea party and cookies. Would you like some pizza, please? And we go on an airplane! The End

Yes, this artwork was tremendous fun!

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(A daily share by a preschooler, in their own words)

A Story Collage by Hugh

     The little boy starts with the tiger. And the tiger was fighting the little boy and then the boy grabs the tiger’s tail. The boy dives into the diving board and then he accidently falls into the water with the tiger and then the tiger ate him all up. Actually, he didn’t get eaten up, he escaped! And then the tiger chased him up and he got out of the lion exhibit and the boy climbs up a tree. The tigers don’t get him. The End

SOLSC #10 Time change is no small thing

I am posting every day during March as part of the annual "Slice of Life" Challenge for Two Writing Teachers.  Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

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When my boys were little, it was the fall time change that I feared - their six a.m. wake-up became a five a.m. wake-up. Ugh.

Now, as a teacher of preschoolers, the spring time change is problematic. The day begins reasonably enough, with many children arriving later than usual and, thus, a slower and quieter start to a Monday. But naptime - oh my! Ridiculous!

No one is ready to settle in at 12:30...
no one is ready to settle in at 1 pm...
in fact, at 1:30pm,
still no one is asleep.
By their body clocks,
nap should just be beginning...
1:30 is last week's 12:30.
There is a restless energy to this napping room.

How have they spent this hour?

Giggles.
Jumping.
Dancing.
Whispering.
Dropping books on the floor.
Getting off their cot to chat with a neighbor!
Singing.
Crawling.
Making animal noises.
Rolling from side to side.
Drumming their shoes on the floor.
Throwing their cuddle toy up to the ceiling.
Tapping their feet on the edge of the cot.
Stretching into various yoga poses.
Bouncing balls [how did he get his hands on that ball? those darn balls and ramps!!]

Aieeee.

How have I spent this hour?

Shaking my head,
with understanding.

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(A daily share by a preschooler, in their own words)

A Story Collage by Ellie

It’s summertime. And all the butterflies appear. One stormy thing comes and it hurts everybody. It’s lightning. The blue butterfly fluttered away. And a wolf appears. And here’s winter. The wolf is over by the tree. And now it is so pretty. The wolf touches the button and it makes a loud noise and the wolf runs away. It’s kind of a happy story because butterflies appear and they all live happily and powerfully ever after. The End.