Enjoying Books Longer

 "Books are a uniquely portable magic."

Stephen King

As an educator I have dozens of favourite books. I love sharing a wonderful text with children during whole group meetings. It's enchanting to become lost in the story with them, and discover parts of the text that I might not have noticed before. Children are careful observers! They point out aspects of books that I have missed even though the books are worn and well loved...small details in the illustrations, joyful narrative, and connections to the world around us. With each reading the book becomes more special and I feel a deeper understanding of what the author and illustrator might have been trying to convey in their telling of the story. 

Because I have so many favourite books I used to treat them like fast food - rushing through text after text and not usually spending more than a day on each. However I have realized that reading books with children is like enjoying a five course meal - better slowly savoured and attuned to the overall experience. This year my goal was to read one book for at least a week - usually one reading per day. I was worried that the children might become bored but after a few months of using this strategy I have noticed the opposite happen. Children are extremely engaged and our conversations about the story tend to deepen each day. I feel like we are learning so much more. Each reading I tend to focus on a different element of the book - listening comprehension, careful attention to the illustrations, a review of new and interesting vocabulary, connections to other books we have read and questions the children might have that need further attention. We have also looked for other versions of the stories (e.g., animated videos, poems, songs) and compared these to the original. Children have been eager to retell the stories in the drama center and sensory tables, and families have been reviewing and reading versions of the texts at home too. Overall it's been an incredibly positive experience. 

I've also noticed that:

~with each subsequent reading children become more familiar with the story and confident sharing their ideas in our discussions

~over the course of the week the children's interest in the characters and understanding of the plot seems to deepen and grow

~children ask richer questions and make more significant connections as they gather more information from the book with each new reading

~as familiarity with new vocabulary grows children appear more comfortable using the words in other learning opportunities

~many children thrive with comfortable routines and hearing a story over and over is reassuring to them, especially first thing in the morning

~with each reading we are able to explore concepts of print more fully (e.g., speech bubbles, the shape and size of fonts)

~we have noticed that the front and back covers and end pages also offer opportunities to make connections and ask questions

~enjoying the text together with children is a bonding moment as we enjoy a special book together

~ often the books lead to some pretty interesting inquiries that extend beyond whole group that the children enjoy researching further

~this approach gives me more time to differentiate experiences related to the text to meet the needs of learners

~children often notice and wonder about math and science questions that are teased from the book with each discussion

I'm excited to continue with this reading strategy and see how far we travel!

New Podcast!

PODCAST: Building a Curious and Playful Early Childhood Math Community

In this episode of Teacher's Corner, I talk about my new book, Joyful Math. I also discuss how to nurture a curious and joyful early childhood math community with the author of Early Childhood Math Routines, Antonia Cameron. 

Click here to listen:  https://blog.stenhouse.com/podcast-building-a-curious-and-playful-early-childhood-math-community

Coding Scavenger Hunt

Engaging children in coding activities has been a priority for us this week. The children are very interested in mapping, grids, and giving each other directions so we want to capitalize on these expressed interests and weave in as much math and spatial reasoning as possible. 

 

A simple game that the children enjoyed was looking for treasure.  We created an array of post it notes on a large piece of chart paper.

 

 

 

Hidden underneath some of the post-its were silly emoji face stickers.

During circle we modeled how to give each other directions for moving on the grid using the coding commands we had been practicing - go up, go down, go left, go right, and jump.  We agreed that the starting point would be at the top, centre of the grid.

 

The programmer (Mrs. McLennan in the following picture) used the coding symbols and also orally gave the coding directions and the player had to follow the commands until the programmer stopped.

At that point the player lifted the note to see whether or not a 'treasure' (what the children termed the faces) was discovered beneath. If there was one, the programmer and player switched and someone else had a turn. If not, then directions continued to be given until one was eventually discovered.

 

The children became quite proficient at giving each other directions. We are working towards helping them understand that the directions need to go in over, line by line, and that when we write code we need to ensure they are in order.

This is also a great game for strengthening a child's listening skills as they have to pay careful attention to the directions and follow them precisely in order to be successful. Coding strengthens communication and cooperation. Children have to be patient with one another throughout the process too!