Thankful Hearts

In our classroom we attempt to integrate meaningful literacy and numeracy experiences into every centre including snack. This video explains how.

Snack Question

Each day at snack our children can create their own question.  Children who visit snack are encouraged to read and respond to the question. Eventually we will leave the paper blank and children can independently write the whole question. 

Sign In Survey

Friday's sign in survey asked children to place their name under their favourite colour. We used post it notes that way children did not have to cramp together in a small place to write their name, and the names could be removed from the survey and placed in children's portfolios for record keeping.

Many of our children used their prior knowledge of a VENN diagram to indicate their preference for more than one colour. Notice the placement of the name in between two colours and with arrows drawn to indicate both colours!

This survey inspired others during play time. One child surveyed his peers to see who wanted to be a police officer in the newly built police station in the block center.

Another child decided to create a graph showing who was and wasn't present at school that day. 

Signing In Time

Each day when children enter our classroom they have many morning jobs to do. They are encouraged to put away their personal belongings, hand in their mailbags, and do some sort of 'signing in' activity. These routines help build responsibility and independence in children. For the last few weeks our signing in activities have involved children identifying and printing their names.

Recently, we noticed that a number of children were interested in creating their own surveys during playtime. 

We wanted to capitalize on this interest and began offering the children simple surveys to complete. Each child signed his or her name on a post it note for easy writing and voting, and these post-its can also be saved as evidence of children's emerging abilities to print their names.

Last week we asked children to vote for which animal they liked best - cats or dogs. A dilemma was immediately created as there were many children who liked both. We introduced the idea of a VENN diagram and children realized that they could post their names in the middle section of the graph to indicate they liked both choices. In the following pictures, children were asked whether they liked apples or bananas best.

Entry time is a great time for encouraging children to engage in quick and easy math and language activities.

Class Surveys

Many children spent time today conducting their own surveys. We placed paper and clipboards out at the math center in the hopes of enticing them into some surveying.

It was interesting to see what they asked of their peers...

"Do you like Christmas? Yes or No."

"Do you like cats or dogs?"

"Do you like cats or bats?"

"Do you like regular trucks or semi-trucks?"

Everyone was very eager to write their name on a survey.

Once each name was included on the list, the child conducting the survey was eager to see which choice was the most popular.