Literacy Week!

Last week was Literacy Week and we had a ball celebrating here at ARS. 

On Monday, we had a very special visitor! Our own Mayor, Mr. Kutteh came and read us a story. He read Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes and the kids had a ball singing along!

If you aren't familiar with Pete the Cat, check out this video! The stories are great because Pete always has a great attitude and makes the best out of every situation. And the children LOVE the songs! Be warned...they will stick in your head ALL day!

                                                       

On Tuesday, we took some time in class for the children to draw a picture of their favorite book and share it with the class. Children brought in special books from home each day for D.E.A.R time and we got to enjoy them throughout the week. I loved getting to read some of my favorites with them during this time as well as sharing their favorites with our class. They each illustrated a picture of their favorite book and then shared with the class. I LOVE their drawings!!!

On Wednesday we took a tour of our school's brand new Renaissance Learning Center. This is a new room in our school where we have computers that we can use to do fun reading activities as well as lots of books that we can enjoy. One of our very own parents, Mrs. Rufty, read us great stories and showed us where we could find some of our favorites! She also showed us the awards that books can earn- Caldecott and Newberry. She explained that there are lots of good books that don't necessarily win, but that these are always a good choice! I got so excited later in the day when a student came up to me at quiet reading time and said "LOOK!!!" and pointed to the award on one of our favorite books. 

On Thursday we had a VERY special visitor come to read to us! Ronald McDonald! He did lots of fun magic tricks and taught us how much fun a book can be when we read with feeling. The children had a blast learning about reading with Ronald. Not going to lie...so did the teachers! 

 On Friday, we had another special guest. Kaitlyn's grandmother came and shared one of her favorite stories with us. And she also shared another Pete the Cat favorite, Walking in My School Shoes.

She showed us how books can make us

Feel

                                 

Good

On Friday, the children also got to dress up as their favorite book characters. 

We had dinosaurs, princesses, superheros, ninjas, and even Jack and the Beanstalk! The children all looked fabulous and it was certainly a fun way to finish out our week of learning to love books! 

Sight Word Stations

During our literacy time we have started working in sight word stations. Eventually this will evolve into Daily 5 time, but we aren't quite ready for that just yet. Instead, we take 20 minutes to work on sight words each day. I start by introducing a sight word reader that we read together and look for one or two sight words that we will be working on for the week. We read it several times throughout the week and the children practice the words during our stations after lunch. 

One station is play doh. The children can make their letters out of play doh to make words. If they finish their words, they can practice their names or other words they might know. 

Another station is magnets. The children can find the letters to make their sight words or just explore the different letters and combinations. 

Another station is stamp and write. The children find and stamp the letters to make their words and then write them as well. I think they like this one the best! Stamps are always a big hit!

The last station that we have been working on is Rainbow Writing. This is a fun activity where children practice writing their words with several different colors. The girls really like this one!

 We will be adding more ways to make words as the year goes on and eventually more stations. This is a great way for the children to practice their words and have a good time while doing it!

Chicka Chicka BOOM BOOM!

Last week we read one of my favorite stories to start out the year in kindergarten. 

It is one of my favorites because I love how the letters play and have a good time together. We actually have a very cute version that we can watch on the smartboard that really brings them to life!

After we "read" the story, I gave the children lots of letters and had them make their very own coconut tree, finding letters in their name. It was really neat to hear them as they worked.

"Hey! Look there is a T!"

"I need an A!"

"Here's an S!"

This helps them begin to recognize letters and also learn which letters belong in their names. What a fun way to bring our letters to life!!