Building Play into a Typical Day in Public School Kindergarten

Play is so important at our age. It is how we process the world around us. I do not believe that students who sit at a desk and do worksheets all day long are fully prepared to be creative problem-solvers and critical thinkers when they grow up. These skills are learned by playing and interacting with each other in many different types of situations.

"Play and academic work are not distinct categories for young children, and learning and doing are also inextricably linked for them."  

(Ontario Full Day Kindergarten Curriculum Document, 2010, p.13)

In my classroom, literacy and numeracy are each taught in the form of whole-group lessons, but it doesn't stop there. Both literacy and numeracy are integrated throughout the day, in all of our "play" activities, just as they are in the real world.

We start our morning with direct, whole-group language arts instruction on the letters and their sounds. The letter of the day is introduced using the activities from Starfall.com, then we listen (and sing-along) to the current day's letter song from Have Fun Teaching (YouTube). Next we watch a letter of the day video segment from Sesame Street (also on YouTube) - the class' favorite muppet is Cookie Monster! Following this, together we complete a "circle map" of words that begin with today's letter. (You might notice a couple of my students are beginning to connect words from the letter songs onto our circle map - 'mom' and 'pillow' were used in the 'Oo' song!)

Finally, we practice our "red words" in "bootcamp-style". This means that we do a call-and-response. I show the word and say either "Read It" or "Spell It", and the class responds appropriately in unison (well, they're supposed to, anyway!) We review all of the words we have learned so far this way. When we reach our newest word, we practice writing it on our whiteboards. Then we write a sentence or two reviewing some of our red words.

As you can imagine, this is about the limit of time a five-year-old can sit still and focus (and of course, some of us are still struggling with this, but we'll get it soon!), so our next activity is Math and Reading Station Baskets. These are targeted activities that give us practice in these areas. This is one of the times that we get to "play"! Although the students are limited to only math and reading activities (verses other activities in the classroom), they may choose which basket they would like to work on each day, and may change baskets if they finish the activity before clean-up time. Of course, these are the easiest to photograph because I'm not directly teaching while this is happening. I have the ability to walk around the room and interact with each of the students as they work.

Completing an alphabet floor puzzle

Matching letters to a card

One-to-one correspondence, placing gems on the spots

Using marker caps to fill in a 100 chart

Counting ants on the picnic food

We found our red word "I"!

I. built our red word "I"!

It took me a minute to figure out M.'s thinking. She put the numbers in order (from her right to left), then took the '0' and '1' and used them to make '10'!

After our station baskets are returned to the shelf, we come back to the rug for handwriting instruction on the letter of the day. After I demonstrate how to write the letter, we write it with our finger in the air or on the carpet (for tactile input), then we complete the handwriting worksheet at our seat.

Next we return to the carpet for Phonemic Awareness instruction. This involves practice with rhyming, beginning sounds, ending sounds, blending (putting word parts together), segmenting (taking words apart), adding and deleting phonemes (adding and deleting parts of words), and sentence construction.

To round out the morning, we read a couple of books based on the class' current inquiry, which at this time is Pets. We may also watch video segments pertaining to the topic, discuss things we already know or have just learned, or work on a project.

After lunch and recess, we have our first small-group time. Each group receives targeted reading instruction based on their individual needs. Three of the reading groups are "pulled out", meaning they visit one of our supporting teachers for instruction. The other three groups remain in the classroom with me to receive their instruction on a rotating basis.

After small group, we have our whole-group Math lesson. We follow the Common Core Eureka Math Curriculum. Currently we are studying the numbers 0-5 in-depth, including being able to add with sums up to 5. Did you think your child would be learning addition facts from the very start of kindergarten? Well, we are!

Following Math, we have what I call "Thinking and Discovery Time." This is the time of the day where we can self-select an activity, be creative, socialize, think critically, practice our school rules of "Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Kind", and explore materials. It is during this time that the sensory table, dramatic play area, light table, overhead projector, imagination station, and blocks/construction areas are open for play. This is also the time when I meet with project groups (which are different from reading groups). Together we conduct research and create projects based on the current class inquiry. Since we are just beginning our Pets inquiry, I don't yet have any pictures of our research or creations. Look for those soon!

Next we have our second small-group time, where three groups once again visit our supporting teachers for direct targeted reading instruction, and the other three remain in the classroom and rotate.

Finally, we have our "special" classes at the end of the day. On "A" Days, we have gym, on "B" Days we have Music, and on "C" Days we have art.

I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into our day in kindergarten. We are truly off to a great start, and I know we're going to have lots of fun together this year!