Books, books and more books. These are my treasures…
Hundreds of books.
Thousands of books.
Million and billions and trillions …
as Wanda Gag said of ‘cats’ in Millions of Cats (1928).
A few of my favourite quotes about books…
You cannot open a book without learning something.
ConfuciusMiss a meal if you have to, but don’t miss a book.
Jim RohnI’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.
Steven Wright
And finally, see other people’s treasures here…
Perhaps I was spurred on by my husband’s question, “So how many times do your children read on the first day? Have you ever done a tally?”
Maybe I was nudged by Frank Smith’s powerful words, “A child can only learn to read by reading,” (1975).
Or was it spending time with our first grandchild, developing in so many ways, so rapidly, that all I want to do is stop and gaze in wonder. She gives me a second chance to see the early years again – and to grasp how precious and fleeting those first years really are… She inspires me to take another look at what parents and teachers do with children to build their oral language and later, their written language in reading and writing.
So how many times do the children read on the first day? I count each opportunity to read in the previous two blogs and find 28 (15 in the morning, 13 in the afternoon). The number sounds like a lot but doesn’t give any other details. Ah! Why not describe the reading opportunities through the eyes of a child? To find out not just how many times s/he reads, but who was reading (individuals or group), what was being read and when it was read. After all, I’ve lived that first day with children for many years as a teacher.
There’s no time to waste. Let’s walk through the first day in a child’s shoes and read through a child’s eyes…
1.When I found the class list on the message board and read my name, I knew I was in the right room
2.I read my first name tag and stuck it on my shirt
3.I read my second name tag and stuck it on the backpack shelf
4.I read labels of things I played with in ‘activities’, Stickle bricks, Our Block Area…
5.I read ‘Mrs Swan’ after watching her write her name on the whiteboard
6.I read my name on the name cards and stood up so kids would know me
7.I read the names on the big class list on the whiteboard, with the other kids
8.I read rhymes with the other kids after Mrs Swan read four action and nursery rhymes to us
9.I read my name on my name card again, then drew a picture of myself on it
10.I read the ‘class rules’ with the others after helping make the list and watching Mrs Swan write the list on the whiteboard
11.I read signs around the school like Boys and Girls at the toilets and Library
12.I read the titles of Little Critter Goes to School (Mercer Mayer) and Spot Goes to School (Eric Hill) when the teacher pointed to the words before she read the stories to us. She said that when we start ‘home-reading’ next week, we can take these books home to read with our families
13.I read action rhymes with the other kids and then we got to jump up and down in the Jump rhyme
14.I read the class news with the others after helping make the sentences and watching Mrs Swan write the sentences on the whiteboard
15.I read a new rhyme with the other kids as Mrs Swan put the words in the pocket chart for 1, 2 buckle my shoe
We had lunch
16.I read the book titles of No David, Boo to a Goose and Where is the Green sheep? when Mrs Swan pointed to the words before she read the stories – these books are for ‘home-reading’ too!
17.I read the days of the week with the class when the teacher told us how the ‘calendar wall’ works. She said we’d do the calendar first thing each morning morning
18.I read action rhymes with the others and got to stretch in Tall as a House
19.I read my name on a prepared name page and then drew a big picture of myself on it for Our Class Book of all our names
20.I read the names in Our Class Book with the other kids
21.I read the class rules (or ‘behaviours’) with the others before activity time. I read some books and then played with the teddy bear counters
22.I read the ‘Teddy Bears’ label on the maths shelf with my friend Harry and put the ‘Teddy Bears’ container in the right place
We had afternoon tea
23.I read the titles of six easy books with the teacher and the class. I read some words in the easy books like ‘is, I, piggy and horse’ – more ‘home-reading’ books
24.I read my name after I wrote it on my ‘journal’ paper then drew my dog and wrote some words about playing with him at home. I like drawing and writing about my dog so I hope we do journals again tomorrow
25.I read my writing about my dog to the others in sharing time
26.I read the ‘Insects’ label on the maths shelf after the teacher told me, and then put the container of toy ‘insects’ in the right place
27.I read the names in Our Class Book again with all the others
28.I read the words and sang All the Fish…with Mrs Swan and the kids just before my dad came to pick me up
I can’t wait to come back tomorrow to play in the Block Area, to sit on the big red cushions with a book in the Reading Corner, to start drawing and writing in my ‘real Journal book’, to see if I can read the Shared Writing that’s still on the whiteboard, to read the new message on our Message Board, to read Our Class Book again, to begin writing the letters on our small, individual ‘whiteboards’ and to see how the Calendar Wall works first thing in the morning.
Reading – still something of a mystery. How did I learn to read?
I remember sitting on the floor in the first grade classroom at Hopetoun Primary School, reading sentence cards: long, white, cardboard cards with black print and small coloured pictures. The sentences were about a small boy ‘John’, his sister ‘Betty’ and their pets, a dog ‘Scottie’ and a cat, ‘Fluff’. I remember that the sentences on the long, white cards were the same as the sentences in the first Reader: ‘This is John.’ ‘This is Betty.’ ‘John can jump.’ ‘Scottie can jump.’ And so on.
I remember the day in the group when I boldly said, “John can run,” for the card that looked like this: John can run. Mrs Tidey smiled and called me a “good girl”. So this was reading!
Soon, I was allowed to take home the real book that had all the sentences in it – the thin, reddish-orange, soft cover book with off-white glossy pages. I read my ‘John and Betty’ book – but I have no recollection of special delight or praise from anyone. This is so unlike my students today with whom I celebrate loudly and lavishly when a child realises s/he is really reading.
It’s easy to forget how quickly the ‘new children’ finish drawings, yet how slowly some eat their lunches. Such a contrast to the ‘end of year children’ who, just six weeks ago, took time with detailed drawings and gobbled their lunches so they could race to the playground.
Returning to the classroom
After lunch play, the children put hats in their bags, have drinks and move to the mat area.
Storytime
Children settle and listen to funny read alouds. These read aloud books are first day favourites – the stories are humorous, contain delightful illustrations, use lots of rhyme and big print makes it easy for the children to see the words: Mem Fox’s Where is the Green sheep? Boo to a Goose and David Shannon’s No David and David Goes to School
The children love David Shannon’s ‘David Goes to School’
and laugh at David’s antics (pg. 10-11, here).
One first day we read it 4 times!
Introducing the calendar wall¹
Reading, writing and number are key ingredients of the calendar tasks: from left to right… date, day, attendance and number of days at school. Children are actively involved: e.g. girls stand to be counted and boys stand to be counted for attendance. After the first day, the calendar routine is first thing in the morning and by week 4, the children take turns to be the ‘calendar person’ and lead the class through the calendar tasks.
The calendar wall is in the mat area for all to see and participate in.
Transition from Calendar to Class Book with action rhymes
Draw name pages for Class Book²
On the mat, the children read their names on prepared A4 papers. Each name is in big print at the bottom of the paper. The children draw large, colourful self-portraits on their papers. The completed pages go into an A4 display book to become a Class Book for shared, independent and home reading. Children are excited to read a Class Book about themselves, on the first day!
One teacher extended this strategy by putting the completed pages into youblisher for the children to read from the IWB. A great idea!
The children draw pictures of themselves
on the prepared pages
All the name pages/pictures are put into
an A4 display book for class reading.
¹Dates with the Calendar, p. 22, and ²First Day Names and Portraits, p. 34, are detailed in Teaching Strategies for Literacy in the Early Years
Activity time
Before free play ‘activity time’, the class reads the ‘expected behaviours’ on the board, that were compiled in the morning. The children practise the behaviours as they ‘play/work’ at blocks, duplo, pattern blocks, magnetic letters, small whiteboards, home/drama, puppets, collage, drawing, writing and reading.
Go slowwwww… to establish the routines for packing up. I help the children read the labels and put materials back in the ‘right’ places on the shelves.
Outdoor play and toilet break
Establishing orderly routines for line ups and exits helps keep children safe . Walking quietly to the playground helps the children understand their responsibilities in not disturbing other classes en route. Children play on the playground equipment (15 minutes), have drinks, go to the toilets, wash hands and walk back to the classroom.
Journals: drawing and writing (or as a Prep colleague says, ‘driting’)
To ensure the children write on the first day, I introduce ‘journal’ writing on A4 papers. Children write their names and draw and write about an experience or item of interest. It’s a perfect time to observe which children tackle drawing and writing with confidence.
On ‘sticky notes’, I record names of children who write their names and/or attempt writing words and sentences – and tuck the ‘sticky notes’ in my pocket for use later.
(The Botany books that become Journals, aren’t unpacked yet. Children will start using them tomorrow).
Sharing time
Some children volunteer to share their ‘driting’ with the class.
A child’s free drawing and writing
Some children draw and I scribe their stories.
1:30 – 2:00 Afternoon Tea: snack and play outside
Starting 10-15 minutes early helps establish the routine of children getting their food and going out for afternoon play.
I’m at the line up area early to reassure children they are at the right spot.
Children put hats in their bags, have drinks and move to the mat area.
Mozart wafts from the CD player as children cool down and relax on the floor for 5-10 minutes.
Storytime
The children settle on the mat for read alouds of ‘easy read’ books. Beginning readers and those already reading, usually join in and read. Children’s comments about sentences, words and letters reveal their understanding about written language. Four ‘easy read’ books, with big print, rhythmical and/or repetitive language include: P. Horacek’s What is black and white? Strawberries are red, Flutter by, butterfly and Bruce Deegan’s Jamberry. Then children hear the repetitive sentence pattern in Mercer Mayer’s Just for You.
Children join in the repetitive sentence pattern of:
‘I wanted to…. but I was too… ‘
Maths activities at tables
Children explore and play with pattern blocks, beads, geo boards, puzzles, buttons and plastic chain links. They count/sort plastic coloured bears, dinosaurs and insects. They sequence numbers on a small 100 board. And they build shapes with plastic coloured polyhedrons.
Go slowwwww… to establish the routines for packing up. I help the children read the labels and put materials back in the ‘right’ places on the shelves.
Getting ready for home
Children sit on the mat with backpacks and check they have their hats, drink bottles and lunch boxes. We re-read the Class Book revising the children’s names. If there’s time, we finish up with a read aloud story and/or sing familiar songs, reading the words from charts.
2:50 Happy children meet their happy parents at the door after their first day, talking, reading and writing in Year One!
Doing lots of reading, writing, drawing, talking on the first day allows me to begin to know the children: their interests, personalities, maturity, creativity, confidence and which children struggle with making sense of print.
At home this evening, I make notes in my reflective journal…
– use big book ‘Where’s Spot?’, struggling readers can take turns to lift the flaps (active participation)
– start small group ‘Co-operative Show and Tell’ to get George talking
– invite Dorothy to tell her ‘story’ to the whole class to curb her incessant commentary (a time to talk, a time to listen)
– model positive language to get Peter to talk nicely
– how do I get Christopher to do anything? (see Guidance Officer)The first day always reminds me of starting over again…
Coming next: Starting School Series, Part 7: How many ways did I read today? A child’s perspective
Today promises to be hectic. With only two days before children start, there are hands-on materials and books to gather and organise. The Resource Room is open for the first time and there’s scarcely an hour to get into it before our Professional Development (PD) session starts at 9 am.
It takes three trips to cart the books and hands-on materials to my room:
* Big books (and small copies of big books: Sing a Song, Mrs. Wishy Washy, Jigaree)
* Levelled books (colour-coded, levels 1-10, Prep; levels 6-20, Yr 1 to start)
* Hands-on literacy materials (puzzles, magnetic letters, giant foam letters, letter-word cards)
* Hands-on maths materials (100 number board, large plastic clock, pattern blocks, solid shapes, geo boards, sorting/counting toys)
* Class maths box (containing unifix cubes, popsticks, small clocks, laminated 100 grid boards, egg timers, stop watch, ‘fan’ numbers, large and small dice)
* Hands-on science materials (fish tank, magnifying glasses, magnets, shells)
* Children’s whiteboards (larger and stronger than class set already in room)
* Assorted bottles of paint (for easel painting)
* Assorted art materials (oil pastels, dry pastels, charcoal sticks, plasticine)
One of my favourite big books for the big-book stand and
a small copy for children to take for home-reading
Colour-coded ‘levelled’ books
for independent reading and home-reading
Maths shelves for ‘hands-on’ materials:
shapes, insects, bears, pattern blocks,
polyhedrons, beads, number and alphabet ‘cars’,
geo boards, frogs, straws, blocks and counters.
Puzzles and maths shelves:
jigsaw puzzles, nuts and bolts, plastic chain links, calculators,
number bean bags, dinosaurs, dominoes,
puzzles and floor puzzles, polyhedrons and unifix cubes (at right)
Going to the Resource Room can be mind-boggling for teachers new to a school. Knowing what you’re looking for really helps. In my case, it’s big books, levelled books and lots of hands-on materials: literacy, maths, science and art; that’s what my physical environment is set up for and it reveals what I believe about how children learn.
Time to gather books from the library. Lots and lots of books. Armloads of books. It takes three trips to get them all to my room: a broad mixture of ‘start-the-year’ books, ‘easy-reads’, ‘flap’ books, old favourites, ‘classics’, books with rhyme, non-fiction books, alphabet books, number books, poetry books…
Two sides on a triangular bookshelf:
two sides for books and two spaces for reading cushions.
Four of my starting-school favourites: Boo to a Goose (rhyming words),
No David (funny), Spot (flap) books, Hairy Maclary (rhythmical language).
Books are gathered from around the room and sorted: books about children starting school, books to read on the first day, books with rhyming words, alphabet books, number books and books by authors like Dr Suess, Mem Fox and David Shannon. Some books go on shelves, some books go in boxes and baskets – in the mat area, in the reading area….
Having our own personal library of children’s books is vital to our becoming better early childhood teachers and it allows us to share our love of books with the children in our classes.
In these three blogs I talk about 22 favourite books in my personal library:
My top ten ‘must-have’ picture books
Ten Special Picture Books
Two more Grug books
It’s late afternoon. Professional Development for today is finished. My head is swimming with information. Ahh, home…
It would be impossible for me to imagine living without books, especially children’s books. It was during the first weeks of Teachers’ College many years ago, that I started buying children’s books for my future classrooms. Over the years I’ve collected children’s books from bookstores, second hand stores, garage sales, school fetes and discarded book sales at libraries.
Eventually I had enough books for every occasion: a new baby, a loose tooth, a birthday, co-operating, sharing, imagining, finding a green tree frog, caring for tadpoles and competing in the ‘bush’ Olympics.
I remember reading ‘No David’ (Shannon, 1998) to the class on the fourth day of a new school year, when one boy said, “You sure do read a lot of books, Mrs Swan. This is the sixth one you’ve read today!” “You’re right,” I laughed, “I just love children’s books! And we’re going to read hundreds and hundreds of books this year.”
Coming next: Starting School Series, part 4: Finishing touches
I feel like Christopher at the beach today,
in A.A.Milne’s ‘Sand-between-the-toes’…
with the shouting sea…
and the galloping sea…
with sand in the hair…
and sand between the toes…
and nobody else is out!
It is a super dooper poem to read with children
and with thanks to All Poetry, here it is:
Sand-between-the-toes
I went down to the shouting sea,
Taking Christopher down with me,
For Nurse had given us sixpence each-
And down we went to the beach.We had sand in the eyes and the ears and the nose,
And sand in the hair, and sand-between-the-toes.
Whenever a good nor’wester blows,
Christopher is certain of
Sand-between-the-toes.The sea was galloping grey and white;
Christopher clutched his sixpence tight;
We clambered over the humping sand-
And Christopher held my hand.We had sand in the eyes and the ears and the nose,
And sand in the hair, and sand-between-the-toes.
Whenever a good nor’wester blows,
Christopher is certain of
Sand-between-the-toes.There was a roaring in the sky;
The sea-gulls cried as they blew by;
We tried to talk, but had to shout-
Nobody else was out.When we got home, we had sand in the hair,
In the eyes and the ears and everywhere;
Whenever a good nor’wester blows,
Christopher is found with
Sand-between-the-toes.© A.A. Milne. All rights reserved
Saturday, June 1st: A Canada Goose sits on her eggs
on a thin, log ‘island’ in the river.
How long has she been there?
… through wind and rain and ‘a terrible storm’.
Friday, June 7th: Mr. Gander stands on guard whilst Mrs. Goose sits …
and sits and sits and sits…
just like Horton, in Dr Suess’ Horton the Elephant.
Monday, June 10th: Good grief! Mrs. Goose has gone…
Where are the geese and their goslings?
I hope they are safe…
One egg is left.
Is it The Ugly Duckling?
Will she be shunned by her brothers and sisters?
Will she become a beautiful swan?
Children’s books:
Horton Hatches the Egg, Dr Suess, 1962, London: Collins Clear-Type Press
The Ugly Duckling, Fairy Tale, Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark. First published, Nov 11th, 1843
Lilacs are prolific this spring.
Woodlands, roadsides and edges of fields are dotted with dark-lilac lilacs,
light-lilac lilacs and bright-white lilacs.
White lilacs? I’ve only just learned of white lilacs.
In nearby woodlands, I wander on paths edged with fragrant lilacs.
I’m reminded of Anne of Green Gables, one of my favourite children’s books.
I wonder aloud,
“What would Anne have called this path?”
Would Anne call it, “Lilac Lane?” No. Too ordinary, like Diana’s Birch Path.
Lovers’ Lane… of Lilacs? No. She has a Lovers’ Lane already.
Lovely Lane of Lilacs? No. Lovely is not specific enough. But loveliest?
Loveliest Lilac Lane? No.
Luscious Lilac Lane? It’s a luscious fragrance that wafts by. Anne didn’t use ‘luscious’ – but she she learned ‘scrumptious’ the day of the picnic.
Lavish Lilac Lane? Luxurious? Luxuriant? No. But. lilacs are plentiful, pretty and pleasantly perfumed…
Longing lilacs? or Lingering lilacs?
Linger. Lilacs linger – especially in warm, spring weather. The fragrance lingers. And certainly Anne likes to linger…
Yes. That’s it… Anne may have called this path, Lane of Lingering Lilacs.
What do you think?
What do you think Anne would have called the lilac framed path?
Montgomery, L. M. (1908). Anne of Green Gables. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart-Bantam (Seal Books).
“Spring had come once more to Green Gables – the beautiful, capricious, reluctant Canadian spring, lingering along through April and May in a succession of sweet, fresh, chilly days, with pink sunsets and miracles of resurrection and growth” wrote Lucy Maud Montgomery (1908, p. 160) in Anne of Green Gables – one of my favourite childhood books that I still read and enjoy today.
After a cool, capricious and certainly reluctant Canadian spring…
we now have Anne’s ’empurpled’ violets…
‘grass scattered with dandelions…’
apple trees ‘showered over with blossoms’
‘wild lilies-of-the-valley…’
and one flower she doesn’t mention: the pretty purple-blue periwinkle.
Later in the book Montgomery says, “… and then, almost before Anne realized it, spring had come again to Green Gables and all the world was abloom once more” (p.246).
Happily, now, at the end of May, I can also say, “Spring has come once more…”
Montgomery, L. M. (1908). Anne of Green Gables. Toronto: McClelland
and Stewart-Bantam (Seal Books).
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