Journal 7
Grade K Time 8:30 – 1:00 Date 10/17/2012
List What occurred during the time you are at your school? What are all the things that happen in the time frame you are in your school?
• Calendar time
• Daily planner
• Reading centers
• Going to gym
• Prep for returning students
• Checking papers
• Getting students from gym
• Snack time
• Math
• Going to lunch
• Getting students from playground.
• Poems
Describe 1 item from the list, in GREAT detail – who, what, when, where, how, why
Today, I was able to take small groups during reading centers or as they are sometimes called “Daily 5’s”. The Para educator who usually comes in during this time was sick today. I took the lower reading proficiency students. There were 5 groups of students who came to me in groups of two students.
We first worked on recognizing harder alphabet letters for each group. The letters I was supposed to ask about were preset for each student based on where they were having trouble. Then, we moved to white board writing of sight words. Again, we focused specifically on certain words for each group. We read together the book they were supposed to take home. Finally, each student read the book alone one last time.
When the learners were not in a group with either Mrs. Huseby or I, they were doing one of four other tasks. Those tasks are:
1. Reading to self
2. Reading to partner
3. Listening centers
4. Playing a sight word game called “Bad Bat”
Each task runs for 5 minutes for a total of 25 minutes of reading time with a minute in between for transition. The total time taken is 30 minutes. At the end of 5 minutes Mrs. Huseby flips over a rain stick to signal the end of the time. You could use a timer or a bell, but the learners seem to really like the sound of the rain stick.
I really like the idea of reading centers run this way for kindergarten. However, having three teachers in the room during this time seems to be best. When there is just the two of us like today, keeping the learners not in small groups on task seems to be a big issue.
