Final Reflections

Reflections on our Early Literacy Project, June 2001

How quickly this year has flown by...and yet when I look back, I know we have all come so far. I think I was always conscious of literacy as being a primary focus in my classroom but this year really gave me the chance to try some new things and look more critically at what I was doing with the children on a daily basis. It also forced me to question some of the choices I had made before. My focus was definitely on the most practical, the most useful and the most sequential things that children should be doing to gain a strong foundation for future literacy learning. The use of the daily message on our white board, was a great shared reading experience that quickly showed children the pattern of regularly repeated words across a week. They also picked up on the sight words (a, the, is, etc). I paused a lot as I reviewed what we had already partially read, and encouraged all attempts and so, children felt free to guess, even if they didn't know the full idea or the next actual word. We helped each other and within a few moments, we had the message decoded - always very satisfying!

We created a collection of words on a chart and on a shower curtain ring (to create a book-like collection) of words that we could read. Besides the names of the children in the class, we gradually added words that many of us knew- Mom, Dad, cat, dog, boys, girls, me, love, plus the colour words, etc. Children read to themselves and others to others, perhaps just to prove that they could do it. They seemed to gain satisfaction from doing this. They definitely increased the number of words that they could read individually.

Continuing to the end of the year, a great source of reading satisfaction came from the class book that we created in March and April (the ocean book with each child's own name and their drawing of an ocean creature). Regularly during daily book time, a group of children gather around the book and read together. (The web-site eventually got established and is currently hosting our book: www.epsb.edmonton.ab.ca/schools/ebuxton  (It is called, Sea Creature, Sea Creature, What Do You See?)

From January to the end of the year, we had an At-Home Reading Program that children were able to utilize on a daily basis (although a few families chose to use it only once or twice a week). Early emergent and emergent books (from Literacy 2000 and Sunshine Books) were available for families to borrow when the first book was returned. (This was totally supervised by a mother volunteer and freed me to do other teaching jobs). I listened to children read from their most recently returned book, individually, about every other week. Parents had been asked to read the little book several times to their child and then invite the child to read some or all of the book back to the adult. Many children seemed to come back to school reading word by word. (Were the parents not understanding what we were encouraging? I am not sure.) I spent lots of time encouraging children to read and re-read and read again, so that their speaking/reading would sound like talking. (That will happen when they memorize the words, or when they are really reading fluently). One child in class was a fluent reader before we started the program. Several became fluent readers as we read.

Perhaps the biggest change this year over previous years was the level of writing that I observed within my class. Other years I encouraged children to write and draw and make little books. Paper is always available for writing and drawing. And some individual instruction in proper formation of letters is always given as appropriate. But this year all children, with the exception of the one multiple-handicapped child, reached into the level of utilizing inventive spelling. I can't remember a class before where this happened, probably because I didn't consciously encourage them to try. With regular field trip or special event writing (both on chart form and individually with each child), plus the author in writing project, plus the lead-up that I did as shared writing, the children had a support in place to really encourage themselves to try. (if you don't know the next letter or sound , just leave a space and write the sounds you do know, seemed to be sufficient for children who had stalled). When I asked all to try to write "Happy Birthday, Mom", I got all kinds of attempts ranging from H B Mom, to Hqqe BrdAy Mom. But everyone tried. Other years there would always be a small group who would repeat that they didn't know how.

The little girl in my class who is challenged physically and cognitively has made wonderful progress this year, due mostly to the teachers' aide who works daily with her. "C" has learned to match most upper and lower case letter and to associate some sounds with those letters. She has very weak pencil skills and only traces around a dotted name to write her own name. But she can read her name and those of her brothers when looking at flashcards.

All in all, a great kindergarten year...and I can't wait to try again next year...only this time I am going to start some things earlier...and I will request the author in residence even if the school does not sponsor her again...and I want to try a different internet writing experience...Is it possible that next year will even be better than this year?