If I Lived in a Van Gogh Painting

We use the reading program Amplify. It has a unit on Art. We read Vincent and the Sunflowers and discussed the art of Vincent Van Gogh. We analyzed his famous Starry Night painting and then I asked the students to paint their own version just using watercolors. I asked them to write from the perspective of someone who lives inside a Van Gogh painting. How does it feel? Would it be good?

Summer Poems

Nikki Giovanni is one of my favorite poets. Her poem Knoxville, Tennessee:

Knoxville, Tennessee

By Nikki Giovanni

I always like summer

best

you can eat fresh corn

from daddy's garden

and okra

and greens

and cabbage

and lots of

barbecue

and buttermilk

and homemade ice-cream

at the church picnic

and listen to

gospel music

outside

at the church

homecoming

and you go to the mountains with

your grandmother

and go barefooted

and be warm

all the time

not only when you go to bed

and sleep

I asked the students to analyze the imagery in the poem. How she uses the 5 senses to describe what summer means to her. I asked the students to visualize what they see, hear, taste, smell and feel in the summer and then put that into words. Here is what they came up with:

Mother's Day Digital Stories

One of my favorite projects of the year is our Mother's Day Celebration. We invite moms in to view digital stories the students have written. I ask them to think about what they love about their moms, why they are grateful for them. All kids think their mom is pretty--go beyond. Think of a simile or metaphor you can use. Not just "I love my mom" but "I love my mom as much as....".

Poems by My Kinder Students

Poetry is something I LOVE to introduce my young learners to. For many, it's the first time they have heard the word. We read Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, Shel Silverstein and others. We discuss the vocabulary and how poets need to be very succinct with their language. We watch videos of poems being read by people like Amanda Gorman and Maya Angelou. How poetry can actually change the world.

Then they write their own poems. They choose the topic. We brainstorm adjectives and descriptions of that topic. Then we use our 5 senses to describe. When they are done I type them up and make them into a class book. Here are the final products from this year's class.

Poetry with Littles

I have always been a fan of poetry. I can't always figure out what the poem means (why is that red wheelbarrow important?) but once someone explains it I am floored by the depth and meaning that can be conveyed.

Can you believe the Amplify curriculum we use now has no poetry in it? So I have to supplement.

We read Langston Hughes, Shel Silverstein and my favorite Robert Frost. The students learn new vocabulary and come to love the rhythm and rhyme of poetry. We read and reread the same poem each day for a week. This also helps develop fluency and word recognition patterns.

Some poems I ask them to illustrate. This is Where the Sidewalk Ends:

Eric Carle Author Study

Eric Carle is one of my all-time favorite authors. His books are simple but they are also deep. In the Very Lonely Firefly we can examine themes of community and trying to find a way to fit in . He says "the headlights flooded the night". So we can talk about literary devices as well.

We read several of his stories: Very Quiet Cricket, Very Hungry Caterpillar, Very Busy Spider, Very Lonely Firefly. Then I ask them to create a story using the same Very___adjective____creature format. Here is what my current Kinders came up with:

Using AI for Anchor Charts

I am older and people generally assume because of that I fear technology. Nothing could be further from the truth. One of my biggest passions in education is discovering new tech tools. I use Pear Deck regularly and we play games like Blooket to up our engagement for assessment.

Today I discovered that you can actually create anchor charts using Chatgpt. You just type in your objective ask for a visual anchor chart and for your grade. I've been playing with it incessantly. :) 

And maybe this is something everyone already knows about but I just discovered it. You have to be super specific and include "visual". If it doesn't come out as you were picturing just give it different parameters.

Let me know if you try it!!!!

Cat in the Hat Over Time

I know there is controversy surrounding using Dr. Seuss books but I feel like there is value in studying him as an author. We read Cat in the Hat and discuss the ethics of it-did he do the right thing? Then we apply the Over Time concept from Depth and Complexity. I ask the students to think about him as a character and imagine what he was like when he was little and what he'll be like in the future. Will he continue to break and enter in to people's houses to make them have fun? Was he a good student in Kindergarten? How has he changed over time?