If I Were a King or Queen

We have a very scripted reading program which as you can probably guess, I dislike. I would rather read them actual books instead of passages and I would like to choose what books we read based on their interests. But I don't rule the world. :)

Speaking of our unit right now is Kings and Queens (very relevant to my Kinder kiddos right?). 

I did ask them to imagine they were a King or Queen. What would they see, do, feel and say. I was expecting them to apply some of what we have learned and they knocked it out of the park. 

If Dr. King Were Alive Today

I often think about why things happen and if things were different what would change. This kind of goes along with Details. Change the details and what else changes.

If we still had Dr. King's voice out there today-what would he do, what would he say?

Connections for Young Kiddos

I play Wordle and Connections almost every day. Both of them also humble me almost every day. :)

I wanted to do something similar for my students. I show the Connections slide whole group and ask them to come up and circle the groups of 3 that go together. 

The first slide has the question and the next slide has the answers. I hope it's something you can use to help challenge your students as well. Let me know what they think. Will continue to add to this document.

Connections Game for Kids

Love Is....(Big Idea)

Often times I believe a good way to get kids thinking about Big Ideas is to have them define it. It's hard to define a word that we use every day without using that word itself.

We read the Velveteen Rabbit and I asked students to define the word "love". Here is what my Kinder students came up with.

My class this year is full of love! Every 10 seconds- "I love you Miss Trayers".

People you always keep in your heart <3

One word but how profound!

Being Kind

If The Grinch and Scrooge Ate Dinner Together.....

One of our big objectives in Kindergarten is studying characters and the reasons for their actions. The Grinch and Scrooge are great examples of characters with depth to study. We read the story of The Grinch and a children's version of A Christmas Carol. There are different ways we compare the characters-how are they the same and different. Can a person change? Some deep conversations. :)

Then I ask them to imagine a dinner between the two characters. What would they discuss? Would they get along with each other?

If Cindy Lou Who....

I LOVE using the Grinch with the students because there are just so many connections you can make to Depth and Complexity.

This one goes along with Details. If Cindy Lou Who didn't just let the Grinch take all their stuff-what other details of the story would change.

Dear Santa-Multiple Perspectives

I don't believe in harping too much on holidays in the classroom. However, I as a way to tap into their excitement and to apply comprehension strategies there is a writing prompt I employ every December. 

The students write from another perspective and write a Dear Santa letter from a character. We read a chapter a day of chapter books throughout the year so that's one place I start. Dear Santa from Charlotte (or Charlie/Willy Wonka or Matilda). You could also use characters like the Grinch or Santa himself-what would Santa ask for.

I asked them to write Dear Santa letters from me. What would a teacher ask Santa for?

This one broke my heart a little bit-I have a very challenging class this year so most of the day I am fussing at them to redirect behavior.

Well, teachers smell good, don't they?

I'd take that. :)

Putting yourself in someone else's shoes and applying details about the characters in a different way. In my instructions, I make it clear that they aren't asking for what they want-Charlotte does not want a PS5. :)