In kindergarten classrooms all across the country, many teachers are in the midst of teaching "All About Books." During this unit of study in writing workshop, we ask kiddos to talk and draw and write about topics that they are passion about, topics that they are mini-experts in. It's one of my favorite units because I always learn so much about kids. When kids are allowed to explore topics that they are genuinely interested in (rather than assigned) we find out who has an obsession with My Little Pony, and who loves scooters, and who is a Yankees fan, and who knows all about puppies because she has one at home.
I asked Little L. to list some of the things she's an expert on and she had no trouble naming off half a dozen topics.
1. Dinosaurs
2. Skiing
3. Baby Brothers
4. Bike Riding
5. School
6. Fairies
Little L. knows ALL ABOUT fairies, actually. Starting with last spring, we went to a fairy garden workshop, and when we got home, I set aside a little bit of space in my vegetable garden for L. to build this:
L. spent hours upon hours in this spot, creating elaborate narratives involving magic and mystery.
Then, when the weather got cold. we got this for L.'s birthday:
And this book:
And last week L. brought home this book from the library:
And then just the other day she made this (and many others like it); I added the labels:
And today, she worked on this treehouse for her fairies:
When it's time for Little L. to write an All About Book in kindergarten, she'll be ready!
Little L. was busy this afternoon creating an elaborate story using plastic toy dinosaurs and her dollhouse. The gist of her story is that the dinosaurs discover "treasure" in the dollhouse that lead them to believe that their grandparents are "out there" somewhere. The treasure then becomes clues that lead the dinosaurs on a search for their missing grandparents. As Little L. tells the story and plays, she mixes dramatic play with singing.
Here's a clip of the singing (I was having trouble editing with YouTube, so if the clip is longer than 45 seconds, than the singing is at 2:30):
I'm constantly amazed at how children appropriate material from all sources when it comes to dramatic play. Here's a list of just a few sources that I think L. was drawing from as she constructed her dinosaur narrative:
1. Her love of dinosaurs is an obvious source of inspiration here. She's been a dinosaur kid practically since birth. and it just so happened that at her preschool they are studying dinosaurs and paleontology, and her teacher gave each kid a little plastic dinosaur to take home today.
2. Building on the paleo/archaeology theme, my husband has been doing some oral storytelling with Little L. At every bath time, meal, and bedtime, Little L. wants to hear a bit more of the story of Indiana Jones. She's obsessed now, and her dramatic play now includes a bit more mystery and intrigue that I think comes from the Indiana Jones storytelling. (BTW I'm amazed at the level of detail my husband can recall from those movies!)
3. Little L.'s all time favorite show (one of the handful of television programs she's ever even seen) is Wonder Pets, and as you may already know, the Wonder Pets sing throughout every episode. It's like opera for little kids.
I often use video clips in my workshops with teachers. Sometimes I'll use just a short clip of a student doing some work--perhaps reading aloud, or working on her writing, or two kids talking about the books they are reading. We might pause the video to talk about what the students are doing really well, and discuss what the their next steps might be. Other times I might use a clip that shows myself or another colleague teaching. We might watch a writing conference, one step at a time to analyze ways that conferring might go, or to discuss all the teaching moves the teacher decided to make.
One thing I know I can't stand when it comes to videos in staff development is when the video is TOO perfect. Like there's a second grader reading at Level R, or a kindergartner who's written an entire ten page thesis on her baby brother (with perfect spelling to boot). I like my video clips to show the real deal -- they need to be in a real classroom (when at all possible) and kids need to be making noise in the background. The kids chosen for the video taping shouldn't be coached ahead of time into saying or doing certain things--otherwise the whole thing feels staged and when I try to use the clip in staff development the teachers I work with will call me out on it (as they should).
So the same thing holds true for the blogs I like. There are some blogs out there where it seems like every post is about a perfect project that a super duper person did with an amazing group of kids who totally, completely, loved it and it came out perfect… every. single. time. Every post. When I read these blogs I think to myself first, "That looks really complicated for a four year old." Second, I think, "Those children clearly did not really do those reindeer/pumpkin/leprechaun/whatever projects independently. The grown-up totally had to do it for them."
Well, I am not that sort of blogger. Not every post is going to show you something wonderful that came out perfectly. Just because something isn't perfect doesn't mean it's not worth trying. If you've been following this blog, then you know that every day this month I have tried to find ways to storytell with my four year old daughter, for the Slice of Life Story Challenge. Little L. has shared true stories, fantasy stories, jokes, songs, even her own Lego Movie. Today, I share with you one failed attempt at a puppet show. Yes, check it out. It's actually pretty funny.
It's a little hard to hear, but L. is making snoring sounds throughout. The dragon won't wake up.
I'm kidding when I say it "failed." Actually, Little L. and I had been playing with the puppets, "rehearsing" our story for quite a while before we asked my husband to come down to the basement to watch our show. Little L. and I did our show for my husband, who was holding Baby J. Then, Little L. wanted to do a show that Baby J. and I could watch, so my husband took my place behind the curtain. That's when Little L. decided that her dragon should just sleep through the whole story.
We did try to videotape our original version, but that also was a fail. Baby J. started crying loudly just a minute into it.
I'm starting to realize there is a reason why it's called the Slice of Life Challenge.
During the first week, my biggest challenge was that I was rusty. After all, I had a baby on December 20, and I hadn't written a word or done a scrap of work until Day 1 of the challenge.
At the start of the month, I thought that I might record Little L's stories each day, and have her as my coauthor. After a few days I found myself brimming with ideas. Little L was fully cooperating -- she had lots of ideas too and was loving all the extra attention she could get by offering up stories for the camera.
Fast forward to today.
Now that the novelty has worn out, she's not so cooperative. Yesterday, all I could get on camera was an exaggerated eye roll (yes, four year olds definitely do roll their eyes).
I wound up using a backup story yesterday, an extra clip from a week ago that I hadn't thought I would use.
Without any videos to post today, I wasn't sure what I'd do. I walked around all morning with my camera in hand, hoping that Little L would start storytelling, or singing, or reading at some point, but every time she saw me hold up he camera she'd stop, scowl, and shout, "Blah blah blah blah blah!" I begged, I pleaded, I explained, I tried being sneaky with the camera hidden out of sight. I even bribed...with chocolate…and cookies when that didn't work. None of it worked. She just wanted to play with Legos and NOT be videotaped.
Just when I was about to give up and write my first SOLSC post without my little coauthor, I had a stroke of parenting/teacher brilliance. Little L had tired of me recording her but maybe she would let me record her toys...to make a movie... a Lego Movie of her very own.
It worked! L told a great story with her Legos and she loved watching her movie. Don't be surprised if you see more home-made Lego movies on this blog in the future.
We are Lego maniacs in our family. I mean all of us, including the cousins. A typical night in our house involves the whole family sitting around the coffee table, building cities and kingdoms, making vehicles and machines, and inventing our own creations.
My husband and I both grew up on Legos, so playing with L. and her cousins reminds of us our own childhood--only the Legos now are way cooler than what we had. So many new colors, shapes, pieces, figures. They even have little animal Lego pieces now!
It goes without saying that all the children in our extended family have seen the new Lego Movie at least twice (and three or four times in my nephew K's case). Baby J. and I are the only ones who have not seen the movie, but I feel like I know it because lines and scenes from the movie have been appropriated by L and her cousins as common threads in their play.
This morning was a beautiful, clear sunny March day here in northern Vermont where we live. L. was up bright and early to play Legos before going skiing with Daddy.
So often, play is taken for granted. How many times have I heard myself say in my work with teachers, "It's important for kids to play," but in my busy day, how often do I really sit down and observe what's happening in L.'s play? Not as often as I wish. This morning, I watched closely, and this is a little bit of what I saw:
This goes on and on and on. She stays incredibly focused, not even realizing that I'm recording her. The story takes twists and turns: the airplane takes off, but then it breaks, so it turns out that it's the bad guy's fault, and the other characters decide to kick him off the coffee table using a small catapult that L. has built… and the story continues...
In L.'s play I noticed a lot of literacy going on:
an understanding of archetypes (good guys, bad guys)
understanding that characters can change (later, the "bad guy" turns good after being kicked off the coffee table, but it's too late… the "good guys" have turned bad so he has nobody to play with…)
action! (who says girls don't like action movies?)
lots and lots of dialogue
expressive storytelling (different voices for different characters)
lots of problem solving (fitting the characters in, building with the Legos, making the story work with the props she has)
revision (L. is retelling snippets of the movie, but revising them to suit her needs)
fine motor skills (not the main event in this case, but a nice bonus)
I think that a great workshop idea in the primary grades (or even in the upper grades too) would be to have kids play for a few minutes with some figurines or even Legos, and then have them write their stories. They could reenact true stories, if the unit is personal narrative, or create new stories for fiction. I might set up little baskets of figures and props at each table and invite kids to engage in some dramatic play for a few minutes at the start of writing workshop, and then draw and write for the rest of the time. This could support oral language, rehearsal , revision, planning, and would also be a social experience for kids, building community and encouraging kids to talk and share their ideas.
In the comments section, let me know if you've tried something like this already, and how did it go? Suggestions for materials?
In the meantime, I've got to get off this computer and go play with more Legos!
Little L.'s favorite story to tell is Garbage Lizard, a character she made up over a year ago. As you know from my earlier posts, she tells these stories often. Today she tells a story about Garbage Lizard that gets me thinking. Here's a story about good ole GL learning to ski:
Skiing is a big part of our life in our family. My husband and I both have skied since we were toddlers, and I was a ski instructor all through college. When we moved back home to Vermont about a year and half ago, a large part of the decision to move to the town of Jericho, where we live, was its proximity to Smugglers Notch, the mountain where we ski.
Little L. was two years old the first time she tried out skiing. The equipment was so heavy that she could barely move her legs! No problem. We pushed and pulled her around in my in-laws' driveway so she could get the feel of it. She stomped around in her big heavy ski boots and played tag and hide-and-go-seek.
Last year was L.'s first year really skiing. She even had her own season's pass and everything. I took her up to the mountain every chance we had--and that added up to somewhere around 50 ski days! She started out on the "Magic Carpet," a sort of conveyor belt for people that takes you up a small hill, perfect for beginners. By the end of last season, L. was skiing on what she calls the "Big Kid Lift," a small chairlift that is really called the Village Lift, that has many easy trails to choose from.
This year we've been just as dedicated, going skiing every single weekend. Here she is just about a week ago, skiing on an intermediate trail (I can't help myself… I'm so proud of her!):
L. is fearless and strong on her skis. She is confident and tenacious. And she loves it!
In L.'s story about Garbage Lizard, she describes how he skis first on the Magic Carpet, then a bigger lift, and she talks about how first he skis on the beginner stuff, and then the big stuff. I was so pleased to hear this, because I think, I hope, that this shows that L. is begining to form a concept of what it means to work at something. Learning something new is HARD. Sometimes you can't even lift the equipment! Some things take years to learn! But if you stick with it and practice, and practice, and practice, you get better and better at it.
Over at We Teach, the amazing leaders put together this beautiful eBook filled with fun ideas for summer learning. Check it out! Baby L and I contributed to it!
Baby L, Daddy B, and I went to our first Easter Egg Hunt this weekend at McCarren Park! It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and Baby L filled a shopping bag full of eggs. We put lots of them back for other kids to find, and still had a ton to take home.
Later that night, after Baby L went to bed, I emptied out all the eggs and cleaned them up so L could play with them in her play kitchen. As I popped open each egg and removed whatever candy or toys were inside it dawned on me that we could hide the eggs all over again in the house--why wait until Easter? What a fun game to play!
So that night I filled the eggs back up with stickers and hid them all over the house. Since L is only 1.5 years old, I hid them in plain sight. I didn't want her to lose interest after finding the first egg.
The next morning, Baby L found the first few "hidden" eggs immediately. It's easy to see why:
After she found the eggs on the stools, we started giving her clues to find the rest. "Look under the baby doll.... next to the wagon... on top of the coffee table..."
L totally understood that we were telling her generally where to look, but the prepositions-- under, over, in, on... those were tricky for her. We coached her with gestures, we pointed, we restated, we repeated and emphasized certain words. What great practice with grammar! said the teacher-voice inside my head. Oh just have fun...don't ruin it with grammar! said the non-teacher voice inside my head...as usual.
Either way, L loves our new game!
Note: Teachers are constantly asking me for ideas for how to teach grammar. A really great resource for teachers of older children is The Power of Grammar, by Mary Ehrenworth and Vicki Vinton. You'll find lots of smart ways to teach grammar in a way that calls upon children's abilities to think creatively and meaningfully, rather than memorizing a bunch of grammar rules for a test, or filling out worksheets.
First we'll read the book. Then we'll turn Baby L. into a pizza, just like the boy in William Steig's book. After that, we'll eat a real Pete's A Pizza!
One of our favorite games with Baby L is the one where we say "Where's your ______?" and she points to the body part and says it. She's only 16 months old, so it sounds like this:
Me: "Baby L, where's your head?"
Baby L: "Het. Het. Het." (taps her head)
Me: "Where are your eyes?"
Baby L: "Eyes!" (She blinks really fast.)
Me: "Where are your ears?"
Baby L: (She responds by tugging her cute little ear lobes.)
Me: "Where are your hands?"
Baby L: "Heh. Heh." (She waves.)
Me: "Fingers?"
Baby L: (She wiggles her fingers.)
Me: "Belly button?"
Baby L: (She points to her neck--which seems odd, but it's because in the book Where's Baby's Belly Button, Baby L lifts the flap on the belly button page, and the baby in the illustration has her hands pointing to her neck! Click on the link to see what I mean. It's adorable.)
Her cutest response of all?
Me: "Baby L, where are your toes?"
Baby L: Grabs her toes and says, "Wee wee wee!"
Note: The reading teacher in me is very proud of the text-self connections my baby girl is making here. Usually we think of readers bringing what they know from personal experience to help them understand books. Strong readers read a text and stop and think, "What does this remind me of?" But here, it's the other way around. It's as if Baby L is looking about her body, and thinking, "Hmm... what book does this remind me of?"
Baby L, Daddy B, Indigo, and I just got home from a SEVEN hour drive, coming back to Brooklyn from northern Vermont, and man am I tired!
Baby L hasn't slept in the car for quite a while now, so we figured we'd make the drive during the day when the two grown-ups had a little more energy. It was a good plan, I think. Much better than the seven hour drive in the middle of the night earlier this week, when Baby L didn't sleep much more than the last forty-five minutes. I think we learned our lesson from that one!
How to Survive: 1. Read lots and lots and lots of books to your child. 2. If there are two grown-ups, one person can sit in the back to entertain the little person. It makes life better for everybody! 3. Pack lots and lots of snacks that aren't too messy, and several bottles and sippy cups. 4. Allow your child to feed the dog her snacks, even though you usually don't. 5. Allow your child to watch TV shows on your iPhone, even though you usually don't. In fact, you don't even have a TV. 6. Don't stop unless you absolutely have to. If you absolutely have to, stop as soon as possible. 7. Three words: Music. Together. CD. (If you don't know what I'm talking about click here.) 8. Bring a big blanket so you and baby can hide under it from time to time. 9. Don't bring toys that make annoying sounds! 10. Don't plan on your child sleeping. It's probably not going to happen. But it might. If you are lucky. Really really lucky.
"L, where's the monkey?" I asked Baby L, pointing to her toys.
L grinned a big toothy smile and crawled over to her basket of stuffed animals.
"Aaah! Aaah! Aaah!" she shrieked (like a monkey).
"Yes! That's right! That's your monkey!" My heart swelled. My little baby was talking!
"L, where's the owl?" I asked. She turned immediately back to her stuffed animals, all business now.
Five seconds later she found what she was looking for.
"Oooh. Oooh. Ooooh," she hooted, pointing at her favorite stuffed owl--the one her babysitter made her for her birthday a few weeks ago.
"That's right!" I cried, "That's your owl that Ruby made for you! Can you find the other owl?"
L cocked her head at me, as if to say, "Huh?"
"The other owl, you know, the old one?" L dug through the stuffed animals. She cast aside a doll, a teddy bear, and two doggies. Finally, she held the owl she was looking for above her head and hooted, "Oooh! OoohOooh!"
If one of my neighbors were to walk by our front door at breakfast time, this is what she might hear. "Ba-na-na! Ba-na-na! Ba-na-na! Yaaaay!"
Later at lunch, she might hear, "Zu-chi-ni! Zu-chi-ni! Zu-chi-ni! Yippeeeee!"
And at dinner, "Spa-ghet-ti! Spa-ghet-ti! Spa-ghet-ti! Woooo! Hoooo!"
It all started yesterday when Baby L was eating bananas for breakfast. She looked a little distracted, so to get her attention I started to "cheer" for bananas by tapping on her highchair tray for each syllable. Ba-na-na. Bang-bang-bang. L smiled in delight and banged her tray right along with me!
As I clapped and tapped the syllables to banana, the teacher part of my brain kicked in and realized that this is exactly what we do when we introduce new word wall words each week. We clap them, we tap them, we write them over and over, we say them over and over and cheer for them. The repetition of the clapping and cheering helps children develop phonological awareness (familiarity with units of speech that includes syllables, words, rhymes, and individual sounds)-- and it's fun! Give it a try. Go bananas!
It's time to shop for pens and composition books, backpacks, highlighters, post-its, hole punchers and tape-- all my favorite things!
Baby L is too little to go to school. But that doesn't mean she can't still join in the fun while mommy shops for school! Plus you can never start too early when it comes to immersing your little one in the world of lettters and numbers, words and books. So L. has some "school supplies" too.
She has her brand spankin' new alphabet sippy cups:
And her new sign language books:
And of course, foam letters and numbers for the tub!
Aleegalloogalloo, aleegalloogallee, Allee, galloogalloogallee. WHEEE! (Dance around, pick your baby up high and have fun).
About a month ago, Baby L and I started going to Music Together, a music class for babies and grown-ups. Our teacher, Jeff, began with this song, AlleeGalloo, and we were sold. L and I already loved to dance around the apartment, but now we were in a whole room full of grown-ups and babies dancing around, singing, and clapping. L was in heaven!
Music Together is an early childhood music program with classes all over the United States. Maybe there's one near you? The basic idea is that all of the grown-ups sing, dance, and play instruments like shakers and drums. We model enthusiasm for music for the babies, and the babies learn to mimic and even invent their own singing, dancing, and instrument playing. Each "semester" the class uses a list of about twenty songs over and over, so that we get to know the songs really well. We sing them in class, and we have a CD and a songbook to listen to and read at home, and in the car.
Recently, our family just did a very long road trip with lots of little trips once we got there--from Brooklyn, to Underhill, VT, to Stowe, VT, to Monkton, VT, back to Underhill, then to Boston, MA, back to Brooklyn. For short trips around the neighborhood, Baby L usually just entertains herself in her carseat. But for this trip, we had to pull out all the stops. Daddy B and I took turns sitting in the back, playing with every toy we could find, playing every game we could think of, and nothing seemed to work. Until we put on the Music Together CD! L is such a music lover, she does a little dance as soon as she hears a familiar song. Why didn't we think of it sooner?
Let me tell you about Baby L.'s latest craze! She is totally into all forms of peek-a-boo.
Peek-a-boo, in case you didn't know, is just right for Baby's developing sense of object permanence. That is, babies are still in the process learning that just because you can't see something, it doesn't mean it's totally gone. So, when you cover up a toy with a blankie--Baby is likely to think it disappeared, like magic. That's why peek-a-boo is so much fun. It's like magic to babies!
One way that L. and I play peek-a-boo is this: I use a blanket, burp cloth, or toy to cover my face and I say, "Wheeeeeere's mommy?!" L. giggles and screetches. Then I uncover my face and shout, "There she is!"
We also play peek-a-boo on the changing table. On the changing table, I put L.'s jingly toy lion on her eyes and I say, "Wheeeeeere's Lily?!" She screetches and laughs and I say, "Peek-a-boo!!!"
The third and final form of peek-a-boo is L.'s (and my) favorite. We go into the bathroom, where there's no outside light, and we look in the mirror. We turn out the lights, which is a little bit thrilling for a seventh month old, and I say, "Uh-oh..." and then I turn on the lights and say, "Peek-a-boo!!" She goes crazy for this one! She reaches for light switch now!
Post a comment with your favorite peek-a-boo games!
I just discovered a whole new genre for babies -- iPhone apps. Yes, that's right. iPhone apps for babies.
I downloaded one app called "Animal Show" just to see what it was, and once I had it on my phone I was dying to try it out, to see what L. would do.
Animal Show, in case you don't know, is just like it sounds. Simple pictures of animals. When you baby touches the screen it switches to a new animal. You can choose between two modes: real or cartoon.
I sat down with Baby L. and I was amazed. Right away, instantly, she understood that if she touched the screen it "turned the page" for her. Amazing!
We played Animal Show for a few minutes and then I put away. Something about the iPhone felt suspiciously like television or video games. I felt guilty sitting with her staring a screen with all her real-life toys and our real-life dog sitting right next to her.
But, the next time we're on the subway, or stuck in a waiting room, those iPhone apps for babies might just come in handy. Leave a comment with your favorite iPhone application for babes so Baby L. and I can try it out the next time we need a little entertainment!
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