K - Act. 01: Kindergarten Exploration Tubs

Summary

Information about the Kindergarten Exploration Tubs

Materials

Name Tub

• photos of each child
• name cards for each child
• name writing cards with models of alphabet strokes
• glue gun name cards
• name sort game
• name puzzles

Insect Tub

• plastic insects
• bugs
• worms
• spiders

Monkey Literacy

• flannel board characters or puppets for each book
• magnetic numbers
• lid for magnets

Life-Size Grizzly

• life-size grizzly made on plastic tablecloth or shower curtain
• teddy bears
• counting bears

Magnification

• magnifying glass
• jeweler’s loop
• Brock Microscope
• objects mounted on cards
• blank books for recording observations

Background for Teachers

This unit uses the children's names as the foundation for teaching language, alphabetics, one-to-one counting, sequencing, concepts of print, and phonemic awareness. The child's own name is the most important word to him. Although many children come to school with an awareness of environmental print, they see the environmental print words as a whole.

Name recognition is the first experience many children have with the concept of written symbols. Teachers frequently hear the words "That's my name!" when a child sees a word that begins with the same first letter. It requires a new vocabulary for students to understand concepts such as letter and word. Students with low language skills will need constant connections to the concrete and familiar (e.g., matching names with photos of students, labels and pictures for manipulatives and their storage places throughout the room,and assistance in discriminating their name with other students' names beginning with the same letter.)

Intended Learning Outcomes

Intended Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate a positive learning attitude.
2. Demonstrate social skills and ethical responsibilities.
3. Demonstrate responsible emotional and cognitive behaviors.
4. Develop physical skills and personal hygiene.
5. Understand and use basic concepts and skills.
6. Communicate clearly in oral, artistic, written and nonverbal form.

Process Skills
Symbolization, observation, prediction, description, problem solving, classification

Instructional Procedures

1. Name Tub
   • Students will identify their name as a symbol for themselves.
   • Students will write their first name.
   • Students will spell their first name.
   • Students will compare classmates' names, and the letters in their names.
   Books:
   Andy by Tomie De Paola (Scholastic)
   Mommy Doesn't Know My Name by Suzanne Williams (Houghton Mifflin)
   A Porcupine Named Fluffy by Helen Lester (Houghton Mifflin)
   Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes (Trumpet)
   
2. Insect Tub
   • Students will describe characteristics of organisms.
   • Students will sort objects by common attributes.
   • Students will begin to develop an understanding of the life cycles of organisms.
   Books:
   Butterfly by Susan Canizares (Scholastic)
   Bugs, Bugs, Bugs by Mary Reid and Betsey Chessen (Scholastic)
   What Is An Insect? by Susan Canizares and Mary Reid (Scholastic)
   Where Do Insects Live? by Susan Canizares and Mary Reid (Scholastic)
   Spider Names by Susan Canizares (Scholastic)
   What Do Insects Do? by Susan Canizares and Pamela Chanko (Scholastic)
   
3. Monkey Literacy
   • Students will compare fiction books about monkeys with informational books about monkeys.
   • Students will retell a finger play book with manipulative figures.
   • Students will make a book of their own using the "counting backwards" format.
   Books:
   Five Little Monkeys Sitting In a Tree by Eileen Christlelow (Scholastic)
   Five Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed by Eileen Christelow (Scholastic)
   Monkeys by Susan Canizares and Pamela Chanko (Scholastic)
   Jane Goodall and Her Chimpanzees by Betsey Chessen and Pamela Chanko (Scholastic)
   
4. Life-Size Grizzly
   • Students will utilize tools to gather data and compare size.
   • Students will observe and describe the properties of objects.
   • Students will compare attributes of real bears with attributes of teddy bears.
   Books:
   Bears, Bears, and More Bears by Jackie Morris (Barrens)
   Bears by Joanne Mattern (Watermill Press)
   How Teddy Bears Are Made by Ann Morris (Scholastic)
   Polar Bears by Susan Canizares and Daniel Moreton (Scholastic)
   
5. Magnification
   • Students will develop abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry.
   • Students will utilize tools to gather data and extend the senses.
   • Students will observe and describe the properties of objects and materials.
   Books:
   Tools Can Help Us See by Sarah Dawson (National Geographic, Windows on Literacy)
   A Better Look by Jacob Fink (National Geographic, Windows on Literacy)
   The Magnifying Glass by Karen Anderson (Wright Group, McGraw-Hill)
   Seeing Things Up Close by Kate McGough (National Geographic, Windows on Literacy)
   Greg's Microscope by Milicent E. Selsam (Harper and Row)

Strategies for Diverse Learners

Students with low language skills tend to cluster in the following areas*

1. ESL: These students may appear to be competent, yet lack the kind of language knowledge needed for academic success.
2. Poverty: Because parents often work several jobs, parents frequently have little or no time to verbally interact with their children. The children have capable minds but poorly developed language.
3. Learning Problems (could be in special education programs, but not always): Some children have specific learning problems that require accommodations or adaptations in the classroom. These learning problems can include auditory processing deficits, poor memory, depression, hyperactivity, emotional/family issues,
   visual-motor deficits, specific health problems, cognitive delays, behavior disorders, autism, sensory and/or physical impairments, etc.
4. Slow Learners: About one-sixth of the general population are slow learners (IQ falls between 70 and 85). They commonly have much poorer oral language vocabularies than their peers and develop in literacy at a much slower pace. For instance, a fourth grade student (9-year-old) who is a slow learner can be expected to read on a first grade level if he is developing normally. You may have three to four slow learners in your classroom each year that will need extra assistance in their learning.
5. Highly Mobile: These drop in/drop out children, even with good teaching, miss consistent planned instruction and their oral language development can suffer.

When differentiating instruction to meet the needs of any student, the above information can serve as a guideline, but the teacher must look at the particular needs of the individual student, as not all students fall into any one “general” category—some fall into several categories and may have their own unique needs.

* Adapted from Strategies for Reading Assessment and Instruction Helping Every Child to Succeed by D. Ray Reutzel and Robert B. Cooter, Jr. Merrill Prentice Hall