Literacy Workshops

A print rich environment that allows children to practice literacy skills in real-life experiences, combined with explicit teaching of key concepts, is the foundation of literacy learning in the early years. We develop literacy by continually exposing the Cardinals to oral and written language, and by building on prior knowledge and language experiences. Read alouds, storytelling, songs, thought-provoking discussions, journals, and dramatic play are just a few of the many fun and engaging strategies we use in the Cardinals’ classroom to develop literacy.  

Similar to our Math Workshops concept, the Cardinals were presented with Literacy Workshops.  As a means of adding a tactile component to practice shaping the letters of the alphabet with different materials, three stations were set up for the Cardinals. Fun! Fun! Fun! That sums the experience they had.

Using the same system as before, we broke up into three groups. Three stations were set up, each with a literacy activity.  One station had playdough and the Cardinals were encouraged to “shape” a name, not just their name but a friend’s or a teacher's name.

The same concept was applied in the alphabet stamping station were the Cardinals used the letter stamps to “write” a friends’ and/or teachers’ name.

And, in the final station the Cardinals were provided with wood pieces as an activity to make capital letters. These wood pieces are a component of the Handwriting Without Tears program which we use to help create an optimal learning experience for the Cardinals’ visual perceptual. Without any formal introduction to the program, the Cardinals were invited to explore with the wood pieces and use them to create as many letters as they could. This activity was a great way for the Cardinals to begin using consistent words to describe the wood pieces (e.g., big line, little line, big curve, and little curve) for the many future activities to come.

 

 

All of these activities help the Cardinals internalize the shape of letter, while developing motor skills but, in their minds.....they are just playing.

Clay Sculpting Experience

To better prepare the Cardinals for the clay sculpting experience, more activities were provided to help foster their budding fine motor control and hand-eye coordination abilities.   During choice time, the Cardinals got the chance to draw on paper their research bird and also form its shape using playdough.

In strive to integrate mathematics in the arts, we combined our recent practice of geometrical shapes and its role in perspective drawing; translating a three-dimensional object onto a flat piece of paper or vise-versa. In other words, to help the Cardinals draw their object we suggested they find basic shapes in the photograph of their bird.  

We first gathered as a group and encouraged the Cardinals to take a close glance at their photograph and look at the shapes they could see, e.g., circles, ovals, triangles, squares, rectangles. We explained to them that by breaking their object down into simple shapes, the task of drawing is made much easier. Is the body of the bird you want to draw a sort of oval shape? Is it a rectangular shape?  Once the body was drawn, then it’s simply a matter of adding body parts, e.g., head, beak, wings.

After much practice with this technique, we headed to the Art Studio to meet up with Amanda, our Art teacher. She too gave us a similar technique of viewing our bird as basic shapes when shaping and molding the chunk of clay. Amanda demonstrated how we can use our “small pincher” (our fingers) and our “big pinchers” (our hands). Instead of breaking the clay up in sections, she suggested we keep it in one piece and “try to pinch things out of the clay.” The Cardinals did an AMAZING job!

We can't wait to see the ending result ...and have them rest in their nest!