SOL 19: Kindergarteners Say What They Think

This past week, I just kept cracking up at the innocent things kindergartener students kept saying. I would share my  little story with different staff members, creating delight and laughter. So get ready to smile.

Thursday, I entered Mrs. B’s kindergarten classroom to work with two of her boys. Mrs. C, the assistant, had just walked in behind me. Being St. Patrick’s Day, Mrs. C had on a green sweater. I wore my bright green designed shirt. As Mark came towards me, his eyes grew big in amazement.  I could tell he was thinking of something special to say. “Why, Mrs. G, you have on a green shirt like Mrs. C.” I chuckled to myself and smiled. He didn’t realize it was St. Patrick’s Day and green was everywhere. 

On Friday, another kindergartener saw me and called, “Mrs. T, Mrs. T.” When I didn’t answer, he came over and said, “Mrs. T, I said ‘Hello’.”  Mrs. T works in our school office.

“Hello, Brad. Remember, I’m Mrs. G, not Mrs. T,” I corrected. Brad looked at me from head to toe and proceeded to say, “Ohhhh, well you look like Mrs. T.” Brad paused for a second and added, “I guess you are Mrs. G when you are not working and Mrs. T when you are.” I stared back, chuckling. What did he think I did all day? Change disguises?

When the Wind Stops

Charlotte Zolotow uses questions to help the reader draw conclusions.  Young children have inquisitve minds.  They want to know, to learn how things work. In this book, When the Wind Stops, a young child asks his mother questions about life around him.  Stefano Vitale‘s paintings creates a snapshot of a child’s imagination.

The text takes you though a time line of daily events.  I have found that children often think they need to write about big events in their lives, when the every day activity holds a story.  This rich text is an example of just that – learning from every day life and using your imagination to create more than what is really there.

Savorings for reading and in writing for When the Wind Stops:

• Setting lead – color description
• Time line of daily events
• Wondering book – questions are asked
• Circular or Cause/Effect movement – from here to there, and there to another place; something ends means beginning something new
• Teacher Resources – Charlotte Zolotow’s daughters set up her website, which is filled with resources.  The pictures are wonderful for the children to see.