How We Learn


Shared Journal
Shared journal is a daily literacy/writing process in which children share real life experiences with the class. The children learn about each other’s families and lives outside the classroom. This process helps to develop children’s ability to de-center and tell stories so that others can understand them. A democratic community is formed by allowing children to vote on the story they wish to write about. They decide as a class, through questions, discussions, and exchange of opinions, which story will be written in our journals. This method provides a written class history. Children are allowed the freedom to experiment with writing and construct their own ideas about written and oral language. Through this experimentation, children are encouraged to use their knowledge of initial consonant sounds to record the chosen story. Children’s invented spellings are a valuable part of the process that provides evidence of their growth as a writer, from scribbling to conventional spelling. Through conversations and questions involved in the Shared Journal process, children become more accepting of cultural and individual differences. Teachers provide daily one-on-one instruction to facilitate each child’s advancement in his/her writing ability.


Shared Reading
Shared Reading is a playful literacy experience in which children are engaged in reading poetry, rhymes, and children’s literature. The children are gaining knowledge about letter sounds, self correction of words, directional conventions on how to turn pages, that print is read form left-to-right, as well as from top to bottom, letter sound associations, punctuation, predicting text, and intonation patterns while participating in this fun activity. This experience is pleasurable to children and allows them to be successful in reading, which provides them with the desire to experiment with reading and writing at other times.


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Math games give children the opportunity to construct mathematical relationships through first-hand interaction. Handmade and store bought games appropriate for a variety of developmental levels will be used to foster mastery of Kindergarten objectives. For example, some games are geared towards the children developing strategies, while others present the children with authentic and meaningful contexts to think about counting, addition, greater than, less than, and construction of sets. The children are engaged in the games because they are fun and have a purpose…the children want to win!


Theme Work
Thematic units are derived from the student’s interest. The units address the skills and knowledge that is assessed by the kindergarten mastery objectives checklist. Thematic units are designed to follow the student’s interest by allowing them to choose ongoing projects that they will research, learn about, and complete. This method ensures that the child has an authentic purpose and excitement for learning. Thematic units will be completed through extensive research, brainstorming/webbing ideas, project work, and fact books.