Inside: Discover the missing name writing step, that I overlooked and skipped when I first began teaching kindergarten. Practice Before Instruction Name writing is one of the first things taught in kindergarten every year. A quick Pinterest search reveals a slew of ideas on how children can practice their names through copying, tracing, or building, […]
Archives for July 2017
Curious Classroom Book Study: Hang Out With an Expert
Chapter 6 In This Chapter In curious classrooms, children learn how to be researchers! A big part of this process is knowing how to find and use appropriate resources. Field experts, an often forgotten resource, provide first-hand opportunities for children to find answers to their questions and further their knowledge in a specific area. Author […]
Curious Classroom Book Study: Check Our News Feed
Chapter 5 In This Chapter This chapter invites us to think outside the plan book and bring the outside world into our curriculum and teaching. Author, Harvey Daniels, suggests that we can spark interest and stimulate inquiry with “kid-hooking” news items. As I was reading, I couldn’t help but think of April the giraffe and […]
Curious Classroom Book Study: Begin the Day with Soft Starts
Chapter 4 In This Chapter In The Curious Classroom, the author defines “soft start” as, “not rigid, but gentle, individualized, and peaceful beginnings, driven by personal choice, not ordained by someone else’s agenda or requirements.” It’s about how you start the day with kids, using intentional openers that slowly ease them into the day.Since many […]
Curious Classroom Book Study: Capture and Honor Kids’ Questions
Chapter 3 In This Chapter While the first two chapters of The Curious Classroom encourage us to create a classroom culture of inquiry, through Demonstrating Our Own Curiosity and Investigating Ourselves and Our Classmates, chapter 3 explores frameworks for working with children’s questions. Author Harvey Daniels says, “If we are going to build our instruction […]
The Kindness Rocks Project
Wanted to share a really inspiring project a friend did at her school! Last winter, our community was very saddened to hear of the tragic death of a little girl in our area. As a result, a Facebook page (Regan’s Act of Kindness) was set up in her honor. On the page it reads: […]
Curious Classroom Book Study: Investigate Ourselves and Our Classmates
Chapter 2 In This Chapter This chapter is about the relationships that need to be developed and sustained in order to create a collaborative environment for inquiry. It’s about providing structures to “work explicitly on both identity (Who am I?) and acquaintance (Who are we?).” The author reminds us that, “We can take affirmative steps […]
Curious Classroom Book Study: Demonstrate Your Own Curiosity
Welcome! I hope you enjoyed the first two chapters of The Curious Classroom by Harvey “Smokey” Daniels and have a few new ideas that you might want to try in your classroom. Listed below is a super quick summary of the introduction for those who are interested. Beyond that you will find my thoughts on […]
