Speech Bubble Writing

This idea came to me as I was reading There Is a Bird on Your Head by Mo Willems during this week's Atelier@Home read-aloud.  There are a few children in the program (including my own) who are reluctant writers. 

This Piggy and Elephant book uses speech bubbles throughout. It is the perfect way to distinguish between the pictures and the text.

You can get a copy using my referral link: https://amzn.to/3lBgcXH

I grabbed a stack of sticky notes and cut out speech bubble shapes.  I made sure to keep the sticky part, so children can adhere it to their own drawings.

I placed these in the Art/Writing center and showed my children how the bubbles are the same as the author used in the book.

My oldest son made this picture.  Pretty clever.  Those asteroids will get you every time :)

This trick teaches children that writing has meaning.  It also gives them an authentic opportunity to practice writing from left to right and top to bottom.

Need more ideas for reluctant writers, check out this post.  Want to work on name writing?  Go here. 

 

The Difference Between Adult-Directed and Child-Led Learning

 You have heard me go on and on about the benefits of child-led learning.  I wanted to show you two real life examples from my own house just this morning.  It is important for you to know that both of these examples happened within the same hour.  

My son, Brickston, is in kindergarten this year.  His school has been virtual this week, and then they are going to a 2 day schedule next week.  

Adult-Directed Learning

Today, he was asked to listen to a Pete the Cat story and then complete a worksheet.  On the sheet, he was supposed to write the color words.  He had zero interest in doing this task.  His older sister valiantly came to the rescue and I video taped from across the room.  You can watch their interaction below:

https://youtu.be/__wDz1KKIDs

Brickston is frustrated.  He rubs his eyes and slumps in the chair.  He slams his pencil on the desk.  He is whining.  He says, "I can't draw an R!"

Have you seen this before?

Just 20 minutes later....

Child-Led Learning

Brickston is drawing on a whiteboard.  He has designed a game where he draws a letter, and I have to close my eyes.  When I open them, I have to tell him what the letter is. At one point right before I started recording, he ran to get his blue letter chart from his desk space to use as a reference.  All of this was directed by him.  Watch below: 

https://youtu.be/a_GdeZ5lEU4

Do you see the difference?  Brickston is smiling.  He is eager.  He shows persistence.  

And guess what...he is still writing that letter R that he said he couldn't write!

He is also making words on his own (this would have been just as meaningful of an activity if he wrote a nonsense word).  

I have no idea how he accidentally wrote "rib," but he loved it.  I loved it.  Look how many times he wrote it over an over again!

There is joy in the second video.  Our job as the adult is to continue to find where joy and learning intersect. If we continue to make space and time for child-led learning, joy will follow. 

Authentic Name Writing Activities

Let's experiment.  Grab a piece of paper and write your name 5 times.

We could even get REAL creative and ask you to "rainbow write your name" (use a different color of pen each time.  Fun?  Okay.  Now I want you to do this every day for a week.  Still fun?  Imagine if you are 4-years-old and I ask you to do this every day, before you can go play.

 

I think you would start to despise this. What is the point of this activity?  To practice writing your name, right?  Is there a better way?  I think so!

Give children authentic opportunities to write their name!

Authentic opportunities means that they are writing their name for a purpose.  You can still do this often, but the reason changes.  You can have children (either in your home or classroom) write their name only for more than just the sake of writing their name.

Artwork

When you provide lots of materials and opportunities for children to write and draw, they will natural begin to make marks and letters.  You can see more about the development of writing here. 

After children make a masterpiece, ask them to sign it!  Remind them that artists sign their work.  You can even read one of my favorite books!  At the end, Vashti asks her new friend to sign his creation. 

Address envelopes and sign cards

A well stocked writing center is a must for both the classroom and home.  Pick up a box of envelopes the next time you are at my favorite store, The Dollar Tree, and have these available for children to write letters back and forth.  Save old Christmas cards and left over Valentine's Day cards for children to sign their name to. 

Sign-up Sheets

Sign-up sheets can be used for a variety of things in both the classroom and home.  Sign-up for dessert!  Sign-up for a turn on the swing.  Sign-up for lunch choices.

Voting

This one of my favorite alternatives to the "signing-in" activity that is seen in most preschools.  Set out 2-3 containers.  Label the containers with different choices.  Here I used the choice of song.  Invite children to write their name on a piece of paper (remember you can use a variety of sizes of paper) using their choice of writing utensil.  After they write their name, they drop it into their choice bucket.  After everyone votes, I will take all the names out...lay them in a row for each choice.  Instantly we have a floor graph.  We will listen to the song that had the most votes first.  We will still listen to the second song...don't worry :)

Did you catch the replay video?  You can watch it here. 

Are you looking for other letter activities that promote play and exploration?  Check out this post!

What other ways do you incorporate name writing authentically into your day?

Instead of Worksheets...Do THIS to Learn Letters!

You know how I feel about worksheets and workbooks, right?

You might have been surprised to find out that I bought a handful while I was at the Dollar Tree the other day.  Some of you thought maybe I lost my mind and bought glitter.  But I assure you, I dislike workbooks even more!

It might have been the only purchase from Dollar Tree that I thought I might regret :)

So WHY did I buy them?

I am actually very excited to show you that you do NOT need them!  You can use some of the other treasures I bought from the Dollar Tree to play and learn with letters!

What is wrong with the workbook?

Workbooks/worksheets are close-ended.  This means that there is only one right answer.  For young children (preschool and kindergarten) we should be promoting thought and exploration.  As soon as we tell a child that they are wrong, their motivation is stifled.  Just imagine for a moment, the scenario below: (I am the one who filled this out, I couldn't bring myself to subject my children ;) )

Parent: Write the letter G.

Child: (Copies the capital and lower case letter)

Parent: Make sure you stay on the line.  This G is not touching the bottom line. 

Parent: Circle the picture whose name begins with g.

Parent: Yes, guitar and gum are right.  Mouse does not start with g.  It starts with M.  Why didn't you circle the next one?  It starts with G.

Child: Mmmmm-monkey.

Okay, the child is NOT wrong with the gorilla/monkey and gate/fence examples.  Do you see how this would be exhausting for a child?  Do you like to be told that you are wrong?  This is more of a "testing" tactic versus a learning experience.

Workbooks do not promote active learning.

Active learning requires 5 core elements:
1. A child should have MATERIALS.

2. A child should be able to MANIPULATE those materials.

3. A child should have CHOICE during the activity.

4. The activity should promote child THOUGHT and LANGUAGE (talking about their reasoning).

5. The activity should allow for adult SCAFFOLDING (this is supporting the child's exploration, helping them to the next level).

Workbooks do not meet these 5 core elements.  I'm not even sure they include any of them.  What do you think?  

So what can you do instead?

You are here because you want your child to learn about letters.   How can we give children opportunities to play with letters, but in a more hands-on and developmentally appropriate way?

Dollar Tree is redeeming itself here.  Look at what I bought:

Wooden Letters and Ice Cube Tray

I found the letters in the craft center.  I love including these in my loose parts collection. I grabbed a few ice cube trays just to give my children a place to sort the letters.  Children can come up with their own sorting categories: letters in their name, letters that have straight pieces, letters that have curves, etc.

Pool Noodles and Paper Towel Holder

I took 2 pool noodles and cut them into pieces.  I wrote capital and lower case letters on each with a permanent marker.  I had to squeeze the paper towel holder with a pair of pliers to make it skinnier for the noodles to fit.

After lots of exploration with the materials, you can use this to begin working on the child's name. This is a great way to begin to explore the child's name.  Set out just the letters in the child's name on a tray.  See if they can build a name tower.

Letter Beads

These can also be found in the craft section.  You can include pipe cleaners for the child to string them on.  We actually dropped a few into each ice cube tray and filled with water.  We are going to "excavate the letters" tomorrow.  

Wood Blocks and Tweezers

The small wood blocks are from the craft aisle and the tweezers are in the school aisle.  I used a paint pen to write the lower case letters on each block. We made "alphabet soup" by pouring all of them into a large bowl.  I invited my children to pick out a cube using the tweezers.  A way to extend this is to invite children to write what letter they found on the mini-etch a sketch board. 

Alphabet Stamps

This is not a Dollar Tree find, but you can get the ones pictured here. I love stamps because it is still supporting fine motor development, but it is a little easier than a paper pencil task.  You can obviously use stamps on paper, but you can also stamp into rolled out playdough.  Get a great recipe here. 

Speaking of playdough, here is another great post with a letter invitation. 

You can see all of these activities in action on this FB video.  Go here to watch it!