Publishing Non-Fiction

One of the features of the new Common Core Standards in English and Language Arts is the increased use of non-fiction in reading and writing. I have known for years that the vast majority of required reading as an adult is non-fiction. Including non-fiction in classroom reading has been on the increase for several years, at least in schools in which I have been involved. So including non-fiction reading and writing has been a given with Joy.

The books above are from a series published by Capstone Press. I chose them to be some of Joy's first non-fiction reading because they are interesting and filled with great pictures. There are more in the series, too! As we have read them, I realized they are very patterned from book to book. The picture to the right shows the second section of each book, which is always about the young. Once I realized the books were so patterned, I decided it would be a great non-fiction writing project to write one of our own books in the series!

 Joy, of course, chose to write about puffins. They are still the animal which catches her attention these days. Here is her first page on puffins. You can compare it to the first page of the book on ducks below.

It's easy to see the pattern of this first page, and it was easy for Joy to see it, too. As we wrote each page for the book on puffins, we read the corresponding page in each of the other books in the series. We discussed the patterns found: the information and the sentences. The structure really helped Joy to formulate her own thoughts

about puffins.

Joy has been learning to keyboard using Dance Mat Typing, a terrific online, free program with lots of interesting characters. The puffin book was the first writing project that I had Joy type for herself. She was able to do most of the writing herself. I also used the opportunity to teach her about spell check; she was able to proofread with some help.

In each of the books in the series, there is a pictorial time line of the animal from birth/hatching to adulthood. We made one, too, but couldn't get the graphics to work exactly the same. Joy learned a lot about graphic work on this page! You can see our version close-up below.

Another thing that Joy learned about in this project is finding and using pictures from the internet. We did not cite them; I was more interested in helping her learn how to search for images and manipulate them. We will being citations in first grade, I think.

All in all, this was a fun and interesting project for Joy. She loved her final product, which is now on her bookshelf as a book she can read! She reads to her daddy nightly as part of her "homework," and this is one of her favorite reads.

Biographies

One of the things that Joy and I have been up to in the past couple of months is reading biographies. There are tons of well-written youth biographies in our public library, and we are checking them out three or four at a time. I decided to do this when someone mentioned Abraham Lincoln, and Joy said, "Who's that?"

I have tried to choose biographies from different eras, fields of accomplishment, and types of people. We have read about Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Ben Franklin. We've also read about Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr, and Rosa Parks. I've read to Joy about Handel, Rembrandt, and Alexander Graham Bell.

After reading three or four biographies, I realized that we needed to put the people in historical perspective, so I created a GIANT time line.

I started by putting Joy's lifetime, my own, and Joy's dad's lifetime on the time line. I hoped this would give her a little perspective as we added others. She noted that the time line was a lot like our number line, and I pointed out that the numbers on our time line were 10 years apart (just like the red TENS on our number line).

As we added Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Joy exclaimed, "He didn't live very long!" This was proof to me that she truly understood what the time line represents. She was also impressed that both Mom and Dad were alive when Dr. King was alive.

I highlighted a section of the time line for the Civil War because so many of our biographies dealt with people who lived during it. As Abraham Lincoln was one of our first biographies, his lifeline isn't marked on our time line (yet). Joy is starting to understand that many of those living during the Civil War were greatly affected by it.

Joy is very interested in art and music, so we've included several people in each category. I started playing music or showing her pictures by the artists as we learned about them. She has since decided that she loves classical music! I catch her playing classical music on the iPad as often as her favorite Barbie movie soundtrack! A benefit of the biographies project.

This project has been so successful in introducing Joy to many people and eras that I think we'll continue it for the foreseeable future, even if she attends a public school. It's even been interesting to me to see the lifetimes of these people on the same time line! I have all kinds of questions that I'd never thought of before, like, "What did Mozart think about the American Revolution?"

I love learning, and I love the spark of interest I'm seeing in Joy as we learn about these people and their lives. I would recommend this project for any family!

On the Road

 I haven't written a blog post for quite some time. Things have been a little chaotic in our family. My husband and I each have a parent who is terminally ill, one of whom is currently in hospice care. Joy and I have spent many recent days in hospitals, rehab facilities, and at home (away from our home) with ailing grandparents.

Homeschooling is great for situations like this. Joy hasn't missed a day of school! We've had school in the car, in the hospital, and various other locations.

But we also have to adapt our usual lessons for the road. The pictures on the left show some of the many activities that just wouldn't work on a road trip!  Too many pieces, too much stuff to tote, or too messy.

One thing we did to make away-from-home school easier is purchase an iPad. We had talked about it before, but it really seemed to make sense in this situation. And it was a great decision!

 There are soooo many excellent educational apps available, mostly for free. And it was also a wonderful car-time occupier; Joy could listen to music, play games, or read books. I will share some of our favorite educational apps in another post some day soon.

 There are certainly some activities from our normal routine that travel well: Sluggy, the sight word puppet made most of the trips; Tell Tale, the storytelling game, was a hit, even in the car; and our number sense bracelets were easy to carry. We also use some Kumon workbooks occasionally. First, because Joy needs to have experience with written skill activities, and second, because she likes them! Yes, really. So those came along in the car.

I tried to purchase another workbook on one trip, but all I could find were "test prep" workbooks. For KINDERGARTEN??? Really!? It's another sign of just how test-crazy our educational system is right now. The Kumon workbooks are totally different; their sole goal is learning. They are set up for kids to learn a small bit of new information, use it repetitively so they internalize it, and then add another bit of new information. I definitely wouldn't use only Kumon (or any other type of) workbooks, but they are the best I've found.

 So, we've continued school and learning, even in the midst of much traveling and a bit of chaos. Joy seems to be doing okay, even though two of her grandparents are failing. I think being able to help take care of her grandmother has helped her process the upcoming loss.

I'm not sure what the near future holds for either of these dear parents/grandparents. We will continue to serve in any way we can (that is appropriate for an almost-6-yr-old), so their may be more road trip school days for us in the future! I'm so glad that we are able to teach/learn this way.

Building Number Sense (Again)

Remember the egg carton ten-frames? I wrote about them here. Well, I planned to use them today to make some more numbers, but Joy had made a comment about 100, and I switched my plans. That's one of the greatest things about homeschooling: I can vary the plans to meet Joy's immediate interests or needs.

We started by taking the stack of 10 ten-frames apart and laying them out on our number line. At first, Joy was counting by ones to find out where each filled ten-frame went. After thirty, she exclaimed, "I know where they go! They go on the red numbers!" I pointed out that the red numbers were the 10s, which made me giggle a little. Joy often identifies things solely by their color (as in "the girl with the red shirt" at church or someplace).

Then I had Joy dump out the ten-frames, one at a time, and place the individual glass pebbles on the number line. This time, she identified them correctly as "ones" right away. A key factor in my knowing that this was a perfect fit for her number sense understanding was when Joy exclaimed, "It's going to end on the thirty!" after placing 21 and 22. She was clearly comprehending the number organization.

Joy was excited every time the glass pebbles ended on the 10s! Then, at 59, there wasn't another pebble. She looked confused for a moment, and then she very purposefully moved herself and the egg cartons to find the missing pebble. She was quite proud that she knew there had to be one hidden.

When done placing all 100 pebbles on the number line, Joy took great pleasure in counting them by ones all the way to 100! (And yes, we usually have school in our pjs!)

By far, the funniest part of this number sense activity was Joy's kitten. Thankfully, he didn't notice all the glass pebbles until we were done, but then he had a grand time chasing them all over the room!

Number Sense

I have taught math to elementary-aged students for more than 20 years. I have seen math methods come and go, watched students make progress and get stuck in the muck, and tried many "new" things... and I've learned some things. Things that are very much affecting how I teach Joy.

One of the things I know is that kids who just get numbers do much better in math. But how do I teach "getting numbers"?? Because Joy is at an early stage of development in math, and because she has no peers with whom to compare herself (which she would definitely DO if she had them), I can teach her in a way to develop that elusive number sense. So math in Stealth Kindergarten isn't so much about adding and subtracting and comparing numbers, as it is about understanding numbers.

For example, taking the number rolled on two dice, in this case: 56, and making the visual picture of 56 using Base Ten Blocks. These are commercially-made cubes that are in ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands. Fifty-six looks like 5 "longs" (bars of 10 cubes) and 6 "little cubes" (single small cubes). Then Joy counts them, "10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56." This is not easy! Transitioning from counting by 10s to counting by 1s without losing your place is a sophisticated skill. I have known 4th and 5th graders who could not model numbers in this way. Joy has some difficulty with the transitions sometimes, but she is definitely improving her true understanding of what the numbers mean.

Base Ten Blocks are a wonderful tool, and I use them quite often with Joy and with students I tutor in math. They can be used to model numbers through 1,999 and decimals through the thousandths. They are only one tool, though, and one of the other tools I frequently use costs nothing, so I really like it, too!

Egg cartons are a great way to make ten-frames! A ten-frame is simply a rectangle with two rows of five spaces, equaling 10, of course. We have used ten-frames to learn to identify numbers of objects up to ten.

For these ten-frames, I cut off the lid and one set of the egg-holes so there are ten holes in two rows of five. I use small glass beads that are sold for use in plant vases. You could use anything from buttons to pennies to marbles to fill the ten-frames. You can see that we have quite a number of these egg-carton ten-frames!

I have collected egg cartons for about a year now, and we have more than 20 of them. I bundled up a stack of ten to make one "hundred." Now Joy can make numbers up to 199! We sometimes roll the dice to select a number. Sometimes, I write a number on a whiteboard for Joy to create, and sometimes I model a number and she writes it down. Understanding that 38 is much smaller than 83 is an important goal of these kinds of activities. Place value is an essential skill to understanding how numbers work.

 

Another way to model numbers is with visual patterns. A ten-frame is one visual pattern for kids to use. Dice arrange the numbers 1-6 in different ways that are good to recognize. These cards are an extension on some visual patterns.  We are playing "War" with them in this picture, comparing the number of dots on each card.

After becoming familiar with many different visual models of numbers, I had Joy make her own set of ladybug cards, putting various visual models on ladybugs. To the right, she put a dice-shaped 6, plus one. Below, she used the 10-frame model to make the same 7. Joy had a great time creating ladybugs with various dot patterns. We use them to play games and she loves it!

We've even found visual models for numbers in making cookies!!!!
Joy recognized this "nine" right away.

These pipe cleaner bracelets are also part of Joy's number sense instruction. Each one has a different number of buttons on it and is labeled with that number. The idea behind these is that you can divide the buttons into two groups, modeling part-part-whole.

For example, the 8 bracelet identifies the whole (8). In this picture, the two parts are 4 and 4. So this model shows the following:  4+4=8 and 8-4=4. We use these frequently to tell stories and model the number facts.

This 10 bracelet models 7+3=10, 3+7=10, 10-3=7 and 10-7=3. We might tell a story like this: There were 10 children at the playground; three went home. How many children are left at the park? Joy tells stories for me, and I tell stories for her. This is important because it helps her understand the stories better than simply answering "story problems."

We just recently added triangular flash cards to our number sense instruction. These are cards that show the whole number family, not just a simple problem. I absolutely believe that children need to develop automaticity with basic math facts, but this will be far more meaningful if they have a strong number sense before they try to memorize. These cards are a great transition; under Joy's hand is the "whole" (5). Each card shows "part-part-whole," and the "whole" is red. So you can use this card to model 5+0=5, 0+5=5, 5-0=5, or 5-5=0. Using these cards will help Joy move toward numerical representations of the number sense she is developing.


A good resource if you are looking to work on number sense with your little one is Building Number Sense by Catherine Jones Kuhns. It has great activities for K-1 students!

More Graphs

I wrote about playing dice games and making graphs earlier in my blog, you can find that link here.

This activity was inspired because one of Joy's grandmas gave her a bag of foam shape stickers. They are each a little less than an inch tall, and they come in four shapes. When Joy asked to use them, we took a small handful (maybe 15-20) and then I helped her make a pictograph with them. I did a lot of the work on the first graph, but when we repeated the task over the next few days, Joy did more and more of it.

By the time we made the fourth graph (no more than one a day), Joy was writing the title and making the pictograph by herself. I completed the labels because she hadn't made room for them. The title reads, "Sorting Shapes 4" She also wrote, "Mode stars" on it, which is true!

Why on earth would I make her do this FOUR times? Wouldn't once give her the concept of a graph? Yes... but that's not my goal, or at least not all of it. Understanding and manipulating data is an important skill in mathematics and science; I want Joy to understand how to use data to make decisions. The first step is to learn how data works. By taking a small handful (It would have been better to use a measuring cup, but this is kindergarten!) and sorting them into a pictograph, Joy knows what the graph means. She knows that there are more stars than anything else; she knows that there are fewest squares. And by doing it four times, she knows that it doesn't always come out the same.

That's a vital understanding about data. Data varies. And within those variations, there is some truth. A person shouldn't make decisions based on one trial; you need more proof! And yes, Joy is old enough to understand this at a basic level.

Before we started the fourth graph today, Joy and I looked over the three previous graphs. We looked for patterns in the data. What was the mode in each? Which shape had the least each time? The only real pattern we found was that circles were the fewest each of the first three times. Based on that, Joy predicted that circles would be the least on the fourth graph. They weren't, as you can see on the picture above. But that's good learning! I intend to make as many graphs as the stickers allow, comparing and predicting with more accuracy each time. At the end, we'll translate the data onto a graph of the entire package of stickers.

Today, when the fourth graph was done, Joy and I looked over all of them, comparing and contrasting the data. Joy pointed out that stars were the mode (shape with the most) on three of the four graphs. I mentioned the word trend, but I don't expect Joy to really understand it. I'm delighted that she has a solid definition of mode.

Thanks, Grandma!

Spelunking Adventures

We took a homeschool field trip a couple of weeks ago. We visited two caves, one of which we had visited before. Field trips aren't new to education, but they are certainly fewer and farther between in the public schools than they were a couple of decades ago.  We take lots of field trips in homeschool kindergarten!

Before we went to the caves, Joy and I reread the brochure from the cave we had previously visited. Then she made a lists of things she thought she would see in each cave. She was very confident about what she would see in the first cave, but hesitant about predicting what might be in the second cave. With some assistance, Joy was able to make a list of what she might see.

We enjoyed touring the caves, and we learned a lot from the tour guides. Joy didn't ask many questions, but I did! I pointed out stalactites and stalagmites (making sure I emphasized that staLAGmites were from the ground and staLACtites were from the ceiling!) and columns. We talked on both cave tours about how water is slightly acidic and dissolves the limestone over time. I made sure Joy saw the way limestone forms in layers and the fossils that are abundant in limestone. In the car, traveling from each cave, Joy made a list of things she saw at that cave.

But the majority of the learning that happened with the spelunking adventure took place at home, after the trip. I wanted Joy to think  about the similarities and differences in the caves, so I made a large Venn Diagram and labeled each circle with one cave's name. Then we took the postcards we bought at each cave and placed them on the Venn Diagram properly. This showed Joy how the intersection was for things true about both caves, and the rest of the circles were for things true about only that one cave.

Joy later wrote the names of things we saw in each cave (and both caves) on the Venn Diagram. You can see stalactites and stalagmites in the intersection. For Mystery Cave, she wrote orange stalactites and blue lake. For Niagara Cave, she wrote waterfall and wedding chapel. She completed this Venn Diagram a couple of days after the trip; I think she remembered really well!

We will use a Venn Diagram to compare two things again soon, so that Joy remembers how to use one. It's a great way to organize your thoughts before you speak or write on a topic. You could use a Venn Diagram about any two experiences that had some similarities and some differences. You could even compare Mom and Dad... wouldn't that be interesting?!

Bears, Bears, Bears!

 Joy's attraction to bears continues to drive some of my instruction. On a recent trip to the zoo, we checked out almost a dozen books about bears! It was a great review of fiction and non-fiction, and we found several books at a level Joy can read herself.

One of the non-fiction books had tons of great pictures and information written at a level appropriate for Joy, so I read it to her while she took notes. YES, a five-year-old can take meaningful notes!!!

Her notes looked like the picture above. The big check marks were added later during a visit to the zoo to see the bears. She remembered what information each and every picture represented and took great pleasure in sharing the information with her friend and all the nearby visitors as she watched the bears.

To the right, the highlighted area has berries, fish, and a deer. I drew the fish and deer, at Joy's request. She was frustrated by how little room there was on the paper at that point, and it served no purpose to demand that she figure out a way to depict deer and fish. She insisted that those two foods be on the picture!

To the left, the highlighted section represented a bear's "massive head" (words directly from the book I read to her) and large snout. At the zoo, Joy also informed those around her that the snout was used to find food because bears have "bad eyes."

This picture (right) has the bear's large feet highlighted, and later Joy added long, sharp claws. She said they were used to dig up the ground, pick berries, and kill deer. I suggested that they also caught fish, but Joy wouldn't agree to that, even though it's true. She was very certain that she knew all about bears! She did enjoy looking at the bears' claws at the zoo.

To the left, you'll see a bear highlighted with at least 6 legs. When I asked her how many legs bears have, she seemed to think I was dense. She said, "They have four, but this bear is running fast. I drew it like that to show that bears are fast!" Can't argue with that.

  To the right, you'll see a highlighted bear who has really long back legs and no body. Joy added a body later when she looked at it again. She explained that the bear was standing up really tall, which bears do. She was so excited when she saw the real bear stand up tall at the zoo. She kept saying, "See! See! They DO stand up, Mom! See!?"

The bears at the zoo also gave us a great look at the bottoms of their feet, which greatly intrigued Joy. I was delighted to find her interested in them because the zoo has life-sized bear prints on the floor of the bear exhibit. I pulled out a ruler and Joy proceeded to measure each of the bear prints and record them in her notebook.

As long as bears are so interesting to Joy, I'll keep using them to improve her reading, writing, measuring, science, note-taking, and other skills! When she shifts her interests to something else, we'll go with that, too.