My summer has
been going so quickly, and I TRY not to think about school, my classroom, Mr. CC, losing my
summer (and tan), and my baby leaving, but it just isn’t working, as hard as I
tryL.
So today good ‘ol Mr.
CC popped into my head while I was working out doing sit ups sitting on
the couch watching The Chew (LOVE that show).
I remembered something
the lady at the workshop I went to in May said about Kindergarten teachers and
how they teach. She told them gone are the days of teaching a letter a week
(there air literally swooshed out of the room from the collective breath from
the first grade teachers). She related that the letters should be reviewed ONLY the first 26 days and that’s it. They should then move them into reading and more sight
word activities.
Not only was I excited
about this bit of news. It started me thinking about the amount of time I
probably waste in first grade. It seems to take FOR_EVER to teach handwriting.
It is agonizing for kids and teacher alike.
This year I have decided we will spend the first few
days on pencil grip, and paper slant, and then it’s going to be 26 days and
DONE! I am going to do a letter a day, send home a practice sheet, and then
that is it. Of course we will write every day, but time spent on mechanics is
going to be drastically minimized.
I've got so much many more important things to teach those little kiddos!
Do you have anything
you’re cutting back on this year?
I’d love to know!
I like that idea as a review and think I will add some kindergarten sight words that include the day's letter as well.
ReplyDeleteI do review handwriting through splling practice as well. Gone are the days of the handwriting books and built in time.
Hope this helps!
Tammy
The Resourceful Apple
I struggle with handwriting time. You are right. It's boring not only for me, but for the kids. I really like your 26 day plan. I'm in!
ReplyDelete-Megan
First Grade Magic
I have never really spent a lot of time teaching handwriting. I use our reading pages as a time to talk about handwriting. Sometimes I give 5 bonus points for neat papers as an incentive. I like your idea of 26 in 26. As I was reading it, it came to me to add those sight words from kdg to the practice also. I probably need to do a time study, I'm sure I waste a lot of time in my classroom, I just need to figure out where and make some changes. (:
ReplyDeleteKelly @ I'm Not Your Grandpa, I'm Your Teacher