Letters, Letters, Letters!

After reading many blogs about the "letting go of the letters of the week" reading, I found myself agreeing with the many things said about it and loving the different ideas behind promoting it in the classroom. My school did letters of the week, but one things I did like about it was that we could bring something from home every week that started with that letter and write the word of the object on the board to show our peers.  I distinctly remember doing that at the end of the week after we had finished with a certain letter and was so proud to share my new "word" that I could spell all on my own for everyone.  In saying this, I agree with what Bell and Jarvis are outlining in their reading and agree with the classroom tactics very much.  I also know that it was a very special memory for me in doing this "letter of the week" in my classroom, and in knowing that I think it will be hard for me not to want to do it in my classroom!


Something that really surprised me about the IRA/NAEYC position paper was the idea that teaching is harder or more challenging in classrooms today.  I have not heard this mentioned in any of my other classes, and it is somewhat refreshing to hear.  I have personally felt this way for a while especially when examining the way I was taught in my elementary years, and even further the way my parents and grandparents were taught during their elementary years. I agree with this reading in that a big factor are children's background in literacy and overall, as well as daycare. I don't think that daycare was as big of a deal for my parents or grandparents before they entered kindergarten whereas I think that now it would be rare to find a child that has not attended a daycare before attempting to be in a kindergarten classroom. 


Something else in this article that I think struck me was that kindergarten was a critical year for vocabulary development. I too, am an avid pinterester and this was something that I thought was really neat for a kindergarten classroom in learning vocabulary! I think its a great interactive way for the students to have a chance to demonstrate learning and be creative with what they are learning!