Teacher to Teacher Column by Ms. Karen B. Coucke

Teacher to Teacher Column by Ms. Karen B. Coucke

Hello? Hello? Kindergarten Calling

During a busy literacy center rotation in my kindergarten classroom, located in an urban school district with high-poverty and high number of English Language Learners, the dull roar of the students’ chatter fills our spacious classroom. The diverse group of 28 students stands, sits, and kneels at various literacy centers scattered throughout the room. When the timer buzzes, I remind students to clean up their centers for the next rotation. They quickly scurry to clean their centers, in order to find out their next activity. A group of four students lets out a collective cheer when they choose to play in the dramatic play kitchen center. This center is one of the most popular places to play in our classroom. A plastic red push-button phone is the most sought-after item. The phone has no fancy noises when buttons are pushed, no lights flash on or off, no touch screen display beckons, and no computer voice asks questions from the other end. It is a simple, plastic red phone. I listen to a conversation of a student on the phone at the start of this center rotation:

Student 1: “Hello? Hello? Hi Grandma! OK, see you soon!” Student 1 to the other students in the center: “Hurry, hurry! Grandma is coming over. We have to clean the house and cook something to eat!” Student 2: “We better hurry! I’ll sweep the floor!” Student 3: “I will take care of the baby.” Student 4: “What will we cook to eat?”

As they begin to discuss what they should “cook” for Grandma, I realize this plastic red phone is a link to language development and play, one I almost overlooked. The phone was given to me by another teacher who was cleaning out her classroom. I thought about telling her I didn’t want it as I thought the phone wouldn’t captivate my kindergartner’s attention. Little did I know, the unassuming, red phone would spark language development in my classroom and lead to children-focused ideas to build further conversations and literacy engagement which helps all of my students advance in literacy and language development.

Centers and Play

Center rotations are a foundation for learning in most early childhood classrooms and provide different experiences for students to practice new skills and engage with peers (Wellhousen & Giles, 2005). Centers provide students opportunities to explore concepts with classmates and create situations in which they are familiar with and include imaginative play. A prominent theory in the field of early childhood focuses on the importance of play and social development of the child (Bodrovra & Leong, 2007). However, with the pressures of meeting rigorous standards and testing accountability, this theory seems to become an old toy no longer wanted; it seems a teacher-centric focused classroom has become the norm. Bowdon (2015) examined data from two nationally identified kindergarten groups, one from 1998 and one from 2010. This data included teacher reports on how instruction in their classroom was organized. Findings indicated child-selected activity declined in both high- and

low-poverty schools. In 1998, 68% of kindergarteners had an hour of child-selected activity time, while in 2010 only 44% had the same opportunity. As a kindergarten teacher in a high-poverty classroom with a diverse group of learners, I struggle with finding the balance between teacherled time and student-led activities. The plastic red phone in my kitchen center was a catalyst in helping me find the balance.

Student-led Activity

My students’ excitement preparing for grandma’s “visit” in the kitchen center led to a whole class discussion and writing activity. To facilitate these activities, I chose three books with grandmas and families as the central theme. Feast for 10 (Falwell, 1993) depicts an AfricanAmerican family shopping for food to prepare for a large family dinner which includes grandparents. Another book we incorporated into our discussion, My Nana and Me (Smalls, 2006), is full of wonderful pictures and depicts an African-American girl and her nana together at home. The third book, Abuela (Dorros, 1991), involves a young girl and her grandmother in an urban setting pretending to fly above the city and talk about what they see in Spanish and English. These books captivated my students’ attention and created rich class discussions about grandmothers and families. This enthusiasm spilled over into linking our discussion with our writing activity. Students were asked to draw and write their family’s experiences similar to any of the three books we read together. Each student was asked to describe their picture with a table partner and then shared in our whole-group discussion. As depicted in the drawings in Figures 1, 2, and 3, our classroom has a wide range of skills as well as verbal ability. Regardless of ability, all students generated meaningful discussion and writing relevant to their life.

Figure 1 “Me and my grandma and my mom. We have to cook all the food. We are getting ready for her to come over.”

Figure 2 “We are cleaning up because my grandma is coming over.”

Figure 3 “Mommy, brother and grandma. She is going to come to my house.”

Reflection

The majority of my students enter kindergarten lacking foundational skills needed to successfully begin their school careers. Our classroom is comprised of a wide array of students with different needs and backgrounds. Some students in our classroom attended Pre-K and others did not. Additionally, some of my students have limited English knowledge while some have less stable home environments. Providing time for play and using student interests can lead to engaging activities. Simple objects, such as a plastic red phone, can lead to language development using student-centered ideas.

Ms. Karen B. Coucke is a PhD student at the University of Oklahoma, Norman. She may be reached at kbcoucke@ou.edu.

References

Bodrovra, E., & Leong, D. J. (2007). Tools of the Mind: The Vygotskian approach to early childhood education (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Bowdon, J. (2015, May). The common core’s first casualty: playful learning. Kappanmagazine.org, 96(8), 33-37. Fallwell, C. (1993). A Feast for 10. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. Dorros, A. (1991). Abuela. New York, NY: Puffin Books. Smalls, I. (2006). My Nana and Me. United States: Xist Publishing. Wellhousen, K., & Giles, R. M. (2005) Building literacy opportunities into children’s block play: What every teacher should know. Childhood Education, 82(2), 74-78. doi:10.1080/00094056.2006.10521350