Saskatchewan Early Childhood Education Council

Here is a list of a few (seriously, only a few) of my favorite children’s books! Stay tuned for some sharing of ideas for these books from the Tri-West Teachers’ Association  workshop I am presenting in North Battleford. Click to download:   Favorite Book list

(Click the tabs at the bottom of the Excel document to get the list sorted by Author, Title, and Topic)

Click the poster for a link to the page

We are hosting a digital learning night in Melfort on Thursday, May 2 at 6:00 at Brunswick School.  We will be finding out about using Facebook as a communication tool and creating digital portfolios.  Click on the poster for more details.

Digital Learning Night

• strategic planning for the provincial Kindergarten and related programs and initiatives involving environment, inquiry and project-based learning, curriculum, instruction, assessment, and family engagement;
• advising and collaborating with other branches and stakeholders to support grade 1 to Grade 3 education with a focus on enhancing reading and numeracy by the end of Grade 3;
• conducting research, analyzing and interpreting current best practices in early childhood education;
• consulting and working with school divisions to enhance and implement early childhood education practices, programs and initiatives particularly for kindergarten;
• delivering presentations to colleagues and education stakeholders to enhance understanding of curriculum, instruction and assessment for Kindergarten; and

• identifying, developing and responding to emerging issues with a solution focus.

The Saskatoon Early Childhood Education Council is hosting a Smartboard Phase 1 and 2 workshop on Thursday, May 16th 4pm-7pm (supper provided).  See the link for more information and registration! Members and Non-Members are welcome!

click to download the information:    smartboard workshop

Please include in your email registration:

Full Name

School

School Division

Grade Level

Here are some events hosted by SECA that pertain to early childhood:

http://saskcare.ca/calendar/

I was talking to my Grade 1 class about buffalo.  One of the students asked how you could tell a girl buffalo from a boy buffalo.  I replied that boy buffalo were usually bigger than the girls.  One of the other students looked at me and whispered, “No, you have to look at their bums!”.

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One of my students came to me in the hallway with her jacket undone.  She asked if she could go to her old babysitter who was down the hallway so that she could ask her to do it up for her.  I told her I thought she could do it on her own.  She went in the classroom and came out a few minutes later with her jacket all done up.  She looked at me and said, “you got me, I could do it!”.

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Our school went on a ski trip, and at this specific ski area there is also a tubing area. You get pulled up the hill on your tube and then you slide back down and in order to stop they place a bunch of bails for you to run into. Myself and a Kindergarten girl were the last to walk up to the hill for the first time. As we were getting closer she spotted the bails. She turned and looked at them and then turned back and looked at me and said “Who the hell would have a farm around here.” The look on her face was priceless and I could have fallen over laughing.

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I was beginning a unit on the Five Senses in a Grade 1 classroom and I opened my lesson asking the class if they knew what their five senses were. One little boy put up his hand in excitement and said, “Oh! Those are those little round things you can buy candy with!!”
I was beginning a unit on the Five Senses in a Grade 1 classroom and I opened my lesson asking the class if they knew what their five senses were. One little boy put up his hand in excitement and said, “Oh! Those are those little round things you can buy candy with!!”

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I was having trouble with two boys in my Kindergarten class.  A colleague suggested that I use a punch card that she found on pinterest.  Throughout the day, I would check in with the boys and if they had been using appropriate behaviour, they would get to use a whole punch to punch out one of the numbers.  Once they got to 20 punches, they would get to choose a prize.  On our first day trying it out, one of the boys was off task during my lesson.  I stopped my lesson and asked in a stern voice, “Are you going to get a punch this morning?”  All of the kids stopped what they were doing and stared at me.  I realized that it didn’t come out as intended!

Cheryl Kilodavis with Kim Deibert at the Telling Stories Conference in Saskatoon (U of S)

I was privileged to meet and listen to an amazing mother and author at the Telling Stories Conference.  Cheryl Kilodavis shared her amazing journey with her family as they learn and share a ‘curriculum of acceptance’ with those around them, and now, the world! Please visit the website and Facebook page, get the book (or download the apps) and share this message with your students.  My kindergarten children had a very deep and meaningful conversation after I shared this book.  (I also recommend William’s Doll by Charlotte Zolotow on a similar topic!)

http://myprincessboy.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MyPrincessBoy?fref=ts

http://www.amazon.com/My-Princess-Boy-Cheryl-Kilodavis/dp/1442429887

At the beginning of the kindergarten year, I had my students work on self portraits.  We started by looking in mirrors and studying our faces.  We talked about what we saw, the shapes we saw, the details, the lines.  Next I gave each student a piece of white paper and a pencil.  Each student sat down with their paper and mirror and worked to draw their face.  I encouraged them to keep referring back to the mirror so they could draw a true likeness of their faces.  They turned out great!  One of the students asked if we could now paint our faces.  I wasn’t sure how to proceed as I had never painted a self portrait.  I tried googling it to see if there were any lesson plans and I came across a blog by Julie Voigt called Art for Small Hands.  Julie Voigt has graciously allowed us to reprint her lesson on painting self portraits with young children.  Julie’s blog is full of all different kinds of art lessons.  There is a search function on the blog so you can search for different art techniques of lesson topics.  Here are some examples of my class working on their self portraits.

Self Portraits by Julie Voigt – Lesson Plan and photos

Go to Julie Voigt’s Blog

Alia working on her self portrait.

A wonderful opportunity to listen to some amazing authors of books that value the diversity of families!

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Telling Stories Detailed Presenter Info2

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