Writing Picture Stories

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Jennie

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I have hundreds of photos of children from over the years, yet only one photo is on my desk.  This scene was a party that children wanted because we read books and wrote stories.  They’re all in high school now, and doing very well.

Children have more ideas and thoughts in their heads than we realize.  Their brains are gigantic sponges; they see it all and hear it all.  The last part to develop, and the most important, is verbalizing everything that is in their brain.  In order to do that, they need words, lots of words- and then more words.

When the school year begins, I jump into reading-aloud picture books and chapter reading books with both feet.  Children are constantly hearing words- oh, their brain is soaking it up.  The next step is writing picture stories, because they need to use their language and verbalize what they are thinking.

In September we write about what we like to do in school.

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Imagine being three or four years old and asked by your teacher what you like to do in school.  And then, your teacher carefully writes every word that you say.  That tells a child that words are important.  The ‘frosting on the cake’ to validate a child’s words is asking the child to illustrate what s/he has said.

Writing picture stories brings thinking and language together.  It empowers children.

The day after Halloween we write picture stories again.  Children have many memories and thoughts.  By now, their language has become more descriptive.  Two months of reading-aloud is proof.

img_1938As the year progresses, we will read, discuss, debate, write, and facilitate vocabulary.  This week one of the chapters in our current chapter reading book, My Father’s Dragon, was titled “Farewell”.  Of course that was an unfamiliar word, so we stopped to talk about it.  Children at the end of the day were saying “farewell”.

It’s all about language.  The more words a child hears, the better s/he will do in school in all subject areas.  Period.  Now, if that doesn’t make every parent run to the library, and make every teacher institute multiple ways of promoting language, then I will keep shouting this loud and clear.

How simple; increase the number of words and a child does better in school.  Write about it, and the child wants to do better.  Win-win.

Jennie

Posted in Early Education, reading aloud, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 38 Comments

Children and “The Star Spangled Banner”

Posted on November 13, 2016 by Jennie

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Bringing our National Anthem to Life

Few books have the power to move young students and make a difference; this one does. Whenever I sing our National Anthem with children, I pull out my well-loved and very worn book, The Star Spangled Banner by Peter Spier.  Every page is a full color illustration of the words to the song.

img_1944This book makes my heart race!  Every single time I read or sing the book,  children are drawn in.  There is wonder, and there are more questions, and inevitably a crowd of children begin pushing in to see and hear, and to learn.

This is what I wrote on one such occasion. “It happened like this…”

“I want to tell you about early morning in the Big Room today.  It was one of the most exciting, intense, and passionate twenty minutes with children that a teacher can have.  Emergent Curriculum at it’s best.  As we say in the Aqua Room when a story is true, “It happened like this”:

Troy wanted to have a ‘show’, so he and Jill and Sam went to the top of the loft.  No, they did not want to sing Troy’s favorite song, “Proud To Be An American”.  They wanted to sing “The Star Spangled Banner”.  Of course it was wonderful, and we all clapped.  Then I said, “Do you want to know what the song looks like and what really happened?”  I ran back to the Aqua Room (yes, I ran down the hallway and back…) and returned with Peter Spier’s book, The Star Spangled Banner.  Before I opened the book I said, “The guy who wrote this song was on a British ship, and it was night time.  The only way he knew if we were winning was if he saw the American flag.”

By that time I had Troy, Jill, Sam, Jacob, Callie, Lily, Cooper, Lizzie, and Finn all around the book, captivated.  First I asked them what a star spangled banner was.  They knew!  Then we started to read the book.  The first page alone took forever, because we had to explain and talk about the funny hats and clothes, and the ship.  Children had been to Boston to see the Constitution.  Jill knew that ‘Old Ironsides’ meant that cannons and rockets didn’t penetrate the sides.  Once we looked at the first picture, we had to talk about how long ago this happened.  It was 1814.  Oh my, we just figured out that next year would be the two-hundreth anniversary of the song!  We planned an impromptu ceremony.

We were still on page one, and now a crowd of children came over to be there.  We started to read, but children wanted to ‘sing’ the book.  That was fun!  We found the flag on every page, through the battle.  Then, there were other things we found, like ramparts, and new vocabulary words, like ‘perilous’.  When the verse ended, the book went on.  Children were stunned to to know that there were more words.  Those verses led us to learn why a flag is sometimes halfway down on the mast, and to the Statue of Liberty, the Statue of Iwo Jima, the astronauts on the moon, and different Navy ships at sea.

Honestly, the turn of each page drew more questions, and the discussions to find the answers were both intense and inspirational for the children.  Nobody interrupted, because everything was important.  It was a perfect experience.”

Do you know what a towering steep is?  The children figured it out:

img_1946When I get to this page, I stop.  I tell children this is a sad page, yet a proud page.  We talk about flying the flag at half mast, and about soldiers who have died for their country.  Children understand:

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Children can learn history, even at a young age.  This book proves that.  Thank you to Peter Spier who was born and educated in Amsterdam, and didn’t move to America until 1952 when he was an adult.  His book is a magic wand.

Jennie

Posted in Early Education, patriotism, reading aloud, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Children and Patriotism; It Starts With Singing.

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Jennie

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Teaching patriotism is something I do in my classroom, and I do it frequently.  It is rarely a planned activity; it just happens.  Much like teaching kindness or giving, or even bravery, the learning comes from doing.  And the way we learn about patriotism often begins with singing, especially if the song is also a book.

Yes, I sing books.  It’s the best way to learn a song because there are pictures to the words.  Pictures cement the meaning to the song, and children understand.  And, they sing with pride.  When I play the Autoharp to sing a patriotic song and have a fellow teacher (and Gloria) sing-along, children stand and place their hands on their hearts.  They love singing, and naturally gravitate to what a song feels like.  Children are far more tuned-in to feelings than adults.

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Today we sang “God Bless America”, “This Land is Your Land”, and “The Star Spangled Banner”, while we read the books.  Children belted out the words.  They stood tall with hands on their hearts because they were filled with pride.

Irving Berlin did not particularly like our National Anthem, and he wrote “God Bless America”.  Woody Guthrie did not like “God Bless America”, and he wrote “This Land is Your Land”.  Isn’t that interesting? I told this to the children today.  We took a tally vote of our favorite song, yet there was no clear winner.

When my son was eight, I bought him the book The Star Spangled Banner by Peter Spier.  Suddenly all the words to a song that he loved came to life.  Every time I read this book, something remarkable happens, because this book has full page illustrations that tell the story.  It is history for young children.  This is part of what I wrote to families a few years ago when children wanted to sing “The Star Spangled Banner”:

“It was one of the most exciting, intense, and passionate twenty minutes with children that a teacher can have.

Troy wanted to have a ‘show’, so he and Jill and Sam went to the top of the loft.  No, they did not want to sing “Proud To Be An American.”  They wanted to sing “The Star Spangled Banner”.  Of course it was wonderful and we all clapped.  Then I said, “Do you want to know what the song looks like and what really happened?”  I ran to get Peter Spier’s The Star Spangled Banner, but before I opened the book I said, “The guy who wrote this song was on a British ship, watching the battle.  He couldn’t get off the ship and it was night time.  The only way he knew if we were winning was if he saw the American flag.”

Suddenly I had every child pushing and eager to see the pictures and hear the whole story.  Oh, we went through the entire book.  It was perhaps the best lesson in history and patriotism for children.  I will post the full version of this remarkable story in a few days.

Today we learned how to properly shake hands, and how to say “Thank you” to a Veteran.  Thank goodness for patriotic songs that help children feel pride in America.  At the end of the day, long after we had been singing our hearts out, Kate kept singing while she was drawing.  Over and over she sang, “God bless America, land that I love.”  Just those words. The children standing nearby hummed and sang a few words along with her.  The more Kate sang, the more it felt like hearing the words to Goodnight Moon, a beloved story that I read-aloud every day: safe, loved, and strong.

Jennie

Posted in Early Education, patriotism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

The Essential Children’s Bookshelf

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Jennie

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Found this lovely infographic via ebookfrienly.com

What’s your favorite children’s book?

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Voices from the Field

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Jennie

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This is one of a series of blogs featuring first-person accounts from early educators across Massachusetts.

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Jennie Fitzkee Jennie Fitzkee

My name is Jennie Fitzkee. I am an Early Childhood Educator teaching the Full Day, multi-age class preschool class at Groton Community School in Groton, Mass. This my 33rd year of teaching preschool. Lucky me!

“Back in the day,” women were encouraged to become a nurse, secretary, or a teacher. Fortunately, I decided to become a teacher. I made a good career choice! I use the word “career” because teaching young children is far more than a job. It shapes the lives of children and educates parents. That is powerful; both a responsibility and a thrilling challenge.

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Gloria and Trick-or-Treating

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Jennie

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Last night Gloria was invited to go trick-or-treating.  There was no doubt in the child’s mind that she would be a cow, a baby cow.  She rode in the stroller with his little sister.  He just knew that was the right costume for Gloria.  He was right.  Not only did Gloria go trick-or-treating, she was part of the family’s Diwali celebration over the weekend.  And, she was welcomed into the family with big arms.

Few moments within the classroom leave me searching for the words that are deep enough to tell the story.  Gloria does that.

Years ago, Erin asked to take Gloria home for the weekend and include her in trick-or-treating.  What a surprise!  This was a first for Gloria.  What happened next was a page-turner for me:  On the following day, Erin’s mother arrived at school very upset.  Her words went something like this:

“Jennie, I just don’t understand people (she stamped her foot).  It was so frustrating last night.  Everyone kept asking me why a witch was dressed up like Minnie Mouse.  I kept telling them she is not a witch.  They didn’t get it.  They just didn’t understand!”

It never occurred to Erin and her mom that Gloria was anything but a person, and a shy person.  Since then, Gloria has been trick-or treating many times.  She has been a dragon, a pumpkin, a lamb… years of different costumes alongside children and their families.

Over the years children have come to embrace Gloria as a true friend.  They see her for what she is, deep down inside, not for how she looks.  She has become a role model because every day children play with her, unconsciously accepting and including.  They care for her.

In years to come, children in my class will be humanitarians, thanks to Gloria.

Jennie

Posted in Diversity, Kindness, Teaching young children, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Comments

Storytelling: A Halloween Story

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Jennie

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Storytelling is, and has always been, the foundation for language and learning.  I write about children, yet storytelling applies to all people.  Words and ideas are how we start to learn, and how we continue to learn.

Everybody loves a good, gripping story.  I am the storyteller at school, and all my stories are true- things that happened to me in my childhood.  A pretend story starts with Once Upon a Time.  A true story starts with It Happened Like This.

Whenever I say the words, “It happened like this”, children are captivated.  They know it is a ‘Jennie Story’ and a true story.  Best of all, they are getting far more words and language into their brains because storytelling has no pictures.

This is “The Halloween Story”.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  Children beg for this story even in the summer.

“It Happened Like This”… When I was eight years old I went trick-or-treating with my little sister, Sarah.  Back then children went trick-or-treating alone.  There were no Moms or Dads.  And, we never went out until it was really dark.  All the way dark.  I dressed up as Raggedy Ann and Sarah dressed up as a scarecrow (although she looked more like a hobo than a scarecrow).  We each had a pillow case to collect all the candy which we called our ‘loot’.  We were so excited!

Then my mother said, “Jennie, don’t forget to go trick-or-treating at Mrs.  Crotty’s house.”  Mrs. Crotty!  She was really old.  She always looked mean and she never smiled.  Her house was dark brick with big bushes and trees everywhere.  Everything was always dark.  Her house was as old as she was.

I said nothing to my mother.

Sarah and I headed out trick-or-treating.  We had the best time!  We got tons of candy, too.  When we got back home we dumped our pillowcases out on the rug in the den and sorted through all the candy.  I gave Sarah all my Tootsie Roll Pops and she gave me all her Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.  Yum!

Then my mother said, “Did you go trick-or-treating at Mrs. Crotty’s?”  I had forgotten, of course.  When I heard her words I felt like a lightening bolt had hit me while I was falling off a roller coaster.  Again she said, “Well, did you go to Mrs. Crotty’s house?”  All I could do was look down and shake my head.  My mother was not happy!  She said, “Jennie, I told you to go.  So take your sister’s hand and go right now”.

I took Sarah’s hand and we went back outside together.  Now it was really dark and trick-or-treat was over.  There were no lights on at anyone’s house.  We slowly walked to Mrs. Crotty’s house.  As we turned the sidewalk and walked up her walkway I squeezed Sarah’s hand and she squeezed mine.  I was so scared.  We got to Mrs. Crotty’s porch which was pitch black and surrounded by weird branches.  As we approached the front door I said to my sister, “You knock.”  “Oh, no” she said, “Mother told you to do it.”  So, I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

A moment later I heard the door slowly creak open.  Just as I was ready to run away, the lights came on and there stood Mrs. Crotty, smiling.  I’d never seen her smile before.  She said, “Hi Jennie.  Hi Sarah.  Come in.”  We stepped inside the door.  “Wait right there!”  We didn’t move.  She ran to the back of the house and returned with two gigantic popcorn balls, covered in melted butter and caramel.  They were still warm.  Yum!

And I was so afraid.  Silly me.

Jennie

P.S.  This is a popular ‘Jennie story’ in my classroom.  Happy Halloween!

Posted in Early Education, storytelling, Teaching young children, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 21 Comments

Abraham Lincoln’s Famous Letter to His Son’s Teacher

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Jennie
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Picture Books, Humor & Vocabulary

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Jennie

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Author Ryan T. Higgins is hysterical. I mean unexpected, fall-down-laughing hysterical. His two children’s books are favorites in my classroom.  The storyline is a grumpy old bear who likes eggs, and what happens is imaginative and funny.  I read Mother Bruce to all my fellow staff at school and they laughed, out-of-control laughing.  It was hard to rein them in.

Here’s the twist; Mother Bruce and Hotel Bruce appeal to both children and adults. That makes it a delightful read for parents and their children.  I remember watching The Muppets on TV with our kids.  This show appealed to both children and adults (the two old men in the balcony is a case in point).  Therefore, families watched it together.  If a book is good enough to appeal to both, that’s a brass ring.  Parents will want to read the book aloud, and children will benefit from far more than just a good story.

That benefit is vocabulary!

This is the single most important item to ensure that a child will succeed in all subject areas in school.  All areas!  The more words a child hears, the better s/he will do in school.  Period.  Wow!

That fact changed my life in teaching.

I have always loved reading books to children, and then I took the next step; I made sure books in the classroom were front-facing, I read stories with a passion, stopping at every ‘new word’.  That was brilliant.  We looked up those words in the dictionary (yes, in the middle of reading the story).  I read a story at least twice a day, and also whenever a child wanted to read.

Yes, they wanted to read.  Books were everywhere in my classroom.  The more we read together, the more we wanted to read.  And, the better the children performed.  Morning Meetings became long, sometimes over fifteen minutes, because we had important things to learn- geography, math, science experiments, instruments, famous artists, poetry… there was so much to learn and reading books gave children the focus and vocabulary to absorb it all.

That is powerful and cements why I do what I do.

The vocabulary words in Mother Bruce and Bruce Hotel that children were eager to learn are: victim, stern, pesky, migration, creative, reluctantly, hibernate, rodents, commotion, and translator.  My children are three and four years old.  I doubt many children of this age learn these words.

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Thank you Ryan T. Higgins for quality literature that appeals to all ages.  Good literature is my tool to make a difference.

Jennie

Posted in Early Education, reading aloud, Teaching young children, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

Two Blog Awards

Posted on October 23, 2016 by Jennie

the-versatile-blogger-awardThank you to my good friend and happy blogger Nina over at The Happy Life – http://www.thehappylife101.wordpress.com – for nominating me for the Versatile Blog Award.  I am honored!  The rules are to list seven random facts about yourself, and of course to thank the blogger who nominated you.  Thank you, Nina.  Although I am supposed to tag other bloggers, that is like picking just one cat, as in the classic book Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag; an impossible task with so many lovely bloggers who write beautifully.  Please visit Nina’s fabulous blog site!

Here are seven random facts about me:

  • I hate most cooked vegetables.
  • I am patriotic.
  • I prefer summer to winter, and country to city.
  • My love for children drives my life.
  • I love puzzles and I Spy books.
  • I love old movies.
  • I play the auto harp at school, and if I see a piano in public I search for someone who can play the top part to “Heart and Soul” while I play the bottom part.

Three Quote Challenge

Thank you to JD Fisher over at http://www.jfisher8404.wordpress.com and to Rashmi for nominating me for the Three Quote Challenge Blog Award.  Here are three of my favorite quotes:

“Creativity is intelligence having fun”  Albert Einstein

“One child, one teacher, one book, 0ne person can change the world”  Malala Yousafzai

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched.  They must be felt with the heart”  Helen Keller

Jennie

Posted in Early Education, Kindness, Peace | Tagged , , , , | 21 Comments