Monitoring Self-Portrait & Name Writing Progress for Pre-K Students

First, I would like to thank you all for the amazing response to last week's post, my classroom virtual tour.  I must say I have been incredibly humbled and appreciative of the kind feedback.  Hearing how you plan to use my ideas in your own classrooms makes all my efforts worthwhile.  There are a lot of great teachers out there and it's been wonderful to hear from you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!! 

And now for my apologies....between my 6 year-old’s birthday celebration and presenting at the State Speech and Hearing Conference, last week really got away from me.  No regrets though!  You only celebrate a sixth birthday once and the KSHA conference was outstanding.  I was honored to be invited to present and meet so many passionate SLPs. 

That said, like many working mothers out there, I over committed last week.  Frankly, six years into this dual mother/teacher role, I still struggle to find balance between my professional passions and family commitments. As a result, my plans for this week's post have changed.  I had planned to share how direct instruction is set up and operates in my classroom. 

Instead, this week I will share a simpler (less time-consuming) tip I discovered while monitoring and managing progress of student's self-portrait drawings.  As you may remember, last winter I shared how we break up drawing ourselves into steps via a visual task analysis.  Essentially, we have the students draw themselves each month and track their progress by hanging the drawings in page protectors above our library center.  By adding a signature box on the self-portrait template, you can also use this strategy to track progress of name writing.  

Teacher's Template:  You can access my self-portrait template here.  The smiley face inside the signature box is a visual to help the kids know where to start printing their name.  This feature came from Handwriting without Tears.  (Note: In the examples below, I have cropped out the children’s names.)

Here's the update I made this year.  Before I ask the students to draw a body part, I model it on my own paper.  Each body part is drawn in a different color, so we can accurately gage progress or share specific interpretations with parents and staff. I simply staple my copy to the back of the students' copy.  Take a look at the provided examples.

Even at the lowest student drawing level, do you see the resemblance between my model and the student's multi-colored model?? 

I used to have the students draw in one color and then write on their drawing the names of the each body part. That method took more time and didn't communicate each month's progress as effectively.

Last year's method

The new color-coded approach has worked much better.  As my students get better at drawing themselves, I will change it up and model drawing two or three body parts in one color. Then, I'll ask them to draw those two or three body parts all at once.  It will show their improvement in following two and three step directions, as well as monitor their drawing progress.  

Our ultimate goal is to have an adult draw an entire body self-portrait then have the students draw their own independently at their desks.  It may take quite some time to get to this point, but at least we can monitor their monthly progress.  As you all know, in this field it's important to celebrate the small steps! 

(Extra Credit: While drafting this post, I also realized you could use the same concept when the students practice writing their names by using a different color marker or pencil for each letter.)
 

Thanks for visiting this week.  Stay tuned for next week's post when I'll show you how we work on improving fine motor, attention, writing skills and so much more through direct instruction as I love the way it is set up this year and I think you'll enjoy it too!! 

Task Box Countdown: Task Box #2 - The Bubble Gum Machine Fun

My Top 10 Task Box Countdown began last week with "TaskBox #1: Academic Sensory Bags".  This week we move onto an excellent multi-purpose task box, The Bubble Gum Machine.

My students often get tired of the same old task boxes. Even though they may not have mastered the skills being practiced in the task, it gets old working on the same task over and over.  Other times students master a skill when presented in a specific context, but have difficulty using the skill in a different capacity. Needless to say, I am always looking for new ways to work on the same concepts.  Teacher’s Tip:  When creating task boxes for the classroom, think of ways to make your materials fit more than one skill. You’ll get more bang for your buck!!!  

For example, this week I found these small bubble gum machines for a dollar at Dollartree.  Simply add some fuzzy pom-poms and you have a motivating and unique assortment of tasks.

Activity #1 - Basic Counting Task:  Add number flash cards and you have a counting game.  Instructor's Insight: Add sticker dots to your flash cards and you have a way to work on one-to-one correspondence.  Or if you put the sticker dots on the back, they can be used for the more complex skill of self-checking. 

Activity #2 - Advanced Counting Task:  Put several different colors of pom-poms in one machine and have your students count how many of each color.  For a higher-level challenge, use this template to increase the task’s complexity. 

Activity #3 - Fine Motor Skills Task:  Add an ice cube tray & tongs and you have a unique fine motor skill building activity.

Activity #4 - Non Verbal Task:  If you have nonverbal students or students who do not know their colors yet, you can use this aided language page.  The students can match or point to the colors as they draw them from their bubble gum machine. 

If you are playing the game with a student who is at a higher-level and already knows how to sort and name colors, ask him/her to graph the colors he/she and their friends draw from the bubble gum machine using this graph template.   

Language-Aid Page

Activity #5 - Taking Turns:  Lastly,  add a "Take 1" fabric bag or container for a turn-taking practice game.  

A "Take 1" bag or container is just a little fabric bag or container with the phrase “Take 1” written on it.  I make them to use in our classroom to practice selecting only one item.  Often times when students are asked to take one item from a bowl or bag of items, they grab a   handful.  By using the take one bag we can work on the skill of taking one, and all support staff will remember to prompt with the term "take one" as it is printed on the bag.  Instructor's Insight:  If a student is having trouble with the concept of taking one, I will only put one item in the bag or container to make their selection errorless. 

To use the "Take 1" bag in The Bubble Gum Machine Game, you would simply have the students take turns taking one pom pom out of the bag, name the color they pulled, and then  put it into the correspondingly-colored gum ball machine.  Or add several different colored pom-poms into the bag.  Have the student draw only one pom, identify its color, and place it in the bubble gum machine.

There you have it .... five activities for the price of one!  And to think, I almost passed up purchasing these bubble gum machines because I thought it was too much storage for one simple sorting activity.  

Extra credit:  A great app that goes along with the same idea of sorting gum balls is Candy Count - Learn Colors & Numbers. 

Post Updates - Thanksgiving Feast, Recorded Webinar, & Gift Templates

I think it is really important that I give you all feedback some of my earlier posts.  In that frame of mind, here are some recent updates.

• Results from our Thanksgiving Trail Mix Feast:  All the students were able to participate to the best of their abilities. Check out the cute bags we made for the party on my Facebook page. The circles were made with the help of Creatable Learning Concepts and their innovative shapes that support cutting: they are magnetic to hold the paper in place:) Thanks Jane and Katie for finding them for me.
• A full recording of the my recent webinar "Modifications in an Early Childhood Classroom" can be found here.  (Please note that it has to be viewed on Safari for MAC users, and Google Chrome for PC users.)  Again, many thanks to the Technical Assistance Support Network (TASN) for hosting the event and asking me to present.
• And in response to popular demand, here are the gift tag templates from my Homemade Gift Ideas post:  Blown from the Heart Ornament, Blown from the Heart - Adapted Version, Tree-mendous Christmas Tree, Loving Candy Canes

Has Considerate Classroom sparked an idea for your classroom or home?  I always love to hear your stories and adaptions to my posts!