Report Writing!

We have started a new genre of writing in Writer's Workshop! 

We have started nonfiction/report writing! Woo hoo! It gives us a chance to cover lots of science, and also learn about animals. Kids love animals. So it's a high interest theme :) 

Each day, we learn about an animal by reading a nonfiction book together. Then the children write simple sentences about the animal. It's a great way for them to practice the skill of independently writing, because the format is easy to understand. They write one thing about how the animal looks, one thing about how it moves, one thing about where it lives, and one thing about what it eats. Before they know it, your child has written four sentences! 

Your child's writing may look like gibberish- but it's not! They are all at different stages of writing development. Most of the children are now writing phonetically (writing words they way they sound). That is AWESOME for this time of the year! Seriously. Please don't be stressed about incorrect spelling, the spelling will improve as the year progresses and they become better readers. Praise them for sounding out the words to write! That is a difficult combination of many skills we've been learning (concepts of print , alphabet knowledge, letter formation, AND phonemic awareness). Ask them to read their writing to you- soon you, too , can become fluent in  "kindergarten." :)

If you have any interesting pets- snakes, rabbits, iguanas, etc., and are interested in bringing them to our room, please let me know!  As scientists and writers, we can learn a lot to write about by observing an animal.

Guest Blogger!

I have a rather long post that I've been working on and hope to finish tomorrow. But in the meantime-

My aunt, Leigh Jones, recently stopped by our classroom. Aunt Leigh is a nationally recognized journalist- she's been a writer for Reuters and is currently an editor for the National Law Journal (I'm a little proud of her!). Anyway, she asked if she could write a guest blog- and I was honored to have her do it!

My name is Leigh Jones, and I am Miss Cramer’s aunt. I recently visited Miss Cramer’s class, when I was in Edmond to see my family for Thanksgiving. I had such a memorable experience at Northern Hills Elementary that I wanted to write a post about it on the “Miss Cramer’s Kindergarten Class” blog. She was kind enough to let me.

The afternoon I spent with Miss Cramer and her class of “friends” made me nostalgic for my former career as a teacher—I taught middle and high school English before I became a journalist. I also was reminded of my own elementary school years and all the caring, patient teachers who taught me to love learning. 
I saw that same love of learning in her students on the afternoon of Nov. 26, when I visited her classroom as they were returning from recess and lunch. They were amazing little people, with precious smiles and wide eyes taking in the instructions from their teacher about the afternoon’s activities. 

While I was there, they were busy reading books, working on spelling and moving throughout the different activity centers in the classroom. 

I don’t have kids of my own, and I haven’t spent much time with groups of small children, so the afternoon was unfamiliar territory for me. I had never seen such tiny chairs! 

But I do know this: The future is under construction in those classrooms at Northern Hills. And knowing that, I have much for which to be thankful.