Although we are not in school today, I thought it would be fun to share a little listening and drawing challenge! This challenge is optional, but it gives boys and girls a good chance to practice some of our early literacy skills from class!
Our listening challenge: listen to the story Felicity Floo.
You can find this story on tumblebooks by:
copying and pasting this link in to your browser
https://calgarylibrary.ca/read-learn-and-explore/digital-library/tumblebook-library/
click on "Access TumbleBook Library" (close to the bottom):
then search for "Felicity Floo Visits the Zoo"
Have your child listen to the story. Listening more than once is ok too!
Ask your child these questions:
1. Who works at the zoo?
2. Why is he so worried?
3. How did the animals get sick?
4. What can you do so that you do not get sick like Felicity Floo? (You can even practice washing your hands together!)
After discussing the story, ask:
"What was your favourite part?"
- brainstorm together some of the different parts of the story
- rewatch and name some of the animals
- pick 1 part that is your favourite.
Draw:
Have your child draw their favourite part of the story. In Kindergarten, we always remember to use shapes (such as circles, squares, rectangles, semi-circles, ovals, etc) when drawing.
Here are a few examples of how I would use shapes to draw some of the animals/characters:
Here is an example of my favourite part:
After drawing, have your child try to write some words. REMEMBER, in kindergarten, our writing all looks different. Some children are learning how to listen and label their pictures, others are writing the first sound that they hear in a word, others are listening for the beginning and dominant sounds they hear in words, and some are listening for lots of sounds and using finger spaces between their words.
For example you might see:
My favorit part was wen the zookepr felt confuzd.
or:
Mi favrt pt wz the zkpr flt cd.
or:
Mfpwdzfc.
or
ehteohworwheowho (random letters)
No matter where your child is, it is important to encourage them to try their best. When they are done, they can share their picture and writing with you. You can model for them after how you would write those words. I like to remind the boys and girls that I have been writing for a long time, so I have learned how to listen for lots of sounds and add finger spaces.
When your child is done, you can even encourage them to reflect on their work. Here is a sample of our writing rubric that helps us know what good writers do. Students can select where they think they are on the target. After congratulating them, you can give them a few pointers on how they could really nail that target next time. For example, "I like how you used colours that make sense for your picture. I see some white spaces, next time lets colour using little little lines." or "You did such a great job listening for sounds, next time you can try and add some finger spaces."
I hope that you enjoy this listening and writing time with your child! It is one of my favourite times to listen and work with kinders!
