In a kindergarten classroom, make sure that your decorations are big, bright and educational. Pepper your walls with large, colorful posters that children will revisit daily, including the days of the week, month names, clocks, direction terms and names of colors. Set up word walls that can be changed weekly to reflect current curriculum. Leave several blank bulletin boards to showcase student work. With the increased focus on collaborative, or group, learning, organize student desks into groups of four or five. Choose a space on the floor where you conduct “Circle Time” activities, which may include read-aloud and show-and-tell sessions. Because literacy will become a significant part of the kindergarten year, make sure you have a reasonable classroom library, including fiction and nonfiction pieces that match the wide range of kindergarten reading levels.
Because many kindergartners have little concept of reading or writing, everything you do must be modeled. Never assume your class understands oral directions. Walk students step-by-step through any directions you give, pairing your words with actions. You may have to model the task several times before most of your students understand. Give directions slowly. Check for understanding by asking questions to review your instructions. If the task is complicated, break it down into several parts, assuring that the entire class has completed a certain section before proceeding to the next.
Before tackling any academic instruction, establish a set of routines and procedures for even the most basic tasks. Communicate what you expect by modeling how students should enter the classroom, line up, behave during fire drills, hand in work, use the bathroom or water fountain, get the teacher’s attention and clean up at the end of the day. The first week of kindergarten should be dedicated to learning these procedures. If you teach procedures well, your class will run smoothly, and you have less behavioral problems because students know exactly what is expected of them and what is not tolerated. Allow students to repeat procedures until you are satisfied with their performance.
Young students enjoy lessons that appeal to their auditory and tactile senses. Use music as much as possible in your directions. Effective teachers use chants, songs and body movements -- not yelling -- to direct students to certain activities such as cleaning up or getting into line.
Incorporating auditory and tactile stimulation to your teaching technique provides other modes of reaching students and aid in learning and memory formation. Nursery rhymes, which introduce younger learners to poetry and the relationship between letters and sounds, help with literacy instruction. Teaching students movements or hand signals at the same time solidifies abstract concepts in any subject.
All students benefit from instruction in small-group settings. Use small-group instruction to work on literacy and math concepts. Small groups allow you to pinpoint weaknesses in each of your students and provide appropriate feedback. Because your students will exhibit different levels of learning, group them according to instructional levels to tailor instruction. Do not think of these groups as static because the needs of students may change upon assessment and teacher observation and evaluation.
While you are working with a small group, have the rest of the class engage in educational activities at learning centers placed around the room. At each station, ensure all materials are present to prevent chaos. Students should understand that during this time, you do not want to be interrupted; therefore, clearly establish procedures for each station and practice them thoroughly before allowing students to participate. Examples of learning centers include listening stations to hear books on tape, math stations that use models to understand concepts and phonics centers in which students connect tiles to create words. Stations rotate every 20 minutes to prevent boredom and allow the teacher to work with everyone. Learning-station activities may change from week to week and usually correspond to the subject focused on in small-group instruction.