Teaching a kinder to read

1. Today I had a major break through. Or at least, I feel like I had a major break through. The class was instructed to practice some silent reading in the classroom. In our room, silent reading does not mean that you cannot talk. In fact the students are encouraged to talk amongst each other about what they are reading or to help each other sounds out some words. One of the little girls in my class was looking at the clipboards and when I told her that clipboards did not have any words on them and that you could not read them she replied, “but I don’t know how to read!” This nearly broke my heart so I told her that I would show her a little trick. We started reading a book called My Dad and I taught her how to look at the pictures and interpret the story. We talked about what clues might help us learn what is going on and how to use our mind and really think about the story. When we got through that book I felt like she kind of understood but that I was still “reading” the story to her. I asked her to pick out a book of her choice and read the pictures to me. She picked out The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This was a book that was familiar to her so she went right into it. She was able to tell me about all the different kinds of food that the caterpillar ate and how he got a stomachache. She told me that the caterpillar ate through a leaf and then he became huge. He wrapped himself up and just like a magic trick, he turned into a butterfly. I was so proud of her that I could honestly feel my heart growing larger and glowing inside. She did it! I was so amazed that within just 10 minutes a little girl went from “not knowing how to read” to reading me a book by herself. Granted, she did not read the words, but she pointed to them and was able to tell the story to me through the illustrations. We talked about how sometimes pictures can give us clues to what is going on. I asked her why she liked books and she told me in multiple words that she enjoys learning about the funny things that happen to the animals. I informed her that now she can learn about the funny things that happen to the animals in books by reading the pictures.