Keeping Engagement Alive!

Teaching kindergarten in a global pandemic presents its own challenges: many students do not have the acquaintances of their  new classmates and the fact that they NEED to have hands-on academic experiences.

My kindergarten team planned all summer for these challenges. We decided to provide supply and material boxes for each student that would be filled each week with the necessary materials for instruction.  Each student has 2 boxes; one with them at home that has the current materials, and the other filled with the next week's materials to be exchanged at the school each Friday.

A Donors Choose grant helped me purchase my boxes and some supplies. Below is a photo of this current week's materials: a new writing journal (our second one), our current sight words, a sight word grid, our current letter/sound cards, a project for each of those sounds, a Scholastic magazine reader about leaves, a counting reader, a Fall leaf recording page, a papier-mâché leaf art project (with a small container of starch and paintbrush included), a 20 Rekenrek we will build together, and a weekly calendar and asynchronous work log. Most of these items will stay with the student, but some things I request returned, such as the small container that can be reused.

The students return their empty boxes on Fridays and exchange them for their new ones.  The boxes are left on the kindergarten patio so parents can come at their convenience during the day.  If a box is left over at the end of the day, I will deliver it to their doorstep that same day.  It is important that my students have their materials ready for the next week. It is rare that I deliver a box.

Over the course of the first trimester, students have collected materials that we use often during our virtual learning sessions.  They have a math tool kit (left) and an ELA tool kit (below).

Daily, I record a video and post via Class Dojo in our Class Stories the materials they will need for that day. I post it about an hour before our session begins. My students always have their materials at the ready.  I tell them they should be watching it themselves to be prepared for class (Be Responsible). I keep my own set of materials just like my students so I know exactly what they have and I model where to return each item so they can find it in the future.

I have received numerous comments from parents about how they appreciate the organization and materials that keep their child engaged online.  My students are always excited to get their new boxes to see what we'll be doing.  We even do painting projects every other week (the paint goes home in the small containers).

Here was a "Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate" STEM Challenge and below is our culminating project of carving our pumpkins with shape features after a whole week of pumpkin exploration (measuring, comparing, describing, sink or float, writing about, counting the seeds, etc...)

This is definitely A LOT of work with planning and preparing, but my team and my parents make it work.  Not once have I had a parent complain about having to come get their box. 

Our students deserve it!  I surely hope this post has inspired to think outside of your proverbial box on how you can keep the engagement alive with your students during virtual learning/teaching!

Happy (Virtual) Teaching!

Erin Grebel