My TK students are incredible. They are a diverse group of five-year-olds who love to learn, play, and read. They come from a variety of neighborhoods around Oakland and we focus daily on how important our local community is in our lives. For many students, this is their first year of school. For almost all, it is the first time they have been in a full day classroom with curriculum, older kids nearby, and elementary school expectations. It is a scary and exciting time for all of us! We work every day to strengthen our social-emotional skills and learn the building blocks to be successful, compassionate citizens of our local and global communities.
My Project
In California, Transitional Kindergarten does not yet have a Common Core curriculum. That means that the curriculum is teacher-made, and I use picture books as the starting point for all of our lessons so they are engaging and approachable.
We want a curriculum that is diverse, inclusive, and helps young students learn social-emotional skills at the start of their educational journey!
This means that we need books to explore identity, family, community, holidays, and social justice. In Oakland, it is essential for students to see themselves reflected in the books we read. Reading stories that they love and identify with helps support their emotional growth and provides their first steps into literacy.
Expanding our classroom library is a critical tool to help TK students succeed. We read at least three books a day and students have silent reading time to explore the worlds inside these books. Help grow our classroom library to be as wonderful and diverse as the students reading these stories!
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