Mid-AR Summary

Data Collection:

-Class books:  I have my students create a page to add to a class book on a specific topic.  The sentence is started for them and then they need to write one or more words to finish it.  Also, they need to draw a picture too.  Last year, I had my class write the word first, then draw/color picture.  Some students really had a hard time with coming up with an idea.  This year I have them draw the picture first then add words to their sentence.  I feel like the students are wanting to draw and are coming up with ideas right away to start to draw.  I will be using these books to follow the students growth with their drawing skills and writing skills.

-Drawing & Writing Books:  I have only had my students draw in these books once so far.  The students love having their own drawing book!  They went where they wanted to work in the classroom and drew for about 15-20 minutes which is a long time for Kindergartner's to stay on one topic!  They were able to draw what they wanted but needed to add details and if they were drawing people, they could not use a stick figure.  I did have quite a few still draw with stick figures so I learned that we need more lessons on drawing people.  I had a student describe their drawing to me and he was able to tell me about his story using pictures and I was able to tell what he had drawn to go along with his story.

-Teacher Observations:  Drawing-I have seen improvement on the students coloring ability with using realistic colors to color real objects and taking time to add details to their pictures.  I have also seen their excitement when I talk about drawing as well.  Storytelling-many students want to have the chance to share a story during storytelling time or during our read aloud time too.  They are telling stories with a beginning, middle and end too!  Some still need reminders or for others to ask questions to clarify but we are working on it!

I do need to make more time for the students to draw in their Drawing & Writing books.  Hopefully I will be able to incoporate holiday projects into their books.