1. Our Gift to You: Small Poems of Some Delight

	Bugs I am very fond of bugs. I kiss them And I give them hugs. Karla Kuskin
From “I Can Read” Poetry Anthology “Small Poems of Some Delight” ©1993 (See online bookstore)

We encourage you to give children the most delightful language we speak – poetry. Letter the words on language charts for shared reading. Invite children to memorize, recite, perform, and read the words; give them time to illustrate individual poetry pages. Gather the pages into individual "I Can Read" notebooks. This is a powerful tool to simultaneously build oral language and reading fluency.

Children illustrate their poetry pages

Our poetry gift to you: All year we have added small poems, songs, and rhymes to our free monthly, themed collections. We now have over 200 copyright-secured (or public domain) 8½" x 11", enlarged print, poetry, and song pages. They are ready for you to view, download, and use in celebrating language and accelerating literacy. See December Poetry Collection.

The well-loved copyrighted poems that we are not able to legally give you are available from our online collection of poetry at our online bookstore. (We pay royalties on these poems so you can legally make copies year after year!)

Poetry Notebooks: Small investment, big benefits!

• Memorizing short poems provides powerful support for English Language Development, phonemic awareness, reading fluency and high-frequency words – and parents love them!
• Personal “I Can Read” Poetry Notebooks are children’s choice for “read to self” time.
• Poetry and songs invite the use of imagery, drama, movement, and American Sign Language to enhance and extend comprehension and vocabulary.
• When poetry notebooks go home for weekly sharing, parents become partners in the literacy process.
• Children’s art personalizes the rhyme and creates pride and ownership of the reading selections.
• The Poetry Notebook is an ongoing literacy collection; by the end of the year it becomes a treasured book to reread and recite over the summer with fluency and delight. (Some teachers choose to send home several smaller seasonal collections of songs and poems instead of one large notebook.)

Photo Essay: How to Develop Poetry ("I Can Read") Notebooks
Kindergarten Poetry "I Can Read" Notebooks— Sample Parent Letter

 “Pretty things, well said, it’s nice to have them in your head.” – Robert Frost

2. For Your Winter Language Celebration: Perform Songs in American Sign Language

See Kindergarten Performance: ABC Phonics Sing, Sign, and Read! by Nellie Edge

A performance that includes songs about love and friendship provides a wonderful parent evening any time of the year. You Are My Sunshine; May There Always Be Sunshine;
L-O-V-E Spells Love; Magic Penny (Love is something if you give it away…); I Love the Mountains; Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; See Me Beautiful; and What a Wonderful World have been performed with singing and American Sign Language (ASL) to appreciative parent audiences – even earning standing ovations for the young performers. Here you see Kathy Bridges’ kindergartners singing and signing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

See ASL instructional videos and literacy extensions:

• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
• The Pledge of Allegiance
• I Love the Mountains
• ABC Phonics: Full tutorial

“What a Wonderful World”, “See Me Beautiful”, “You Are My Sunshine”, and other copyright secured performance songs are only available from The Magic of Signing Songs Distance Learning Seminar Manuals, DVDs, and ASL Guides, and Anthology Sets. (See Online Bookstore.)

2012 Seminars

We are (tentatively) scheduling the Magic of Signing Songs Seminar–just one more time–this summer in Salem, Oregon, July 30. Details will be available in January, 2012.

“This seminar has made a powerful difference in my classroom…”

• No previous sign language experience is necessary. We limit this one-day seminar to 75 participants. Registration and scholarship details will be available on our website in January 2012.
• New kindergarten teacher (1st or 2nd year) scholarships are available.
• NBCT scholarships are also available for summer seminars.

3. Parents as Partners: Literacy Gift Ideas

Families often appreciate simple, inexpensive gift ideas that provide “scope for the imagination”*

• Colored balls of Play Dough (see recipe) packaged together on a tray with popsicle sticks, plastic animals, or kitchen utensils
• Old dress-up clothes (ask Aunties and Grandparents to help gather)
• Recycled paper, old cards, envelopes, and pens gathered into a writing tote

For more information see:

• Literacy Gift Ideas
• Parents as Partners
• Colored Playdough Picture Recipe
• Tips on Using Playdough
• ABC Phonics: Sing, Sign, and Read! book and CD by Nellie Edge now available at amazon.com

The preceding information is from our literacy manual Parents as Partners in Kindergarten and Early Literacy: Family Connections that Multiply our Teaching Effectiveness. We are updating this manual to include a CD of parent letters and information pages. It will be available again in January, 2012.

*Anne of Green Gables fans will recognize this phrase...

Encourage Families to Sing Together

We often tell parents, "learning many songs ‘by heart' is the most joyful way to develop the language foundation necessary for successful reading and writing." We have attached our choice of children's CDs; please add your favorites and share them with families. Notice that most of these are traditional folk songs and delightful new "classics" that are sung at a comfortable pace, so children can more easily internalize the sounds and rhythms of the English or Spanish language.

Recommended Children’s CDs for Language Learning and Family Singing

See our Online Bookstore with free shipping on orders of $100.00 or more through December 10, 2011.

4. The Giving Tree: Let Families Know How to Thank You

Throughout the year Parents, Grandparents, and even appreciative Aunties and Uncles love to contribute to a joyful kindergarten classroom. All we need to do is find a gracious way of letting them know what our needs and wishes are. Innovative teachers have displayed drawings of trees with detachable apples or hearts with a need/classroom item written on each. No wall space? Use a small topiary plant with hearts attached.

Think about what you wish you had to enhance your program and be very specific about where parents can purchase these or how to make them:

• Bird Nests and photos of birds
• Teaching Peace CD by Red Grammer (see amazon.com)
• Four white Bounty Paper Towels (Costco)
• A set of 50 blank folded books (We have the 12" X 17" paper and a folded book pattern for you) See How to Make Folded Books

For more information see: The Kindergarten Giving Tree

5. I Can Read. Listen to Me.

actual size

We are pleased to once again have our “I Can Read. Listen to Me.” stamp available.

You may recognize the image from the last page of our best-selling Nellie Edge Read and Sing Big Book™, I Can Read Colors.

This belief statement is our goal for children and they love stamping it on the last page of our Read and Sing Little Books, or their own illustrated little books.

These stamps are not mass-produced overseas; they are made by our friend, Mike Collins, ten at a time, in his sign shop in Michigan. Our “designer stamp” is an expensive but precious affirmation for children in joyful writing-to-read classrooms. As a gift to you, there is no mark-up on this item; we offer it to you at our direct cost from the producer. Happy Stamping! N.E.

6. All Kindergartners Love to Write: I love you!

Reflections on a Lesson: Twenty Kindergarten Boys And Five Girls Write Secret “I Love You” Messages To Take Home And Hide

“I love you” may not be considered beginning writing in some kindergartens, but why not? Our approach to kindergarten-friendly handwriting teaches these three high-frequency “heart words” in a multisensory and meaningful way to children, complementing their daily “kid-writing” experiences and building on efficient handwriting practice and with the “Name Tickets.”

In many Joyful Writing-to-Read Kindergartens, children begin writing from the first few days of school. “I love you” are three of the most emotionally engaging words in the English language, so these become a part of our beginning writing-to-ready vocabulary. Our kindergarten-friendly handwriting is embedded in meaning-centered—and often playful—activities using songs, chants, sign language, large body movement patterns, and dances. We expect fluency! Children are skillfully instructed using all of the educational arts so that diverse learners can all instantly read, write, and spell these words…

Read entire article: Reflections on a Lesson

See photo essay: Writing-to-Read Kindergartens: I love you!

This is one of the many lesson strategies we will share at our upcoming Writing-to-Read Workshop. See workshop invitation.

7. Salem Kindergarten Cadre News: Engaging Young Authors: February 18

Plan ahead for the all-day Saturday Workshop

Writing-to-Read Accelerates Literacy: All Kindergartners Love to Write and Draw

Literacy Manual available in February 2012 at our online bookstore.

by Nellie Edge and colleagues

Saturday, February 18, 2012 at McKinley Elementary in Salem, Oregon
Apply for Professional Development Funding November 28-December 8, 2011.

See workshop invitation.

Because writing and the Common Core State Standards are the focus for this year’s kindergarten professional development, your principal or literacy coach should be very supportive!

• We promise you will come away with practical strategies that you can use right away—even in a large kindergarten class!
• Request professional development funding through the district between November 28, 2011 and December 9, 2011.

If you need assistance with this process, please contact Janis Wurgler, Jodi Crowe, or your school literacy coach. If you have questions about the workshop email info@nellieedge.com.

Thank you for being teachers who honor childhood and reach for excellence in early literacy.

Smiles!
Nellie Edge