building independence

In our classroom the children have copies of a sight word library in their writing folders, access to a large sight word library, and differentiated libraries in their reading baskets. Continued teaching of how to use these tools supports all of the children in being independent learners. In the Kindergarten classroom it is important to remind and reteach, inviting children to explain to their peers how to use tools and strategies! We have been playing "find the word..." with our sight word libraries and using our large library to fill in the missing sight words in a class piece.

An important goal for all of the children is to be independent- to be problem solvers, access the tools we have in our environment, and use their developing strategies with confidence. It is essential to recognize and celebrate children's growing independence in all aspects of our learning and classroom engagement.