Kindergarten Picture Dictionarty

There are many fun ways to explore literacy skills development in kindergarten.  One of the activities we engage in is called Picture Dictionary.  Every Tuesday and Thursday, we are visited by Susan Niescier, who is a Literacy Specialist from Montgomery County.  When she is in our classroom on Tuesday, half the students work with her doing fun activities to strengthen reading and writing skills.  The other half join their teachers to work on their Picture Dictionaries, and on Thursday we switch groups.  This activity highlights many of the important teaching and learning techniques that we use in kindergarten.  We often design activities that are collaborative, fun, and student centered.

Each week we work on a new letter.  The students write each letter in upper and lowercase, and then,  they generate their own ideas about which words begin with that letter.  They choose three words and proceed to draw pictures.  Then they have to sound out the word and write it next to the picture.  After they have completed these three steps, they tell us the definition of each word and we write the definitions on their page.  This activity develops handwriting/fine motor, phonemic awareness, and expressive language skills.

The students love this activity.  They are quick to begin brainstorming words, and we are able to work with them in small groups.  By giving the students individual attention, we are able to scaffold their skills development more effectively.  Cultivating a love of learning is an essential keystone in our kindergarten curriculum.