Volume 21, Number 4
July/August 2005
Bridging the PreK–Elementary Divide
Concerns about early achievement gaps prompt programs that link prekindergarten with elementary school
By SUE MILLER WILTZ
Bridging the PreK–Elementary Divide, continued
Bridging the PreK–Elementary Divide: Concerns about early achievement gaps prompt programs that link prekindergarten with elementary school
Bridging the PreK–Elementary Divide
Nap time is over, and most of the students in Miwa Takahashi’s prekindergarten class at T. T. Minor Elementary School have put away their sleeping mats and split into two groups. Eight youngsters take seats at a table with their teacher, while nine others gather around an instructional assistant a few yards away. It’s time for one of their favorite daily activities: Plan-Do-Review.
“Tell us, tell us … what you’re going to do,” sings Takahashi to a tune her students seem to have heard many times before.
Using hand puppets as she talks, Takahashi signals to a four-year-old boy. “Zuberi, what are you going to do?” she asks.
“I’m going to go to the block area,” the youngster shyly replies.
“What are you going to do there?”
“I’m going to play with markers.”
“And are you going to draw something?”
“I’m going to draw a zebra.”
“And what else?”
“And that’s it.”
Armed with a plan, Zuberi is on his way—but not before Takahashi helps him jot down a few words about his chosen activity in a journal. During the next 15 minutes, she and the instructional assistant engage in similar exchanges with each student. The youngsters leave their tables one by one to go “do” whatever activity they have selected—building something with Legos in the block area or whipping up a pretend meal in the house area. Some of the kids work alone; others team up with classmates.
This article is part of an ongoing series on the education of children from preK through grade 3, made possible through the support of the Foundation for Child Development.
This is an excerpt from the Harvard Education Letter.
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Nap time is over, and most of the students in Miwa Takahashi’s prekindergarten class at T. T. Minor Elementary School have put away their sleeping mats and split into two groups. Eight youngsters take seats at a table with their teacher, while nine others gather around an instructional assistant a few yards away. It’s time for one of their favorite daily activities: Plan-Do-Review.
“Tell us, tell us … what you’re going to do,” sings Takahashi to a tune her students seem to have heard many times before.
Using hand puppets as she talks, Takahashi signals to a four-year-old boy. “Zuberi, what are you going to do?” she asks.
“I’m going to go to the block area,” the youngster shyly replies.
“What are you going to do there?”
“I’m going to play with markers.”
“And are you going to draw something?”
“I’m going to draw a zebra.”
“And what else?”
“And that’s it.”
Armed with a plan, Zuberi is on his way—but not before Takahashi helps him jot down a few words about his chosen activity in a journal. During the next 15 minutes, she and the instructional assistant engage in similar exchanges with each student. The youngsters leave their tables one by one to go “do” whatever activity they have selected—building something with Legos in the block area or whipping up a pretend meal in the house area. Some of the kids work alone; others team up with classmates.
This article is part of an ongoing series on the education of children from preK through grade 3, made possible through the support of the Foundation for Child Development.
