KinderLit - Using KinderLit

Why ?

As two Kindergarten teachers each with many years of experience in the classroom, we have realized that teaching skills through literature emerges children into literacy more effectively than teaching isolated skills using drill sheets and workbooks. Our books give children the opportunity to become authors and illustrators of their own books based on good literature. Through this process children are actively involved in their own learning and see themselves as learners, readers, and writers long before they begin a formal reading program.

Using this method of teaching provides for:

The appreciation of authors and illustrators

Active involvement in their own learning

Pride in their work

The teaching of phonics and basic skills through the printed word

An effective replacement for workbooks and drill sheets

Success at all developmental stages

Meaningful learning experiences

Love of learning

How to use .

books teach basic skills in reading, math, science, and language. These books, containing five to ten pages, are the activities for the concepts you are teaching and replace workbooks and drill sheets. The children usually work on one page per day reinforcing the concept taught in your group lesson.

Organizing materials for classroom use is easy! Listed in the directions for each book title you order are the materials you will need which are commonly found in a Kindergarten room. We have found great success by making the materials readily accessible to the children as they work by placing them in baskets on the table tops. Organize your classroom in such a way that all materials and supplies (paper, glue, scissors, etc.) are available to the children to promote responsibility and to make planning and preparation easier for you!

When you order from you will receive a reproducible book of the title you have ordered with specific directions for completing each page and pictures from our students’ completed books. Also included will be a description of some techniques we use in our classrooms, which may include:

Phonetically sounding out the key words the children will write

Modeling illustration technique and correct letter formation

Upon completion, class oral reading

Home activities

Children learn more than basic skills when using books. The books expand the children’s knowledge and their ability to think on their own.

The children are responsible for planning and problem solving the methods to use for the illustrations for their books. This allows children to take a different approach for creating a product rather than through tracing patterns or coloring drill sheets. Children need to think, preplan, and measure to allow for correct spacing of the illustrations into their book. For example, when creating Clifford, the Big Red Dog, the children need to ask themselves these questions:

What shape should I cut out for his body?

How big can it be to fit on my page?

How many legs does he need?

How many eyes will I see if he is facing front? Side?

What features go on his head?

What do his ears look like?

Should Clifford look like he’s floating on a white cloud or do I need background?

What letter does his tail look like?

After answering these questions, the children can cut a Clifford without using a pattern that will fit into their books. No two Cliffords in the class will look alike and each child is proud of their own creation.

We have found these child-created books to be very successful and hope that you do too!