"All About Me" Kindergarten Unit Reflection

This school year has had many sudden changes, including teaching placements, required curriculum and assessments, and of course changes to class size. Families at my school were given the choice to be fully in-person or fully remote, and recently, families were allowed to switch their choice if desired–meaning roster changes galore! At the beginning of the month, my class size increased from 16 to 26 fully remote students, with more being added every few days. With so many new classmates, and in order to get to know my newer students, we completed an “All About Me” literacy and social studies unit. We read several books that led to discussions about our own special personalities, physical traits, likes, and dislikes. I was thrilled at the amount of text-to-self connections that the students made, but more excited at how eager the children were to share information about themselves–and to listen to others! Despite not having the students in-person, they are still managing to learn about one another, take turns speaking and listening, and to treat others with kindness and respect in an online format. Sharing information about themselves was an easy way to get the students talking and comfortable online. I am hopeful that the students will get to use these interpersonal skills when they meet one another in person next year as first graders!