Embedding academics is integrating learning into everyday routines. This way, learning is contextual and social. One way we do this here in the Silver Room is during our sign-in routine. Each day, children come to school and sign themselves in during Hello Meeting. Initially, this was introduced with our letter rocks, building letter awareness and a symbolic understanding of the rock representing themselves. Now, we are also practicing our writing skills by signing in with a marker.
Each child takes a turn to pick a square on our attendance chart and makes a mark inside to record themselves present. After everyone has signed in, we count the marks together to see how many children are present. We don’t expect children to be writing letters yet, but we are encouraging open-ended explorations of mark-making to build enjoyment, familiarity, and foundational skills for future writing.
What skills are we building throughout this routine?
Literacy
Fine Motor, Hand-Eye Coordination, and Pre-Writing
As children sign in, they choose a specific square to make their mark, which supports dexterity, precision, and pressure control as they learn where to place their marks and how hard to press on the board.
Cognitive and Life Skills: Symbolic Thinking, Uses of Writing and Print in Context
Signing in to school through mark-making blends the practice of physical control with abstract thought, as marks begin to take on intended meaning. It also exposes children to some of the ways print and writing are used in the world.
Math
Counting, Cardinality, Subitizing, and Ten Frames
Children are beginning to move beyond memorization of number names to a deeper understanding of what those numbers actually represent. As children count the marks, they attribute a number to each mark using one-to-one correspondence, practicing not to skip a mark or count one twice. We use a ten-frame chart while counting, to support children in visualizing quantities and eventually recognizing them without counting (a skill called subitizing). We are also practicing cardinality, or the understanding that the last number we land on represents the total amount.
Social Emotional
Gathering, Greeting Each Other, and Identifying as a Group
As we perform this routine each day, children are building their social skills. They pass the board and marker around to ensure everyone has had a turn, and have even begun to recognize certain marks that their peers may repeat. Gathering to greet one another develops their group identity and sense of belonging as they celebrate those who are present and ask after those who may be absent.
