The Purple Room students have shown an early interest in attendance. Often, children will gather around a teacher as they take attendance on the computer, helping to look around the room and notice who is at school.

As our community has strengthened, children are thinking about their friends who are not at school. We have begun a practice of putting these friends in our hearts and sending them well-wishes during Hello Meeting.

This interest has segued perfectly into the start of two new routines this week – signing in and taking attendance during Hello Meeting.

Why rocks?

The 2s/3s year is all about balancing the concrete with the abstract, and our sign-in/attendance routines are no different. Children at this age are beginning to grasp more abstract concepts, such as time and quantity. Still, we want to ground their learning through hands-on exploration and concrete representation.

This year, we will use these rocks as a representation of ourselves. We chose rocks due to their heft and physicality. Additionally, as a Reggio-inspired school, we value any opportunity to bring the natural world into the classroom.

How did we make the rocks?

Teachers painted rocks with white paint. The rocks were a variety of sizes and shapes. The white paint created a base upon which children could personalize their rocks.

Each student chose a rock from the basket. Teachers had many different paint bottles lined up on a shelf and asked, “What color do you want?” Some children chose just one color to start, while others named multiple colors.

As they worked on their rock, students could ask for additional colors or for extra paint.

How are we going to use the rocks?

As mentioned above, the rocks will be used in two connected routines: signing in and taking attendance.

As children come into the Purple Room, they find the “Home” and “School” baskets located on the windowsill. Their rock is in the “Home” basket to start. To indicate that they have arrived at school, they move their rock from the “Home” basket into the “School” basket.

During Hello Meeting, we take a look at our “Home” and “School” baskets. Right now, our focus for attendance is on community-building. As we pull the rocks out of the “School” basket, we begin to make the connection between each child and their rock. Soon, children will be able to identify one another’s rock with ease. We look at any rocks that are be in the “Home” basket, and use them to think of our friends who are not at school.

What’s next?

Over the next few weeks, we will use the rocks to practice voting, as we prepare to choose a class name. Each child will place their rock by their choice to indicate their vote.

Looking ahead, our attendance routine will become a time to build math skills. As we count the rocks in the “Home” and “School” baskets, we will practice the number sequence, comparisons of quantity, and one-to-one correspondence (assigning one number to each object). We will introduce a five-frame, which is an organizational tool for counting. We may even introduce some early additional and subtraction, as students become ready for this challenge!