Handout Six: Ms. Peggy's Classroom
Ms. Peggy smiled and waved as the last of the children from her classroom settled in on the yellow minibus. "Is everybody in their seat?" the driver asked as she checked each child. Through the window Ms. Peggy could see Gerard happily chatting with his cousin Marion. Erica sat behind them, staring out into the distance. Near the back of the bus Carol stood on her seat, laughing and singing. For a few minutes she ignored the driver's gentle insistence that it was time to sit down so the bus could get going. Ms. Peggy waited until the bus drove out of sight before she walked back inside. It had been a busy day.
There are 18 children in class with Ms. Peggy and her assistant teacher Ms. Andrea. There is one other Head Start classroom in the local middle-school building. The teachers like the arrangement because some of the middle-school students volunteer in the classrooms, and the children seem to really enjoy them.
ARRIVAL AND BREAKFAST
This morning everyone arrived on time and no one was absent. When Erica arrived she asked Ms. Andrea for help with her jacket. Ms. Andrea asked Erica to try it herself first. Erica went over to the cubbies and gestured to one of the girls there who unzipped it for her. Gerard and Miles were the breakfast helpers. Miles' mother, Ms. Joanne, was volunteering for the day. She handed the boys the utensils and named each of them, and they repeated the names as they set the table. Breakfast was mostly uneventful. Erica sat at the table watching the others eat. When Dolores noticed this, she asked Ms. Joanne, "How come she's not eating?" Erica heard her and pointed to the bread. Ms. Joanne handed her a piece, and it sat on her plate for a while before she went off to the quiet corner to look through some picture books.
Carol said, "Maybe she thinks it's yucky," and left the table to build an airport out of blocks. When it was finished she used a toy plane to take off from the runway and then charged around the room yelling, "Look out!" She ran up to Erica, running the plane across the top of her head, yelling, "Look out! The pilot's lost control!" Before Ms. Peggy could catch up to her, Erica and the plane crashed into the airport, and blocks scattered everywhere. "Oh my gosh!" she cried, "Everyone's dead!"
At circle time Ms. Joanne taught the children a song. After circle time there were a number of activities around the room for the children to try. There were drawing materials at one table, clay at another table, and bubbles at a third. The children could paint at the easels or play in the housekeeping area. Ms. Peggy, Ms. Andrea, and Ms. Joanne circulated around the room to observe, participate, and help the children solve problems.
ACTIVITY TIME
Erica sat at the end of the table with the drawing materials. She focused on the paper, and drew an elaborate scene with trees, mountains, and birds. She did not notice that other children had joined her at the table until one of them tapped her on the arm to ask her for a crayon. Miles sat at the drawing table, too. "I need a blue crayon," he announced as he looked around. "I'm making the ocean." Someone handed him a green one and he began to color.
Dolores and Aminah were making cups out of the clay and pretending to have coffee. When Carol joined them and Dolores told her, "There's not enough clay for you," Carol went to the drawing table and Aminah followed her. Carol drew a large letter C on the paper. "Look, I made a C for Carol," she said. "I can do that, too," Aminah said. She drew a C on her paper. "See?" she said as she held the paper up to Carol. "C is not for 'minah," Carol responded. "It's not?" Aminah asked. "What is for me?" "M is for "minah," Carol answered. "Watch!" Carol drew a large M on the paper next to the C. "This is M."
OUTDOOR PLAY
When the class went outside the children played on swings and climbing equipment. A few of the girls gathered together and sat on the grass talking. Erica watched them for a while and then tried to join by squeezing in next to Aminah. Aminah cried, "No pushing, Erica!" Erica looked puzzled and began to cry. Ms. Peggy went over to them and tried to explain to Erica that if she wanted to join the circle she would have to ask the girls to make room for her; that way she would be welcomed and the other girls wouldn't think she was trying to push them. Erica listened carefully and then left to play on the swings.
Erica climbed into one of the swings. Ms. Joanne offered to push her. She smiled and nodded yes. When Gerard came by, Erica began to wave excitedly and gestured for Gerard to join her at the swings. Gerard greeted them both with a friendly hello and allowed Ms. Joanne to help him into a swing. Erica smiled contentedly as they swung together. Carol and Miles decided to climb on the jungle gym. When they got to the top they began to sing. They called out to the other children, "Hey, look at us! We made it to the top!" When it came time to climb down, Miles could not figure out how to do it. He looked confused and afraid, took a couple of steps, and then froze. When Ms. Andrea overheard some of the other children trying to convince Miles to jump, she went over and helped him down.
LUNCHTIME AND DISMISSAL
At lunchtime Ms. Peggy watched Dolores eat. She took the chicken nuggets and carefully placed them on the end of her fork to eat them. She tried to do this with the peas also, but grew frustrated and started eating them with her fingers. When Carol said, "I'm finished," there were still some peas left on her plate. She threw them one at a time at Erica, who frowned at her and tried to bat them away. Ms. Joanne reacted right away. "Food is not for throwing," she said as she got up from her seat at the table. "Come help me in the kitchen." Carol stuck her tongue out at Erica and then smiled, picked up her plate and cup, and followed Ms. Joanne to the kitchen.
At the end of the day, as the children were preparing to leave, Ms. Andrea noticed that Miles had put his jacket on inside out. When she tried to help, Miles got upset. "I can do it!" he shouted. When everyone was dressed, Ms. Peggy and Ms. Andrea escorted the children out to the buses.