I still have a few years to go in school, but I was wondering how well Whole Brain Teaching works on kindergartners?

Whole Brain Teaching works fantastically with kindergarten! I am not a Kinder teacher, but if you take a look at Andrea Schindler's WBT Kindergarten video, you'll see how well it works for them. You might also want to take a look at Kindergarten Power Pix in the Downloads section.
If you think about it, it makes sense...for kids who are still developing linguistically, having gestures to associate with various letters, words, and concepts really bridges the gap for many of them. Plus, go substitute in K for a day, and tell me those kids don't need a chance to MOVE every couple minutes!!! Wiggle wiggle!

I teach an ESL kindergarten. I played with it the last month of school in 2008. This year I started it from day one. I think it works great. It's startled a few of the other teachers, when they say class to have my kiddos reply yes to them. lol.

I've got a third grade teacher to try it too.

Whole Brain Teaching is a powerful tool for all of your students, especially your second language learners. The gestures coupled with short mini-lessons where students teach their neighbor intermittently throughout the lesson is extremely effective!!! Research has proven that second language learners benefit from TPR (total physical response) & that is why Whole Brain Teaching is so powerful! I wouldn't teach other way!

I can also say that it has worked wonders for my class. I started it about 2 months ago and I love it! I work in Arizona where most of class are ELL's and they reall respond to using the gestures to match the word. I knew it was working when I overheard some of kids playing school on the playground and I kept hearing "class/yes" and "hands and eyes". It was very cute and it got the other teachers asking me about it!

I agree with all those that say it works. It does! I teach Special Ed Kinder and my students are mainstreamed for a majority of the day. The teacher that I do inclusion with started Whole Brain Teaching in Jan. It was amazing! One of my students who has autism will even participate. We were amazed that he took to it so well. It adds that much needed structure in a fun way. The students love it! I have always said that teaching kindergarten was like herding kittens and Whole Brain Teaching has made herding kittens a whole lot easier! It is a wonderful discovery! Thanks Chris!!!

I started using Whole Brain Teaching with my kindergarten class of ELL students earlier this year and I agree that it works. When I say "Class" and they respond with "Yes" I just need to say "Hands in Lap" and they quiet down and turn around to get ready. Sometimes I will add, "Get ready to learn."
My question comes with the reciprical teaching. Even at this time of year I still have some students who will not speak when it is their turn. I have just kept moving on thinking that they would get the idea and speak to their partner but I am still waiting for them to respond. I've changed partners and just can't hit on anything that works. Does anyone have any ideas?
I just found out about using the idea of the scoreboard. I'll try that tomorrow and see where we go with it.
I don't know if this makes a difference but since Christmas my class has been 14 boys and 1 girl and I have noticed definite changes in how I have had to control the behaviors of the group.
Now that i know you need to use this many many times a day I feel a little better also.

Just a thought I really thought to Reeves detention idea was great however my kinders are not fluent readers they can read but reading and following the directions might take them thirty minutes. I thought to record a podcast of the directions that my students could listen to and practice following directions. I am going to try it next week.

Hello! A comment to your question about the "Teach-Okay!" (reciprocal teaching). I start out at the very beginning of kindergarten and I only have them "Tell you neighbor". I give the students what information they are going to "tell their neighbor". At the very beginning of the year there are some shy children who will not speak, but I start with them by just getting them to turn and look at their neighbor. I will pick out pairs that are doing a good job and will have them stand up and be a model. I USE LOTS OF POSITIVE PRAISE (even for the shy ones..."look how well you turned and looked at your neighbor" or "now you're making eye contact!"). I also tie this in with how to speak to one another. We talk about looking at the person and making eye contact.
Once we have used this strategy for a while, and I see the students become more and more comfortable, then I will tie in the scoreboard. If I start too early, I will alienate the shy ones and they tend to be my emotional ones, too:)!
Then, once they get to the point where they are comfortable "telling their neighbor", then I move to the "TEach! Okay!" Where BOTH students are talking and teaching. I again use lots of positive praise and student models to get them to engage and participate. Once they get good at it, then I move to using the scoreboard for reinforcement.
Finally, once they are doing well with the "Teach!Okay!" I add in the Switch!, where one student teaches and does gestures, the other student mirrors the gesturing. Then, they switch. Again, I use positive praise and student models for reinforcement. Ultimately, I add in the scoreboard.
What I have learned about kinder is that it seems to work REALLY well when you take tiny chunks and practice, practice, practice, before you add the next thing.

I really like the idea of recording a podcast and having the students listen to it, that is a great idea! When I was whole brain teaching in Kinder, I would put the rules in a random repeating order in a pocket chart and they would practice by themselves. If you have some older grade helpers (I always tapped into the fifth grade helpers at my school) they can come down and practice with them for 5 minutes or so during recess. The fifth graders would ask them questions and call on them when they raised their hand or give them scenarios about "making smart choices" etc. If you have other whole brain teachers in the older grades at your school, the constant rule breakers are good choices to help the little guys practice their rules just for reinforcement of both parties. Good luck!

Andrea, I went to the Whole Brain Teaching Conference in California and wanted to let you know how much I learned from your pull out session. It was very reinforcing to see how you teach your kindergarteners. I am wondering if you start the "behavior(rule)chart" at the beginning of the year or if you wait until they learn the rules and are settled into school before you begin that?

What is the "behavior (rule) chart?" That sounds interesting.

The behavior rule chart is Jay Vanderfin's card system. With this system, each child is numbered and you get a pocket chart that has all their numbers on it or that you can put their numbers on. Then, you shrink down the pictures of the rules and put them on the bottom of the pocket chart. IF a student breaks a rule, you put a picture of the rule in their pockets. The key to this is that you keep the chart in the front of the class so that when you go over to put the picture in, you are able to keep the attention and focus of your class (as opposed to the color card pocket charts that are often in the back of the classroom and when the student breaks a rule and walks to the back the childrens' attention is always on the child walking to the back of the class). The picture shows the students exactly what rule they broke. This eliminates the response "I was bad" when asked "Why did you lose your recess?" Instead, the student sees that they broke a rule--not that they were "bad". At recess, the children practices the rule that he/she broke.


I start this once the students have gotten most of the basics of the classroom management stuff down. Usually, most of your class will be behaving but one or two may be struggling. This is to pinpoint and target specific behaviors in students who are struggling.

Hope this helps:)

I started using whole brain teach with my kindergarten class this year and I found it to be one of the best new strategies I have used in my 19 year of teaching. It kept us all on the same page about what the rules were for the class and I ws constantly refering to them when I had a discipline issue that was related to behavior outside of my classroom also. We could repeat the rules before we went into the library if we were having a challenginging morning and i though that they might need a few reminders.

We even got to the place where students were reminding others of the rules.

I really like this idea of having the pictures to remind the students which rules they need to practice. It would also be a good reminder for me to remember to practice by modeling, or role playing more with my class.

I can't wait until the fall when I will try it out again with a little tweeking.

Yes, Andrea, it does. Thanks...

Hi everyone. I am a kindergarten teacher who has just discovered Whole Brain Teaching. I am busy reading all the information and watching all the videos on this website in anticipation of using Whole Brain Teaching in my classroom this year. I have a request -would anyone that has used Whold Brain Teaching in their kindergarten classroom please post or email me any suggestions and tips you have to help me get started. I know we learn by trial and error, but it's nice when we can benefit from what others have already learned. Thank you so much!

Andrea Schindler is your go-to gal! First, watch some of her kindergarten Power Teaching videos. Then, drop her an email if you still have some questions-- she's amazing!

HI ABC 123!

I have a document that I have used at our Power Teaching seminars called: "How to start your year off Power Teaching in Kindergarten". This may help! Email me and I can send it to you!

Andrea, I am a K teacher in Atlanta and am excited to use this in my classroom next year. I started to use a little of it at the end of last year and was amazed by the change in my students. I can't wait to start the year off with it! I would love any information you have on starting the year with kinders. I will email you for the document...if that's alright!!

I've been reading the information and post on this web site and am really excited about what I am learning! I would really appreciate the information on starting the year off using WBT in kindergarten. Would you mind sharing?