Title-Miss Bindergarten Has a Wild Day in KindergartenAuthor-Joseph Slate
Illustrator-Ashley Wolff
Publisher-Dutton Children's Books
ISBN-0525470840
As teachers, we see the classroom from a different perspective. Teachers see the classroom as a comfortable place to learn. But a child's first experience with the classroom can be intimidating. I can remember my first day of kindergarten like it was yesterday. I walked into this large and scary room crying, like many of the other students. Not only was the room intimidating, there was an adult I had never met before and a herd of strange children. It only took about five minutes until I made my first friend and stopped crying. Then I realized in this room was the best play area I had ever seen. It had a kitchen, a dress up station, a library, a block section and 20 new playmates. Based on the wonderful experience in my kindergarten classroom, I often wish I could be there playing with my classmates. That is why kindergarten will forever hold a special place in my heart!
Since I have such fond memories of kindergarten, I chose a picture book from the Miss Bindergarten collection. The book is titled Miss Bindergarten Has a Wild Day in Kindergarten written by Joseph Slate and illustrated by Ashley Wolff. Miss Bindergarten is a collie who heads a class full of rambunctious animal students. It appears that Miss Bindergarten is having a tough day with the kindergarteners since they keep having one problem after another. One student comes in late, one has to use the bathroom and cannot wait, one student cuts her thumb and another calls for the nurse to come. There are 26 students who have problems familiar to every kindergarten teacher. The detailed pictures show just how much trouble the kindergarteners get themselves into. With the descriptive illustrations, children can understand the text even if they are unable to read the words. Miss Bindergarten and the rest of the staff in the school handle every problem skillfully and cheerfully. Miss Bindergarten is not even flustered when a student releases butterflies in the schoolyard at the end of the day. Instead, she remarks how even a wild day can bring about something wonderful to see.
Miss Bindergarten Has a Wild Day in Kindergarten is a pattern book because the sentence "Miss Bindergarten has a wild day in kindergarten" is repeated, with slight variations, every few pages. Children enjoy pattern books because they find it comforting when they know what to expect on the next page. Teachers also like to read pattern books aloud to their classes since the students can interact by finishing the familiar sentence. The pages that do not contain the pattern sentence have appealing rhythmic sentences. This book will engage every kindergartener since it has rhyme, rhythm and repetition. It also helps teach the alphabet since each of the 26 students start with a different letter, such as Adam the Alligator, Brenda the Beaver, Christopher the Cat, and so on.
This story is the perfect example of how students and teachers see not only the classroom differently, but also the school day. The students are only concerned with their own problems as individuals, but Miss Bindergarten has to attend to 26 sticky situations throughout the day. This is a book from a fabulous collection that every kindergarten teacher should read to their class!
Casey,
ReplyDeleteI was very impressed with how you used the book that you chose and connected it to your own life. When teaching children, I find that connections are very important for them to understand many concepts. The book sounds wonderful and educational. It reminds me of being in the classroom myself and the difficulties that come about throughout the day, especially concerning the use of the bathroom. I hope to pick up a copy of this picture book and use it in my own classrooom. It sounds like a wonderful story and your blog really explained it all. Thank you for sharing this book and good job on the blog! I look forward to reading your future blogs.