Writer

It says "H-A-N-S" and there is a figure on the right....a ghost he says with arms, and two circles right on top for eyes.

He's been writing and still writes some jagged lines and reads off a long story from his "text" for quite some time, but recently we're seeing more letters in his writing.

Currently he is quite motivated to write his name because he wants to "sign in" at school.  It was the exact same motivator for Freddie a few years ago.  So interesting the way that works.  We do lots of "hand over hand" practice where we write the letters with my hand on top of his.  He's able to tell me the letters and then we write...H...A...N...S.

The figure with defined arms is a new development.  He has just started to add figures to his drawings.

Another interesting literacy journey is well underway.

It's Us on a Train

…and that's Papi's house and that's Russia. (Russia in black on the left, Papi's house in the middle, and us on the train on the right, spread out over two pieces that h asked be taped together.)

Visiting Papi has been on Hans' mind a lot lately.  He asks almost daily if we're going to the airport to go visit Papi.  And Russia?  Well, all I can think of is it does tend to be one of the countries we speak about the most often just because it is so big and catches their attention when examining a map.

Representation

Hans is becoming more interested in drawing, writing, and creating, presumably because Freddie has been spending a lot of time writing at the table and Hans wants to join.

What he had to say about this piece:  This is the music from "the Huggy Dance." (Huggy is from Hans' favorite show WordGirl on PBS.  He's a gorilla that dances at the end of each show to the same tune.)  So interesting to see what and how he chooses to represent his world.

Representation

He likes to draw and always has a story to tell with his drawing.  He draws lots of dinosaurs and volcanos, and sometimes he "reads' what he has written.  He has been building with purpose for nearly a year:  boats, garages, parking lots.

Today he said "Look at my carousel," and sure enough, I could see a carousel.