In this chapter, I describe the kindergarten and each of the six focal children involved in this research. I tell complex stories about the focal children's kindergarten experiences – sometimes contradictory stories, because the stories came from multiple sources (parent and teacher interviews and my own classroom observations) and because the particular circumstances of observation differed. I observed these children over the course of their kindergarten year and this, at least minimally, historical information provided shifting views of who they were and what they did. And finally, although the kindergarten stories principally focused on who the children came to be seen as at school (and not on their out-of-school experiences), this detailed look provides a sense of how complex classrooms are. The perspectives of differently situated observers led to sometimes-different, sometimes-congruent 'takes' on each child. However, there are complexities and contradictions within the accounts of single observers and I have tried to include as much information as possible on each child, making the source of the information clear. Unless otherwise stated, all the classroom interactional material reported here comes from my observations recorded in fieldnotes and audioand videotapes; the information on families and the children's maintenance of their families' languages comes from my and research assistants' interviews. In shaded boxes, I present perspectives from new materialist theory.

Life in Kindergarten

The kindergarten classroom, on the west side of the school on the ground floor, faced the playground and, beyond that, a busy street. The classroom itself, bright and large, was usually colourfully decorated with the students' art projects and materials pertaining to the classroom themes.