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Contact_FullName: Angella Contact_Email: elephantfall83@aol.com date:: 01/19/02 Area: language and literacy Idea: To help my preschoolers practice learning how to write their names, I purchased sentence strips and wrote each child's name on a strip and added their picture at the end of their name. I laminated the strips and now each child can take a dry erase marker and practice writing their name over and over. I encourage the children to practice writing on each other's names. In addition to promoting writing skills, this activity encourages friendship and sharing. At the school years' end, the strip will make a nice memento of the preschool year.
2-20-01Letter Twister Materials you need: colored contact paper (any color), a mat from the Twister game. Choose five letters that your children have worked on or need to work on memorizing. Print the each letter 6 times (I think that's how many circle there are in a row.) Stick the letters on the mat....for instance, put the letters "H" all on the same color green, "I" all on the same color red, "J" all on the blue, etc. You can play with up to 8 players (including yourself )or less. Four players at a time play the game while the other players instruct them what to do. For instance, put one foot on the letter "I"...so those players put a foot on the "I" - we don't say exactly what foot - in that these children are 4 and 5 years old - our goal is the recognition of the letter. No matter what - the children who are playing are learning by looking for the letters and the children who are calling out the letters are learning by instructing the letters. My class LOVES this game. I actually have children who are reading sight words (and we do this with sight words as well) (Could also be used for shapes, numbers, colors.)
2-20-01I work as a Head-Start teacher's aide. To get the children to recognize their letters, we have a song that starts with the first letter of their name. A piece of paper is made with their letter, and covered with contact paper. We start the song with the first child and continue until every child has a turn. A is for Alex, that is good enough for me. (repeat 2 times) oh, Alex, Alex, Alex starts with A. The children really enjoy this and it helps them learn their letters every morning as a transition to areas.
1-19-01To encourage language development in my class of three year olds, I begin each circle time with my "Question Bag". Inside this bag (an old pillowcase) I secretly place an object. I give the kids clues about what it is, such as what color it is or how it can be used. Then I give them a chance to use their listening and deduction skills to figure out what is in the guessing bag. This is a great daily activity for both listening and speaking skill development. The kids can't wait to get to school and find out what is in the bag.
1-16-01When I begin teaching beginning sounds we play a game called Guess and Tell. Each Friday students bring in a secret something that begins with the letter of the week. They hide it in a brown bag and write three clues on the bag. For example : 1. I begin with the letter E 2. I am an animal 3. I have a trunk What am I? The students sit in a circle and guess one at a time. The students look forward to it every Friday and their clues get more and more creative as the year progresses. I even have many who read their own clues !
12-30-00Build those early reading skills by making an alphabet book. We took an 11x13 piece of construction paper for each letter of the alphabet. We do one letter weekly. We make cut outs using the die cut machines of items that begin with that letter. Like elephant, ear, elbow, eight, earth, etc. for letter E. (Can also have children add to page by cutting things out of magazines.) They paste these cut outs on the right page for the letter. Then if there is a child in the class whose names begin with that letter (ie, D--David), put that child's picture on that page. The children end up with their individualized alphabet book, plus a scrapbook of their Pre-K class.
12-28-00Purchase an inexpensive pillow and pillow case. Decorate with fabric paints/ puffy paints. We traced everyone's hands and added names and ages. Keep pillow in your quiet area or reading area.
12-27-00Children are astonished to find their own pictures in real books. An inexpensive digital camera has become an important adjunct to language development in my program because there is no waiting for development. I snap photos of the children in action, hot sync them to the main computer which has a large monitor, then ask the children to tell me what they were doing. I type their own words in a large primary font on the screen as they speak, visibly connecting speech to print. Each photo and story is one page to a book. Pages can be printed out with little editing—I wrap a text box around the image after importing it into MS Word, and reduce the font size of what the children said so it works for the page size. Resulting pages can be laminated, then bound at Kinko's or simply stapled together (with staples covered in colored masking tape for a more beautiful appearance). Not only do children love these books, but parents who come to check out the program are sold on it because of the impression of child-centered learning created by the combination of words and photos. A real winner!
11-18-00One of my class's favorite alphabet games to play is the "Alphabet Soup" game. I use a black plastic cauldron (purchased at Halloween time) and magnetic letters of the alphabet. Each child takes a turn by stirring the "soup" with a large plastic spoon, and dipping out one letter. The child then tells me what letter it is, and then finds the matching letter on a placemat that I found with the alphabet on also. The children love this game!!!
10-23-00I teach toddlers and find that those "Yak Back" toys are very useful to encourage children to make sounds. For any one who is not familiar with yak backs they are the toys that are hand held and when you press a button they record the child's voice. You can also press buttons to make their voice slower and faster or distorted. The kids love to hear themselves with silly voices and always end up laughing and loving this activity!
10-16-00We make a lot of class books throughout the year. After putting them in the book area for a few weeks, I keep them all in one spot. Then, toward the end of the year, I take them all apart, and put the work of each child together. I have the kids make a cover that says, "My Pre-K Memory Book." We hand them out at our pre-k graduation.
10-7-00My son (3 years old) and I were at the dollar store the other day looking for something for him to put his stickers in. We came across a photo album that held 4"x6" pictures. Since we brought it home we've put lots of things besides stickers in it. We've put postcard pictures of dogs, coloring book cover dinosaurs, pictures from "happy meal" bags, plastic pictures from sock packages, etc... We are far from done but my son can't put it down. I plan to use this idea during holidays and different themes. When he's older I will use it to teach him about authors and illustrators. This idea can be used any way you see fit.
10-7-00To help the children learn to print their names, I print their name on a sentence strip, next to that I dot their name, then leave the rest blank. I cover the sentence strip with clear contact paper then give the children washable markers to first trace their name, the connect the dots (their name) then try to print it on their own. When finished just wipe off with a damp paper towel and let them try again and again. I also cover small alphabet charts (capitals & lowercase) with contact paper so they can learn to write all their letters. These are great for writing centers or a group activity. (Saves a lot of paper!)
9-30-00Have a book reading bonanza. Select your most beautiful, colorful and fun books and spread them out in the corner of a room. Have your 3-4 year olds join teachers in this area to explore the books. They need not read them per se but just investigate the covers, pictures, letters, whatever attracts them. If a child wants to "read" the story through the pictures, that's great. Give each child a post-it of a different color and let them "post them" on their favorite book. The "most posted" is read at story time. Prediction is another great way to enjoy books - ask, what do you think this book is about? Letter recognition can be practiced too. Do you see a "B" on this book?
9-17-00There must be a 1000 ways to use toilet tissue rolls . . . so here is 1001. With a single hole puncher, punch a hole in each end of the toilet tissue roll as far from the openings as possible. (You are creating a little "musical" instrument.) From your collection of small stickers, have the student pick 2 stickers and place one UNDER each of the little holes. ABOVE the hole, have the students make the long vowel sign (-) and on the other, the short vowel sign ) turned side ways. (The top sticker/hole is for the short vowel sounds. The lower for the long vowel sounds.) When I say a word, I ask for a particular beginning vowel sound and watch to see where the children place their fingers. They love this and call it their "Silent Orchestra" as NOTHING is spoken. Prior to the students using them, I put 3 inch clear cellophane tape around the end that is put to their mouths. This keeps the rolls from fraying.
9-10-00My son's kindergarten class has a "Question of the Day" the children answer first thing every morning. Each child has a laminated school bus with his/her name on it (these are seasonal-next up is pumpkins). The question of the day is posted above a pocket chart. The students read (most with help) the question and put their bus in the correct pocket for an answer. Another name recognition activity they do upon arrival is to find a plastic bottle lid with their name on it, and place the lid in a container labeled either "hot lunch" or "cold lunch."
8-21-00Alphabet Song and Sounds (sung to the tune B-I-N-G-O) There is a letter in the Alphabet, and A is it's Name-O, A-A-A-A-A, A-A-A-A-A, A-A-A-A-A, and A is the sound it make's O. There is a letter in the Alphabet and B is it's name-o, Buh-buh- buh-buh-buh, Buh-buh-buh-buh-buh, buh-buh-buh-buh-buh, and Buh is the sound it makes-o. And so on with each letter, using the sound each letter makes instead of B-I-N-G-O.
8-21-00When needing puppets just look in your basket of stuffed animals. Simply cut a hole in the bottom, unstuffy the majority of the animal and the mouth. Leave legs and head stuffed a little. And there you have it. Stuffed animals are less expensive than most puppets so make your own and have fun. I also have recently taken a mid size box and decorated it like a barn, ran rope through the top to use as a handle for toting and plan on using this with my "farm" animal puppets.
8-18-00When I introduce a new book to the class I make a poster of the books cover and hang that in the book of the week place on the wall.
7-23-00Sound Walk Take a walk with the children and bring a cassette player. As you walk ask the children what sounds they hear. Tape the sound. When you get back to the classroom, replay the sounds and have the children identify the sounds.
7-22-00Photo Album for the class: We (my assistant, our entire class and myself) participated in this all through the year. We took photos of everybody and added them to an album which we decorated with creative memories cutouts and stickers and made our first volume of " Our Treasure Book". We also printed names and words to describe the picture. This was always out for the children to enjoy and learn to read with. The parents had a wonderful time when their child would run to get the book and insist on showing them and telling about new entrees. It was a great tool to bring the parents into the classroom and be a part of their child's day!! We plan to make one every year as some of our children are there from age 2 1/2 yrs to 6 yrs.
7-21-00Xerox a favorite story onto overhead sheets. Then turn off lights and tell story using the overheads and let children participate in the story by standing inside the pages of the book.
7-21-00I made a giant cave in our reading center, We have multicolored bats, cave life all over the walls, We put stalactites on the ceiling, We do story time in the cave. I even let the children go in the cave to play with animals, You would be surprised at how quite they play.
7-20-00I teach kindergarten and also do one letter a week, but I don't introduce the letter/sound. The kids do. I call it Secret Letter Detective. The parents sign their child up to do this. I assign each kid a letter ( I try to give the child a letter that is in their name. i.e., Tyler has letter /T/. On the Friday before the week we are to learn the letter, I send home a reminder note to the parents. (I do not teach the letters in order!) The child is to bring in on the following Monday something that begins with the letter and 3 clues to give the class so they can guess what it is. On Friday, that same child brings in a Special Letter Treat that begins with their letter for the class to enjoy! Tyler might bring in a "Tigger". His clues would be: 1)orange with black stripes, 2)bounces, 3)a friend of Pooh. On Friday, his treat might be "taffy" or "tootsie rolls". Parents think this is neat and they take their child to the grocery store to help look for the treats!
7-15-00I teach multiply handicapped children, who are visually impaired. We follow a typical preschool schedule while embedding IEP goals and therapies into each activity. I am a Teacher of the Visually Impaired and Orientation and Mobility Specialist. My Communication Therapist and I decided to create a "story of the month". Each month we choose a different story. I provide all of the visual adaptations, such as Mylar materials, flashlights, pre-Braille materials and props. She provides all of the augmentative communication devices and sounds. The children help to tell the story by pressing their augmentative switches to say repetitive lines from the story. For instance, the child's augmentative communication device may be programmed to say "in a napping house where everyone was sleeping". The children are able to "help" to tell the story, the story is reinforced through the props, the children use their functional vision when they are able, they are given an opportunity to explore each object tactually and IEP goals are implemented in a fun, creative way. Some of the stories that we have done are: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Napping House, Piggie Pie, Clifford's First Snow, and other stories with a repetitive nature. We have presented this idea at a state teacher's convention with hopes that parents and other teachers will try it too!!
7-14-00I have a "Brag Bag" that a child takes home which has a list of items beginning with the letter we are learning that week. They bring it back the next school day and share the items during circle time. This is a great way to get the parents involved. The children enjoy finding the items. The other bag, "Favorite Book" is also taken home by a child. The child gets to bring their favorite book(s) for me to read the next school day. I read the their book before the half day children leave. I like the variety of books we read through out the year. During the fall and spring, I take photos of the children while playing, exploring, reading, etc. I make double prints and place the pictures in the photo album provided with the prints. I place one album in the "Brag Bag" and one in the Favorite Book Bag. The parents like to see their child's friend and the different activities they do at school. The children like sharing their school with their family.
6-8-00On the go flannel board. My kids love to play and sing using the flannel board. I needed one to take with us on trips. Supplies needed: 1 floppy 3ring binder Glue the flannel to the inside of the binder. Cut off excess flannel. In plastic page protectors put different stories or songs. Place them in the binder. Now you have a portable flannel board that kids love.
6-4-00My four year old pre-k students love to play trivia. I write down something from their favorite book on a 3x5 card and pull the question from a bag. One question might say, "they went across the bridge, clip, clop, clip, clop" and they will shout, "Three Billy Goats Gruff." The other day we played color trivia. "I'm thinking of a color that rhymes with mean" (green) "I'm thinking of a color that rhymes with bed". We have played trivia with all their favorite books, their favorite poems, their favorite songs and this is an excellent review game for the end of the year. Bunny
5-25-00At my center I put together a photo album filled with real life everyday pictures for the children to look at. It makes for great conversation and the children love to answer and ask questions. They really study the pictures and since they are real pictures they depict real life situations, feelings, goings on for children to learn about.
5-25-00We had each family bring in a family photo and we put it on a piece of oaktag and then covered that with contact paper. We let the children keep them with their books on the shelf. If a child is feeling lonely or sad they can go get their family pictures and look at them. They also help the children familiarize themselves with everyone's family faces-- maybe with some parents who don't pick up or drop off to often. I found that the children also really like to talk about their families and are proud.
5-25-00I work with Toddlers and to encourage language development we take pictures of the children throughout the year and make "borrowing books". We make a book with at least one picture of each child in it and a short description. After they are laminated we send them home with a different child each night. This can be used to encourage language development as the children love to relate what is occurring in each picture and who everyone is in their classes. These books also foster stronger ties between home and school. It also affords the parents a chance to see a glimpse of what goes on each day at school.
5-25-00This unit is called Traveling Bears. I went to a secondhand store and bought a teddy bear and some clothing that would fit it. I put these items in a backpack along with a notebook. The notebook that I made is in the shape of a bear on a piece of construction paper. It has lines drawn through the body of the bear for writing. At the beginning of this activity, I send a letter home to parents explaining how it works. A schedule is posted on our parent board with the date each child gets a turn. The child takes the bear home overnight and plays with it. The parent(s) write down in the book what the child and bear did while visiting. I let the children vote on a name for the bear in class before we start the activity. My bears have done many things while visiting. For instance, riding on bikes, visiting friends and family, going out to eat and mostly sleeping with the child! The children really enjoy this activity. It teaches them about taking turns, taking responsibility for the bear and they get up in front of their peers and tell their story.
5-18-00I teach special needs preschoolers. In my classroom, I use monthly themes, such as farm, zoo, bugs....When I introduce a theme, I have the children make some type of drawing or picture that goes with the theme. I have them tell me something about the picture and I write it on the bottom of the picture. I hang these up in the classroom. At the end of the month, I laminate them and bind them into a book, which I leave in the reading corner for the children to "read." They like to see their pictures and their names in print. The sentences they dictate to me are good language practice for them, too. When we read the "book" over and over, they begin to see that print has meaning. At the end of the year, I give one of the books to each child who is "graduating" from my program!
5-18-00At the beginning of the year, I take each child's picture and glue it to an index card. I also take my assistant's picture and she takes mine. I print each person's name on each card. At Circle Time, I use these picture cards to take attendance with the children. We look at each card and I ask who the person is and if he/she came to school that day. Pictures of the people at school go up on the pocket chart. We count how many people are at school and how many girls and boys....the children love this!
Date: 4-5-00I am currently teaching letter and sound recognition to my pre-school group, ages 3 1/2 - 5. I have come up with a 4 line poem for each letter and a picture for them to color for each poem. I spend about 20 minutes teaching the poem, and we recite it at random times throughout the morning every day for the entire week of that particular letter. This gives the children a sense of accomplishment, as well as learning. They love it!!!!
Date: 3-31-00I provide my preschool children with scrap paper and "cookie crayon" (made by melting old crayons in muffin tins). They take their paper and crayons and make rubbings of everything on the playground - tree bark, bricks, swing seats, etc. We label these rubbings for more literacy enhancement and send them home for discussion!
Date: 3-20-00Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree. Create a tree mural on a bulletin board or wall. Attach Velcro strips to the tree (the rough side). Cut out letters to represent the first letter of each child's name, punch a hole in each letter and attach a piece of yarn. Read the book, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and encourage your children to visit the tree to find the letters that their names begin with, and wear their letter as a necklace. Teaches great letter recognition!!
Date: 3-15-00I was having a horrible time getting boys interested in doing any kind of writing. We invented a fishing game, with a piece of yarn and a clothes pin the kids fish for letters. When they catch one they must record it by copying it onto their paper. This worked so well we moved on to names, numbers and simple words. Not only can the kids copy the letters they can read most of the words. I don't even have to ask if anyone wants to play, they get it out everyday.
Date: 3-10-00I use a lot of felt board stories and activities, and to provide variations, I cut a bunch of blue paw prints out of felt. I then use them to put a secret message into that day's circle time. My Blue's Clues addicted preschoolers love it, and it provides extra variations on the same stories. I also have a "Magic School Bus" which I put with the science felt board sets when we're doing Dinosaurs, Ocean, etc. My kids love moving the bus from place to place to find the dinosaur, insect, or what ever you have.
Date: 3-10-00Our class purchased ABC shaped pretzels and the teacher used a scanner to scan the pretzels to make each child a personalized book marker. The children then matched other pretzels to their book marker pretzels. They had a blast and learned a few new letters in the process. After wards they ate the pretzels for a snack. We laminated the book markers to make them last longer.
Date: 3-6-00The current focus in my kindergarten class is phonemic awareness as this is the first step in understanding that words are made up of sounds. This is the big "trend" at the moment and I have seen first hand how it helps beginner readers develop skills. Anyway, what I do is at circle time ( or during transition times) I tell the kids that I am going to speak in a secret language and they have to tell me what I am saying. So I would say c-a-t, slowly sounding out each word and the students listen carefully to figure out my word. Eventually when skills are developed I will give them the word and they will have to break it apart. It is all auditory at this point. Another strategy is to give the students a word and have them tell you the first sound that they hear in the word. A great book full of these Date: 3-6-00s and games is called "Phonemic Awareness in Young Children" by Marilyn Jager Adams, Barbara Foorman, Ingvar Lundberg and Terri Beeler.
Date: 3-5-00For many years I have used "Jump Cards" in the classroom to reinforce colors, shapes, numbers, alphabet recognition, etc.... You will need to find plenty of cardboard squares to use this idea. For example to make "Shape Jump Cards" - you will need to make all different kinds of shapes on construction paper - cut and glue each shape onto it's own cardboard square. Laminate. On other cardboard squares draw a stick figure person to look like he is jumping. When completed - shuffle all cardboard squares together - the children sit in a circle (on the floor or in a chair) and the teacher uses these as flash cards. The children call out the shapes as they are shown but when they come to the "Jump Guy" - they can jump up out of their chair. All of my children throughout the years have loved this activity. It keeps their attention focused on the cards - and they just can not wait to JUMP!! Use this idea to make color cards, alphabet cards, number cards, name recognition cards, etc.... With my Kindergarten class I use the cards to write down words from our Word Wall. They just love this added incentive to read. It is a lot of fun. ENJOY!
Date: 3-5-00My pre-K kids love writing with the overhead. We make a file folder decorated to go along with whatever our theme or area of study is, and then we choose four or five words from that theme to print each week. I model the numeral, they print it, then we go through each word one letter at a time. I use large writing paper for their words. This is great for helping them listen for beginning sounds as well. I do have a very strong group in language skills, but for one who isn't quite ready, you could "dot" the words to be traced as you go. This type of activity would be great in a kindergarten class as well. It's just another tool to help with language.
Date: 3-5-00Books are a very important part of our Language Area. We have made a Reading Bookworm on our wall. I start this Bookworm in September with my new class and he grows all year. He is made of circles that are touching when stapled on the wall. On each circle is the title and author of each book we read. I use the Public Library to supply my Library Area so he grows very big and wanders all over the room and even on the ceiling because we have run out of room. At first the kids do not understand what we are doing but as they see him grow they can't wait to put up a new circle. It also helps the parents see what we do in our class and they think its great.
Date: 3-2-00My idea is for the month of March. I use the following saying saying: "March" into a good book. I then have the students color shamrocks and write (in black marker) the title of their favorite book. I also have a large shamrock in the middle of the bulletin board with my favorite book and my name. This allows other students in the school to find the title of a good book. Most of the books that my students choose are AR books.
Date: 3-1-00Show-and-tell Necklaces I teach Pre-kindergarten. Each child in the class is assigned a day to bring in a show-and-tell - but not just any show-and-tell...a show-and-tell that begins with the letter of the week. Each child receives a necklace (which is a plastic lid and yarn) with the letter of the week written on it. It is given to him/her the day before his/her assigned day. The child and parents then look for something to bring in and show us the next day. This helps deter the "toys" - and helps parent involvement!
Date: 2-29-00I work in a 4 and five year old room and we have our children sign in every day. When they come in their is a piece of paper on the easel for them to sign in on. We are keeping one sheet each week to document handwriting progress. We hope to expand it by having them write their last names, respond to yes\no questions, and other simple questions. I plan on also adding a welcome sheet, telling what we are going to do today, that they can have a parent read to them as they are dropped off. This will also keep parents informed of what the kids are doing and events, parties etc. they may need to remember.
2-23-00Fill one pie tin per child halfway with salt. Sprinkle glitter on top and offer children an array of tongue depressors or play dough tools. Allow them to draw designs in the salt and "shake" the pan to make the pictures disappear. Wonderful task for pre-writing of letters and numbers. Great for Large and small motor coordination.
2-23-00For toddlers and twos, I made different magnetic pictures and shapes that they could use for the magnet board to use for identifying colors and words in daily use. They have fun looking at the pictures (real and drawn) and saying the words that go with them. They also count all the pictures that are the same and line them up. They do this all by themselves too and there is so much learning involved! I also do the same for the flannel board and put Velcro on the back so it sticks. It is hours of involvement and fun!!
2-23-00For pre-k children, I set up a writing table with construction paper, markers, colored pencils, and the like on it with mail boxes made out of coffee cans glued together in a pyramid for each child in the class. The children can go to the table and make a message for their friend and put it in their mail box to take home. On birthdays and other special occasions, the children each get a message in their box. I also put a small clipboard at the table with writing paper with the letter we are working on printed at the top so that they can practice writing that letter. It is a special place for the class to go and they love it!
2-23-00I teach a Head Start class. My children range in ages 3 to 5. We have been very busy working on letter recognition. As a means of getting each child excited about learning their letters, each child has been given a "Letter Vine." I have hung long construction paper stems from a clothesline. Each child receives a bag with colored leaves; each leave has an alphabet letter written on it in upper and lower case form. For each letter the child recognizes, that leaf is added to their vine. The children are very excited about this project as are their parents. Many children are working at home on their ABC's when they had not been before. I have also noticed that some of the children who did not pay close attention when we introduced new letters, are paying close attention now. This has proved to give many of the children the motivation they needed to pay attention and learn. They all take great pride in their vines. I have also used the vine project to teach the children about how some plants grow. The colored leaves also help children with color recognition, plus the colored leaves/vines add beauty and color to the classroom setting.
Date: 2-9-00For our two year old class we made a book titled " Friend, Friend, What do you see? " Each page contained a photocopied picture of each child with (I see ______ looking at me) at the top and (_____, ______, What do you see) at the bottom. In this way each child has only one page with their name on it and you can remove as children move out of your class and add for new friends. The last page is a picture of teachers with the words (I see my teachers looking at me). All of our two year olds can mock read the book and are delighted to see their picture in the book. Photocopied pictures of children also make an attractive wall border or frame with construction paper and put in the backs of cubbies.
Date: 2-9-00I have found that when ever possible, using as many of the five senses as I can makes learning easier and stays with the child. I like to cut out the alphabet with sand paper, a low grade like 100 grit. The kids not only can see the letter but they can also feel the letter.
Date: 2-6-00Our school recently had a family Reading Night. My preschoolers wore pajamas and brought stuffed animals for this event. I supplied hot chocolate with marshmallows. Parents were also invited to a soup supper beforehand. The teachers of classrooms and special's teachers displayed reading information hand outs for parents. In our classroom I had an array of books for the families along with props, such as; Red Riding Hood doll with that book, The Three Bears with that book, Cinderella doll with book, and "reading glasses" (sunglasses with the darkened lenses taken out) for parents and children to wear, if they so wished. All the parents filled out part of a "bookworm" which we hung in our classroom the next day. The children were amazed at how long the "bookworm" was. A fun, educational event!
Date: 2-6-00After reading our FAVORITE book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom", we made our own version of the coconut tree. Ask your school lunchroom staff to save large vegetable cans- strip off labels, add sand to bottom can (prevents tipping), duck tape 4 cans together to make "tree" use "top"can to store magnetic alphabet letters. Spray paint cans black add construction paper palm leaves, coconuts around top can. As you read story to kids, they come up and put their designated letter on the "tree". When stories over-pick children to come up and put a designated letter(S) back into top of tree. My Pre-K class LOVES this. Letter recognition has increased!
Date: 2-3-00Practice the ABC's with this fun activity. Use an empty container to hold strips of colored paper that have different letters on the bottom of each one. Add an additional 10 papers with a picture of a worm. When the child picks a letter , he should announce what letter it is. If the child picks a "wiggely worm" all the children must stand up for a quick wiggle.
Date: 1-30-00After reading the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom for story time, follow it with a wonderful activity. Have precut ABC letters for children to paint, decorate, and paste on "our" coconut tree (child sized, taped to wall, a little bended). Make sure you have markers for black eyes, band-aids for the letters that fall, etc. Some letters will get bent all out of shape. Also leave blank papers, for the children that want to make their "own" letters, have the book open and available to them. *Children give letters in the alphabet a personality, and like to adopt a few.
Date: 1-28-00Pp Day After the excitement of the Holidays and Before the Spring there is that time that gets Kind of boring. I try to fill that time with fun things. One thing I did was Pp day. On the Friday of the day we did Pp we had a Pajama Party. The children wore their pajamas all day. We made Pink eggs and Purple Pancakes and drank Punch for lunch. Each child brought in something beginning with the P sound to share. We had a great day.
Date: 1-25-00I make my own books out of cereal boxes. I cut out the back and front of the box and glue them together. I then laminate each one, but it is not necessary. When I have several, I attach them with a hole puncher and metal rings or yarn. I also make a book which involves photographing the children. I take pictures of them at center time or outdoors. Then I glue each picture on a piece of construction paper with a caption underneath telling what the child is doing. They really love seeing their pictures in the book and their names in print.
Date: 1-25-00As like all preschoolers, my children love to tattle. Most of the time the behavior in question does not warrant any discipline from me. So I keep a report book and a pencil in my language center. It is just plain white paper with a construction paper cover that I staple together. When a child comes to me to tattle, I tell them to write it up. I have the child write down the name of the offender (I have the names displayed on sticker charts, which the children copy). If he or she is unable to do that, I simply have him or her draw a picture of the child and a picture of himself. Usually the tattler will call the offender over to see the pictures and they end up laughing together. No harm done and the tattler feels as though his complaint has been recognized, giving him validation.
Date: 1-24-00The Name Game Supplies needed: Cards with each child's first name. Shuffle cards and pass one to each child having them keep card hidden until all have a card. To begin game have each child turn their card over, look at it , then hold it in front of themselves for others to see. The object is to find their own name. When they find the student who has their card they go and take it from them, still holding the card they were dealt until the owner comes and takes it from them. The game is finished when all have their own name card. My 4 & 5 yr. old class loved this! It's great for name recognition.
Date: 12-21-00CARD ATTENDANCE This is a great way to take attendance and involve your children. On sentence strips write each child's first name. Underline the First letter of the name. In circle time use the strips as flash cards. Say the first letter of the child's name, then the sound that letter makes and finally the child's name for instance if the child's name is Julie you would say "J J-J-Julie, good morning Julie" then the child would sit down eventually the children will begin to recognize the names and will say them along with you. You will have to make your own adaptations for names like Sean, or Charlene.
Date: 1-17-00We tie in the snack with the letter of the week. So for "Q" week this week, we will have quiche, Quaker Oats hot cereal, Nestles Quik, and quesadillas! When at all feasible, we let the children help make the snacks too :) Date: 1-17-00When we have newspapers spread on the tables to cover from paint... I have the children find the first letter of their name somewhere on the newsprint spot in front of them. They get excited to find their letter :) Date: 1-17-00For our alphabet book, an idea has evolved into our "P" week, and now we will go back to previous pages. The idea is this, we've been making a 9X12 sized page for every page of the alphabet so far, for "A" we did apple prints, "B" butterflies by folding the paper in half after dropping paint on one side of the paper, etc. For this past week in "P" we did a pizza on pink paper. What I did differently tho' since now that it's January and I'm wanting to guide them in making letters, I printed a little strip in a font that was the closest to D'nealian. I printed, "My pretty pizza on pink paper." I had them glue it to the bottom of the picture, and to go over with a felt pen all of the "p"s. Now I will have them work on the rest of the alphabet pages that way as well and go back to label their past pages. For example, this week is "Q" week, so I will have them make a little quilt with cut out squares and triangles and glue it on a sleeping duck who also has a crown on it's head. The caption will say, "Queen Quacky lays quietly under her quilt." They will again trace over all the "q"s. I'm thinking too of putting the book together according to how the letters are made. I have a D'Nealian book that introduces the letters in the order of how they're made. That way, they won't just be 'reading' their completed books by rote, but hopefully by the picture clues and really knowing the letter :) I have high hopes :) Actually the book doesn't have to be completed until Open House the first week of May, so it should be a possibility :) Date: 1-13-00While telling stories to preschoolers, some may want to enhance the effect so to do this with an Indian legend of the dream catcher I came up with a great idea of a "pretend" campfire. First you go to a fabric store and get empty upholstery bolts. (these are usually free), take one and cut into 3 pieces of equal length. Tie them together with heavy duty wire to form a triangle. Spray paint these brown. While they are drying, take white poster board and cut 3 pieces in the shape of flames, all in equal width to the "pretend" logs. Take red, yellow and orange markers and color these to create a flame effect. Now take a ice pick or other sharp object and poke holes all around in each flame. Staple the bottom of each flame to the underneath side of each log. Bring flames up to meet at the top and tie together with red embroidery thread, also tie together each side. When ready to use, place snake neck flashlight in the center of "pretend" campfire, when the lights are turned out, the light from the flashlight will illuminate through the holes and voila, you have a "magical pretend campfire"... This was a real hit in my Child Development class. If interested in my original story of Little Deer and the Dream catcher please e-mail me. This story is geared towards 4 to 6 year olds. And art activity is designed to follow... Thanks and Good Luck.. Anna Date: 1-11-00Alphabet Musical Chairs! Place 5 chairs in a row. Each child holds a letter. We do this as a review after 5 letters. On the chairs are matching letters. Upper case only for 3 year olds. Upper matching lower case for 4 year olds. March around the chairs to music. When the music stops you must sit in the correct chair! Date: 1-9-00In preschool each child has a journal. At this point emphasis is on expressin ideas on paper through drawings, rather than actual printing. They then dictate their stories and I write it down, and label pictures. It is amazing how what seems like a scribble to an adult is much more to a young child..weeks later they will refer back to their journals and know exactly what they drew. We share them during circle times. We extend this and include the family. On Friday Travelling Teddy (and his journal) spend the weekend with a child. At the end of the weekend the child draws in the journal about the experience then dictates to the parent who writes. Some kids even print some sight words they know. We thne read this on Monday morning during circle. Date: 1-9-00My preschool program is based on weekly themes. I also encorporate letter of the week with the theme to put more meaning to the letter they are learning. Doing Winter week our letter of the week is W. The kids bring in something that starts with the letter W for show and tell and I draw it on a big paper and label it. We then post these in the room. We also do "W" activities such as paint with white paint, Glue small pictures of Whales on a precut big W, or play with water. We do this with every letter. Sometimes I stretch things like we would learn about the letter X during our doctor theme as we talk about X-rays. Letter D can be covered when we to a dinosaur theme. In preschool we put more emphasis on the sound the letter makes but they are also exposed to what it looks likethrough labeling. Date: 12-28-99I like to start this activity about January--the children are no longer shy and are very comfortable in school--the teacher starts the activity by saying her/his name really punctuating the syllables, say it again this time clap the syllables, move on to the next person, say their name and then say it again this time clapping out the syllables, by the time you get about half way through the circle of children, they have caught on, do this every day and by the end of the week they are clapping out the syllables to every piece of furniture and item in the classroom. Date: 12-22-99I like to have items that are in our room to be labeled such as the chairs, tables, door, etc. so the children can match the word with the object. At one circle time, I had the children help me label everything. I would give them a hint as to what I wanted labeled. When the child told me what it was, I would hand her the appropriate sign. ideaI am making a bulletin board for one of my methods classes in college. I am using the book "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. I cut out shapes that look like monsters. Where the monsters faces would be I placed a picture of each student. Under the picture the student writes a short paragraph about what they would do if they were "king of all wild things." When the students are done I laminated the monster and the students put them on the bulletin board. 11-30-99ideaTo help with letter order & recognition skills, I set up two chairs connected by string or yarn. I then provide pre-made alphabet letters printed on any theme subject--turkey patterns, bats, Christmas angles, dinosaurs, etc... I scramble these letters on the floor, provide the child with clothespins, and have him/her hang the alphabet up in order on the clothesline! This works great for two at a time or provides a nice quiet time activity for the student who needs to be busy by him/herself. I also use the clothesline to reinforce student names and phone numbers. Just pre-print, and place in individual Ziploc baggies. Date: 10-31-99ideaMagic Glove Finger Play: I make felt or laminated paper objects and put a small piece of the rough sided Velcro (self stick) on the back of the objects to sing songs during circle time. I started with 5 yellow felt ducks for "Five Little Ducks went out one day". As you sing the song and remove the ducks, place the removed ducks) on the back of your gloved hand. I have made sets of small animals for "Old McDonald", "Five Little Owls", the possibilities are endless. I use the gloves that are supposed to be one-size-fits-all that you can get at discount stores, $1.00 a pair. These can be worn on either hand and are small enough when not stretched over my large adult hand for the children to do this activity by themselves. Date: 10-14-99ideaMake a Shape Book Use a 9x6 (1/2 of the big sheets) sheet of construction paper and fold in half. Then take 2 sheets of 8.5x11 paper and fold in half. Put on the first page: Red Circle Red Circle What do you See? Have red circles available for the children to glue on the page. 2nd page: (on the top) I see a green triangle looking at me. Have green triangles for the children to glue. (at the bottom of the page write:) Green triangle green triangle what do you see? Keep on till you've used all the shapes and on the last page have at the top "I see ___________ looking at me." Child can write their name on the line (maybe!) and draw a picture of themselves. Date Posted: 9-23-99
Date: 7-24-99When I taught PreK we used this idea. During the year we took a picture of all the parents and students in our classroom. We then made an alphabetical big book out of all the pictures, some letters had two or three pictures. We then sang an ABC song using the familiar faces and saying only the first letter of each persons name. We sang not only the letter name but also the letter sound. For example, letter A would be Alice, Alice, ah, ah, ah, Alice, Alice, Alice A, A, A .
Date: 7-24-99As a past preschool and present elementary school teacher I can't stress enough the importance of hands on learning. As well as being read to every day, children learn even faster about reading, writing and listening when they can act out the stories with puppets, masks and/or paperboard or feltboard backgrounds with moveable paper or felt pieces. The Story Teller felt educational products company has an incredible line of products that kids get really excited about using! I use them regularly in my own classroom as well as with my younger children at home. Date: 7-8-99Have a set of color cards available with the primary and secondary cards represented or 6 cards in all (red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple). The child can do this activity in one of several ways: a. The child places the cards on a rug and then proceeds to get one item from the classroom that represents each color - a small basket or bag can be included to carry items. The item is placed beside the appropriate card on the rug. An adult can then come over and do a lesson about the color names. When I model this activity, I try to get counters from the math area or objects from practical life. b. The child can place the cards on a rug and then proceed to place each card beside a item on the shelves or in the classroom that is of that color. At the end of the activity all cards are collected. A control of error is for the child to count at the end to make sure all 6 cards have been retrieved. These activities have several aims. There is a great deal of movement involved in getting items or placing the cards about the classroom, the child can reinforce matching skills and memory skills are enhanced by either returning the objects or collecting the cards. Date: 7-1-99This is an idea for name recognition. The first day of school I take each child's picture. Using the Elston (sp.) machine I cut out shapes. I glue each picture to a square, circle or whatever fits the frame of the shape I've decided to use. Then I glue the "frame" of the shape over the picture. I have a small bulletin board beside the door where they enter. I put up a pocket chart with the names showing. The child has to find his/her name and turn it so the picture shows. I can tell who is present at a quick glance. When this has become "old hat" I use the pictures for substitutes and games. The children quickly learn theirs and their friends' names. Date: 6-30-99We are working on LETTERS AND SOUNDS. I made a book with one letter at the top corner of each page. I collect the colorful ads from the Sunday paper or catalogs and I choose pictures the children are familiar with. Then each child cuts out a picture and I ask him what it is and what letter/sound it starts with. (For instance, one identified a picture of kids in a pool as "swimming" - so it would start with "sss".) Then they glue the pictures onto the appropriate page. Date: 6-30-99Please add Jan Brett's wonderful web page www.janbrett.com to you language resources page of links. It is fantastic. Another idea I am promoting because I do it and I am a children's librarian is giving away used/discarded library books at kids birthday parties. This is an idea to pass on to parents. Many libraries have annual book sales. The books are still in readable condition go for about 1 dollar each. Better than a plastic toy from the dollar store right? Pass it on! Cheers! Date: 6-29-99To reinforce letter recognition and trying to be thrifty, I made a letter bingo game. Using Excel on my computer, I printed up several Bingo cards that had the different letters in various order in a grid. I did 5 squares across and 5 down. Leaving out a different letter on each board. After making 8 or 9 boards and printing them, glue them to a cereal box side and then put contact paper over that. The kids take turns drawing letters out of the hat and calling them out. Date: 6-29-99For my Kindergarten class I label milk cap lids with letters of the alphabet (one letter per lid). My students sort the caps in ABC order, or blend words. I glued one picture on an index card and my students use the picture clue to help them sound out words using the milk cap lids Date: 6-28-99Home visiting is one of the most successful ways of reducing first day separation anxiety. Once you have been at a child's home (prior to school beginning), you have bridged the gap between home and school. The child already has trust in you before their first day! On your home visits, try making up a literacy pack. This would be a back pack with books, flannel stories, games, art etc. You go through the literacy pack with the child AND the parents during the visit. ( I also include a list of what is in the pack and a list of extension literacy ideas). Ask the parent to take a picture (you bring a camera!!) of you and the child. You also take a picture of the parents and the child. On the first day of school, the child brings in the literacy pack and you have the pictures hung on a bulletin board for them to see. Example of a Literacy Pack: Literacy Pack Name: Blue's Clues Materials included: Blue stuffed animal Board books of Blue's Clues Flannel pieces (some uncut for children to make their own story from and some precut into Blue and other story characters) Construction paper scissors glue stick Blue's Clues puzzles Pre made journal(for family to write in about their activities with Blue) Put a list of materials in the pack. Also put in a list of activity ideas. I write them on recipe cards and place the activities in a small, handsize photo album. The packs do not have to be TV related, this is just one example. Be creative. Take children's interested and turn them into an opportunity for encouraging literacy skills. Your ideas may be theme related (Farm animals, alphabet), Book related (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom) or very open ended (Creative arts, Everything Grows and Grows)...the possibilities are endless!! The children and parents love the literacy packs. I have a classroom of 12 children. It took some time to put together 12 packs but it was well worth the time and effort. We rotate the packs all year long, one for each child each week. The parents now give me ideas on new packs and donate materials and ideas to put in them. Date: 6-28-99One of my collegues had a great idea for name recognition. She took pictures of each child, glued it to a colorful name tag and printed the child's name on the name tag. She then laminated each one. She placed the name tags in a colorful box that is available to the children in the writing area. These nametags were originally made to help the staff remember the children's names at the beginning of the year. They were part of a bulletin board. Now the children go to the box and take out their name card when they want to write their names themselves. They have also used the name tags for sorting games (this was done by the children on their own!!). They sort them by boys and girls, hair color, etc. It is amazing how many of the children now recognize the written name of their peers on artwork around the room that does not have a picture on it!! Name: Date: 5-25-99Each day as my children enter our PreK classroom they come to the sign in table. Using large paper I write the question of the day. This question is related to the thematic unit we are studying. For example: Unit: Fall Question: Do you like Red leaves or Orange leaves? Under the Question I will make two columns and title one RED and the other ORANGE. The children will sign their name under the color they prefer. Before you know it they are writing their names beautifully and recognizing and writing their friends names as well!
Date: 5-25-99To encourage parents and children to read together at home, we started a lending library. Each Monday, every child takes home a book in a special folder with their name on it. They read it with someone at home and bring it back to school by Thursday and then get to take another book home on the next Monday. We have a bulletin board entitled "Snoopy Needs a Bone" - on this are placed bones for every book that the children read at home with their parents. This gives them a concrete way of seeing just how much they are reading. I teach in a Headstart classroom and parents have shared with me that their child likes that they have a "library" book just like older brothers or sisters in elementary school.
Date: 5-25-99I am a bilingual teacher and language development is very, very important to me and one way I do it is through language experience approach but another good idea that has worked wonder for me in terms of vocabulary development is collecting the ads in the Sunday newspaper as they are colorful and attractive and the kids love to describe them and of course to relate to them as a lot of times the advertisement is for things that are very familiar to them but of course many times are things that they do not know but they learn about in a fun way. I keep an accordion file and as we work on the letter of the week I pull out my collection for that letter and we describe the items, we name and we put together sentences. This way bit the traditional teacher way of running black and white copies of drawings of the vocabulary. This is the closest I can come to the concrete.
Date: 5-25-99To promote story telling: We have a coffee can that we call our story can. In it each day are three items. At the beginning of the year I put in items that can be found in the book that we are reading that day. I take them out one at a time and the children name the items. Then we watch for these items in the story. At the end of the book I ask the children to tell me the story about those three items. Later in the year I pull out the items (Children have not seen the book we are reading that day) and I ask the children to name them and then tell me a story about these items. The children tell their own stories, which over the course of time become more and more imaginative. We record the children's stories and use them as part of their portfolio.
Date: 5-25-99This activity is good for developing attention span, comprehension and eye-hand coordination. First, using a piece of 12X18 size red construction paper folded in half trace the shape of a hen. The shape should be simple, large and placed on the fold so the head and tail are on the fold. Trace on for each child. Second, read the story of "THE LITTLE RED HEN" to your group. After you read the story, pass out the folded sheets on paper and ask the children to cut out the shape. After they have cut out the shape of the red hen, open it up and have each child retell his version of the story and record it in the inside part of the hen. I use this with a 4-5 year old group and they loved it. They also had something to take home and share with their parents.
Date: 5-25-99The para in our classroom made a coconut tree out of the heavy cardboard tube from the center of a roll of newsprint (about 4 1/2 ft tall) and rolled up paper put into the top of it to make it almost reach the ceiling. She made construction paper leaves and paper mache coconuts. It stood in the middle of our room for the month of January. We read Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom every day. The book and tape were in the listening center and the computer program was available at the computer center. We had laminated paper letters stuck to the tree and another set in a box under the tree and had the kids match upper and lower case. I also have a set of stuffed pillow letters with pictures for each letter. The class never got tired of playing Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom and they were reluctant to see the tree go at the end of the unit.
Date: 5-25-99areaI always have my class start a Story Quilt on the first day of the new school year. You can do this with Preschoolers or any other grade. Every time we read a book in class we make a small square out of construction paper. On it we place the name of the book, author and the name of the child if the book was brought in from home. The squares are glued together to form a Story Quilt. It allows the class to keep a visual reminder of all of the books that they read during the year. I send a list of each weeks books home on each Friday. I also have Bring a Book from Home Day each and every Friday. The children love to share their books from home and they know that they are helping the quilt to grow. It is a lot of fun and now several other teachers I have given the idea to are also using it and enjoying it. Give it a try. This should be poster in Language area.
Date: 5-25-99Title:"What a Catch" For the bottom of the bulletin board you use blue paper. This will be the water. At the top you attach string with a paper hook extending just below the water surface. Label the hooks with the children's names.Attach net to the middle of the board.(I used a small toy hammock)Make a variety of different fish out of construction paper. Label accordingly (letter,numbers,words) or make a fish for each color. Attach the fish to the water(blue). Each child has a turn to identify the fish. If they are correct the fish go into the net. I have also attached paper "crabs" to the side of the board. If the children identify 5 fish in a row they receive the "crab award".
Date: 5-25-99For a little variety in your children's journal stories: Make copies of a few comic strips from the weekday paper. Choose strips where there is a lot of action or dramatic facial expressions. Calvin and Hobbes, Foxtrot and Cathy are good ones to check. White out the text, leaving just the action. Have the children dictate a story to go with the comic strip pictures.
Date: 5-25-99Storybook Based Curriculum that uses one simple story with a repetitive text for 3 weeks. By the 3rd week the children can act out the story, and help read it. Placemats, headbands, paperbag puppets, small sensory books, objects from the story to match color, shape, or texture. You can add the ASL signs to the pages in your book as you teach by sight, sound and touch.
Date: 5-25-99NAME PLACEMATS- Print each child's name on their own circle or square piece of paper (use a dark felt). Have the children decorate the paper with felts, stamps, stickers etc. When done, mack tack the paper and use at the snack table as placemats. This promotes name recognition and the children have fun finding their names and helping to learn their friend's names. Date: 3-19-99RD2UKDS(MY LICENSE PLATE) Dear Parents, Grandparents, Teachers and all who find special joy in their children. Book Recommendation: The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease This is the finest book about what reading could and should be that I have discovered in 39 years as a parent, grandparent and 22 years as an elementary school teacher. I strongly recommend that you obtain a copy of this terrific book and use it in building new bridges to the wonders and joys of reading with your children. The essence of the book can be captured in this simple phrase: Make sure someone reads TO your kids at least 15 minutes every day - at home and away(school). You may have tangible wealth untold; Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. Richer than I, you can never be - I had a mother (and father) who read to me...S.Gillilan -Best Loved Poems of the American People. Name: Date: 3-19-99I teach three year olds and we also work with the "letter of the week concept. We put the letter on the floor with masking tape and make it huge! Then I have the children get all the toys ( blocks, dishes, manipulatives, etc.) and I tell them to cover the tape. When it is all covered they stand back and admire the giant letter they made. We also call our letter the Secret Password, not the letter of the week. No one is allowed to enter our classroom without saying the secret password! Name: Date: 3-19-99I use different shapes, according to season, or just basic circle, square, etc. to help with name recognition. Write name on shape, and cut in two pieces like a jigsaw puzzle. For example, Brit on one side, tany on the other. I place all the pieces on a table and children choose their names by matching the halves together. Once they are able to recognize and match their first names, it can be adapted so that first and last names are on each half. Name: Date: 3-19-99I cut out letters of each child's name on file folders, taped them to the file folders. When I was finished each child received the letters of their name. We used these as name puzzles. The children loved to be able to put their letter in the right order to spell their name. It was a lot of work but well worth it. Name: |
