Sunday, January 29, 2012
Dd is for dragon (and Chinese New Year) 1/23-27/12
This week we talked about and read about dragons! We also talked about and read about Chinese New Year - this year is the year of the dragon! The children pretended to be dragons and then played with dragons, a castle, and blocks.
For art - they blew watered down paint around with a straw.
This week was interrupted with me getting sick. I hate taking days off for sickness, because it messes up my plans. For some reason, the Tuesday group didn't get the phonics lesson for the letter Dd. Since I took Thursday off, they also didn't get the writing lesson for that letter. I'll have to use a review day to teach that letter to them. For the M/W/F group, instead of teaching the Friday lesson, I continued with my second day of the letter Dd. They were able to practice writing the lesson and they got to listen to the song - "Puff the Magic Dragon" along with a beautifully illustrated book. I also read "There's No Such Thing as a Dragon" - one of my favorites. I saved the day two art lesson for next week and instead, the group on Friday tried making snowflakes by cutting into a folded coffee filter.
Enjoy the photos and the video clip:
For art - they blew watered down paint around with a straw.
This week was interrupted with me getting sick. I hate taking days off for sickness, because it messes up my plans. For some reason, the Tuesday group didn't get the phonics lesson for the letter Dd. Since I took Thursday off, they also didn't get the writing lesson for that letter. I'll have to use a review day to teach that letter to them. For the M/W/F group, instead of teaching the Friday lesson, I continued with my second day of the letter Dd. They were able to practice writing the lesson and they got to listen to the song - "Puff the Magic Dragon" along with a beautifully illustrated book. I also read "There's No Such Thing as a Dragon" - one of my favorites. I saved the day two art lesson for next week and instead, the group on Friday tried making snowflakes by cutting into a folded coffee filter.
Enjoy the photos and the video clip:
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| blowing watered down paint with a straw |
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| Fun twisting and spinning in the swings - lots of squeals |
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| climbing the rope ladder |
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| cutting a snowflake - using coffee filters |
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| Light bright - lit up this time. Putting those pegs in helps build the strength in the fingers and teaches them control |
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Kk is for kangaroo 1/17-20/12
Our theme this week was "kangaroos". Next week, January 26th, the Australians (where kangaroos are from) celebrate Australia Day, which is why we talked about kangaroos. One little girl's Mother is from Australia, her Nanima (grandma) lives in Australia, and I lived in Australia for a year. We had lots to talk about and I had pictures to show. I also showed them my boomerangs.
Our centers were 1) to screw plastic or wooden bolts and nuts together, 2) stamp letters, and 3) put pegs in the light bright.
I started testing the children this week. I only tested them on the areas that they didn't know in October. I am so excited how they have improved!!! I made the mistake of not making a copy of the first results. I started erasing the 1's and writing 3's for what they know now. If you've kept your copy of the first time they were tested, you'll be able to see where they've grown. By the time May comes along, I'm hoping to see mostly 3's on everyone's report cards.
For art: 1) We dripped watered down paint onto a paper that was sprayed with water. *You can take it one step further by drawing hearts on their art, cutting the hearts out, and pasting it onto another paper. 2) We took 2 colors - either red, yellow, or orange and spread them out until they met in the middle. The effect was to look like a sunset. *You can take it one step further and paint a black island with palm trees at the bottom of the page where the darkest color sits.
Enjoy this week's photos:
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Our centers were 1) to screw plastic or wooden bolts and nuts together, 2) stamp letters, and 3) put pegs in the light bright.
I started testing the children this week. I only tested them on the areas that they didn't know in October. I am so excited how they have improved!!! I made the mistake of not making a copy of the first results. I started erasing the 1's and writing 3's for what they know now. If you've kept your copy of the first time they were tested, you'll be able to see where they've grown. By the time May comes along, I'm hoping to see mostly 3's on everyone's report cards.
For art: 1) We dripped watered down paint onto a paper that was sprayed with water. *You can take it one step further by drawing hearts on their art, cutting the hearts out, and pasting it onto another paper. 2) We took 2 colors - either red, yellow, or orange and spread them out until they met in the middle. The effect was to look like a sunset. *You can take it one step further and paint a black island with palm trees at the bottom of the page where the darkest color sits.
Enjoy this week's photos:
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| Stilt walking |
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| Putting our shoes on to go outside |
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| Sitting at the big table to learn the art lesson |
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| Instead of buying a kidney shaped table, I use my dining room table to demonstrate lessons. |
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| Drip art |
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| Drip art |
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| Plastic nuts and bolts. They had to match the color AND the shape. |
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| Wooden nuts and bolts |
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| We had extra time after I did a puppet show, so I let the children use my special puppets. |
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| Passing the objects that begin with the same letter as the letter of the week like key and kettle |
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| Figuring it out |
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| My pointer helper |
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| Changing their picture card to show they are here |
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| Light Bright - AKA - peg board |
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| This is the second time they've done letter stamping. They LOVE this activity! In fact, when I said that it time for snack, they said they weren't hungry, because they wanted to keep going. |
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| I love the concentration |
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Review and Martin Luther King Jr.
I find teaching history, and how life used to be like, difficult for this age group. These little ones are still trying to figure out their current world around them and how they fit in it. I did the best I could teaching about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The art project of blending colors didn't turn out the way the book said it would. We had to put the three primary colors (fingerpaints) in a line on a white piece of paper and put wax paper on top. Then we had to smooth out the paint and try to get them to blend into each other. When the children were done smoothing the paint out, they had to carefully lift the wax paper off. I'm wondering if a runnier paint would work better.
In the beginning of the year, I pushed the children in the swing, showed how some of the sand toys worked, and played ball with the children. Now that they are friends and interact a lot with each other I stand back and watch from afar. I also want them to use their muscles either playing with sand, chasing each other, or swinging themselves. If a student asks me to push them on the swings, I tell them, "No", because I want them to use their energy during our short period outside. Sometimes they seem shocked or heart broken, but I explain that I want them to use their own muscles to swing, instead of getting a ride on the swings. This has cut down on the fighting over the swings and brought peace to our outside time.
I finally moved the classroom signs, posters, and teaching cards into the new room. It looks very preschool-like, again.
I bought a new doll house that is a tree-house doll house with tree house furniture. I am so excited about this!!!! I feel like a kid and found myself having a lot of fun when I arranged the furniture. There are a lot of dolls that go with this house. I also broke out our castle and put it next to the doll house, so that there was a different option.
Enjoy the pictures:
The art project of blending colors didn't turn out the way the book said it would. We had to put the three primary colors (fingerpaints) in a line on a white piece of paper and put wax paper on top. Then we had to smooth out the paint and try to get them to blend into each other. When the children were done smoothing the paint out, they had to carefully lift the wax paper off. I'm wondering if a runnier paint would work better.
In the beginning of the year, I pushed the children in the swing, showed how some of the sand toys worked, and played ball with the children. Now that they are friends and interact a lot with each other I stand back and watch from afar. I also want them to use their muscles either playing with sand, chasing each other, or swinging themselves. If a student asks me to push them on the swings, I tell them, "No", because I want them to use their energy during our short period outside. Sometimes they seem shocked or heart broken, but I explain that I want them to use their own muscles to swing, instead of getting a ride on the swings. This has cut down on the fighting over the swings and brought peace to our outside time.
I finally moved the classroom signs, posters, and teaching cards into the new room. It looks very preschool-like, again.
I bought a new doll house that is a tree-house doll house with tree house furniture. I am so excited about this!!!! I feel like a kid and found myself having a lot of fun when I arranged the furniture. There are a lot of dolls that go with this house. I also broke out our castle and put it next to the doll house, so that there was a different option.
Enjoy the pictures:
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| Pegs in a peg board |
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| looking at our review letters |
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| Stilt walking and playing with friends |
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| "Look at me, Miss Esther!" |
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| She's amazing! |
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| Loving the new doll house |
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| Added the castle to give more space |
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| Letter stamping |
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| I love taking pictures of children discovering and learning! |
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| This was a fun activity |
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| After the children stamped letters, they traced them. |
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| Hard at work |
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| The children enjoyed this, even though it didn't turn out the way I expected. |
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| This group playing with the new doll house. My daughter woke up early. The children are so good with her! They're gentle and love to share with her when she wakes up. |
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| Cheese! |
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| Helping each other clean up. It's neat to see these children grow. |
Monday, January 9, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
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