February Week 2: 'H' Hunt

phoneme: /h/

Transition song: H-E-A-R-T by the Kiboomers.  (Note: we clap and sing all the letters every verse and sing the verse 4 times.  The children have had fun trying to make 'hearts' with their fingers.

Materials:  Laminated letter H, laminated pictures of /h/ words, some physical items (hats, toy horse, toy hippo, beanbag with letter H on it)

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: Who/What/Where questions, big/little, labeling, describing words, have, yes/no, Heart, house, hippo, horse, hand, horseshoe crab, helicopter, honey, hamburger, hotdog, harmonica, hair, hammer, hat, hammock, hanger, helmet, Humpty Dumpty.

Pre-Literacy:  Draw the Letter H. (see last week for directions)

This week we went on a hunt for /h/ sounds.  We practiced clapping and saying "I have a picture and it starts with /h/."  When we said the /h/ sound, we held our hands up in front of our mouths so we could feel our breath.  Once we had the phrase down, we got up in groups and went hunting around the room.  Every time we found a new picture we clapped and said "I have a picture and it starts with /h/."  Then we talked about What is it?  Where can we find it?  Who has one at their house, or likes it, or has seen it out in the community.  For the children who needed something more concrete, we had items like hats, toy horses, toy hippo, and a honey jar that they could hold and compare.

DO THIS AT HOME:  Draw a large capital letter on a piece of paper.  Practice the sound together.  Then go on a hunt around your home or neighborhood and look for items that have that sound.  This is also a great activity to do at the grocery store, when you have such a captive audience.

January Week 5: Drum those drums!

phoneme: /d/

Transition: The Color Song by the Kiboomers

Materials:  Laminated Letter D, sturdy cardboard boxes, variety of music

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts:  loud/quiet, fast/slow, stop/go, big/little (or small), big/bigger/biggest, small/smaller/smallest, beat, drum, box.

Preliteracy - We've been drawing the letter D all month.  This time we used our fingers to dance and drive around the letter D.  We talked about words that had that sound and names that had that sound.

This week, Miss Carrie brought a lot of boxes to class.  Big boxes and little boxes.  We drummed on boxes.  Miss Carrie turned on music and we drummed fast or slow, and loud or soft. We listened to the music to determine how to drum.  When Miss Carrie called out "Hands up!" we put our hands up and waited.  We discovered that we couldn't hear each other when we drummed loudly.  some people liked to drum to music that was fast and loud.  Other people liked to drum to music that was slow and quiet.  We took turns choosing how to drum.  We watched each other try different ways to drum (back of hands, drum-clap-drum-clap) and tried to copy it.  It was a great opportunity to practice describing and work on basic concepts.

Some of the music we used included: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rock and Roll Preschool by the Wiggles, Life Is a Highway from Cars, You're Welcome from Moana, and Yo Yo Ma's Appalachian Journey.

DO THIS AT HOME: use boxes, pots and pans, or (if you have it) a drum set. Describe your actions and the sounds. 

December Week 2: Silly Sally

phoneme: /s/

Transition Song: Must Be Santa by Raffi

Materials: Silly Sally by Audrey Wood, Silly Sally big book and manipulatives, laminated letter S, laminated Santa.

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts:  front/back, right side  up/upside down, up/down, high/low, fast/slow, awake/asleep, labeling animals, walk, jump, crawl, march, dance, muddy, silly, singing, tired, tickle/d, What questions, Who questions, alliteration, predicting.

Preliteracy - Draw the letter S.  What words have the /s/ sound?  soup, sneaky, snow, sweet, salty, Santa, silly, Superman, Snack Time.

This week we are using some of our brand new materials we received from our Donors Choose benefactors!  Thank you to everyone who donated towards this.  We read the book Silly Sally by Audrey Wood.

Silly Sally likes to walk backwards and upside down.  There are a lot of rhyming and repetitive words in this book which makes it a lot of fun to read together.  First we read the book.  Everyone called out UPSIDE-DOWN when we got to that part. We predicted who Sally would see next by looking down the path on which she was walking. We listened for alliteration and rhyming words.

Then we used the cards and the character bean bags and made up our own version of Silly Sally.  We danced.  We flew.  We sang.  We attempted to walk upside-down.

That is a GIANT book!  Everyone could see the pictures!

DO THIS AT HOME:  Read Silly Sally together (it's at the library!) or another book with simple words.  Point out rhyming words and alliteration.  What do the animals sound like?  Can you do that?  What do they move like?  Can you do that?  Parents, get down on the floor and do it with your child.  Ask them to show you how to do it.  Change the animals in the story to their favorite ones?  You could even draw you own pictures to make your own book.

December Week 1: Snow People

Phoneme: /s/

Transition Song:  Must be Santa by Raffi

Note: we aren't singing to the music as we sing slower in preschool.  We're singing the first three verses.  Ask your child to show you the actions as well.

Materials:  Book - Snowballs by Lois Elhert, snow people items (hats, scarves, necklaces, sunglasses, sweaters, etc), laminated Santa, laminated letter S.

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: snow, snowmen/women/people, snow ball, boy/girl, baby, bird, popcorn, clothing items, melting, dressing, on top, next to, behind, hot/cold, What questions, Where questions.

Pre-Literacy:  Let's draw the letter S.  Start at the top.  Swoop over.  Swirl down.  Swoop under.  And stop!  What words have the /s/ sound?  Soup, sweet, salty (we talk a lot about sweet and salty at Snack Time), sound, silly, soft, Santa, snow, snowman.

This week, Miss Carrie read a book by Lois Elhert called Snowballs.

In the book there is a snow family that have a lot of different items on them.  We looked at the pictures and talked about what we saw on the snow people.  Miss Carrie asked "What do you see?"

Miss Carrie REALLY wanted to build snow people!  She brought hats, scarves, necklaces, sweaters, sunglasses, But we couldn't go outside (it was too cold).  We couldn't being snow inside (it would melt).  So we had to problem solve:  What could we use to build snow people?

We could turn the TEACHERS into snow people!  We labeled clothing items and body parts.  We discussed who would wear what item.  We decided where the hats, glasses, and scarves should go. Look at what happened next...

DO THIS AT HOME:  No snow?  No problem!  Turn family members into snow people.  Label the clothing and other items you choose to use.  Talk about hot and cold.  Label body parts.  

Then, make some hot chocolate.  (Miss Carrie LOVES hot chocolate with whip cream. She talks about it during Snack Time when we talk about things we like to eat and drink.)

Favorite Books at Preschool

Every year, parents ask "What are the favorite books at preschool?  What do the kids like?"  Here's the list.  It's not complete by any means, but it is a good start.  We aim for books that are great for language.

My Big Animal Book by Roger Priddy.  This is a HUGE board book.  Bright, colorful pictures with simple labels.  He also has a My Big Farm Book that the children always ask if they can read my copy. These books are well-loved.

White Rabbit's Color Book by Alan Baker.  This cover keeps changing but the book is the same.  This rabbit starts out white but keeps jumping into the paint.  The children LOVE to predict what color the rabbit will be next!  I love the simple phrases and how it keeps the children engaged.

Another good color book is Bear Sees Colors by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman.  Another fun book where the kids predict what color will be next.  It's also fun to identify the animals and bugs in the pictures and talk about their actions.

Anna Dewdney and her Llama Llama books are always a great choice.  But one of the new favorites is all about Nelly Gnu and her Daddy Too.  Great language opportunities include relatable scenarios such as when Nelly loses her dad at the home improvement store. (Don't worry, she finds him!)  They are spending time together and make a fun project.  This is a fun book where you can point out the rhyming words!

Donald Crews wrote and illustrated Ten Black Dots the year I was born and Freight Train when I was 10 years old.  These books have not lost their charm.  The children love the art.  The love counting and learning basic concepts.  Just wait until you see how Donald Crews depicts fast in the book Freight Train.

The Mine-O-Saur by Sudipta Bardha-Quallen and illustrator David Clark tells the tale about a dinosaur (and you know the children love dinosaurs!) who thinks he needs to have everything.  No one gets to play with the toys when he yells "MINE!" and takes the toys away. This is a great book for problem solving in the same way we do problem solving at school.  What is the problem?  I wonder how they can solve the problem?

There is also the favorite books post I wrote last year with some fun suggestions.  You can find that by clicking here.

I'm sure Miss Jen and Miss Jeana have more recommendations.  Happy reading!

November Week 2: Yummy Yucky

phoneme: /t/

Transition Song: Gobble Gobble (The Thanksgiving Song) by Nooshi (first two verses)


Materials: Laminated Letter T, Yummy Yucky By Leslie Patricelli

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts:  yummy/yucky, like/don't like, hot/cold, spaghetti, worms, blueberries, crayons, soup, soap, sandwich, sand, cookies, coffee, chocolate sauce, hot sauce, apple pie, mud pie, hamburgers, boogers (oh, yes, we went there!), eggs, ear wax, fish sticks, fish food, ice cream, too much, at home, Mom likes, Dad likes, What questions, Where questions, Who questions.

Pre-Literacy:  Let's draw the letter T.  Draw top to bottom.  Now back to the top.  Draw left to right and now we stop.  What words have the /t/ sound?  Turkey, turtle, toys, taco, tongue, tiger, tape, tomatoes, table, tree.

This week we are reading the book Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli.  Miss Carrie loves Leslie Patricelli books!

Babies put everything in their mouths.  They don't know what is yummy and what is yucky!  We read the book together and talked about what we can eat and what we can't eat.  We discovered that some friends like foods we don't.  We heard a story about one of our classmates who went camping at the sand dunes and got sand in her mouth.  Sand is yucky!  Fun to play in, but not to eat.  Baby even tried to eat boogers!  EW!  We've been talking about boogers earlier in the year so everyone knows that we don't put them in out mouths.  If you put your fingers in your nose, the teachers will ask you to wash your hands.  We don't want to get sick.

This book brought out a lot of conversation and a lot of laughter among the kids. Everyone was eager to share what they liked and did not like. What do you like to eat? Who likes pie?  Where  did you eat hamburgers?

DO THIS AT HOME:  What do you think is yummy/yucky?  What things should you NEVER put in our mouths?  What foods do you like or don't like?

Other things that happened in school this week:

We had a drill this week.  The alarms were loud!  We had to go outside until the drill was all done.