August/September Week 2: Bouncy Big Balloon

phoneme: /b/

Transition Song: Bouncy Bouncy Bouncy

Materials: laminated letter B, small box, balloons

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts:  high/low, empty/full, descriptive words big/bigger/biggest, predicting, blow/blowing, bounce/bouncing/bounced, sitting, standing, turn-taking, hands, heads, elbows, “My turn”, pop, more

First we drew the Letter B.  "Start at the top and draw down.  Go back to the top and bounce around." What words have the /b/ sound in them?  The children came up with baby, bus, bumblebee, and bump.

Miss Carrie showed us a box.  It was a little box but it had something inside.  Something small that would get bigger. 

Wow!  It was a lot of balloons!  Red, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue, pink, orange, and purple.  What did Miss Carrie need to do to make the balloon get bigger?  The children suggested she blow into the balloon.

That balloon grew big and then bigger!  Miss Carrie tied the balloon and then asked "What should we do with the balloon?  Children suggested bouncing it.  Or hitting it with their hands. Or bumping it with their head.  There were a lot of balloons, enough for everyone to have one to play with.  So the teachers helped blow up more balloons.  And then this happened:

We talked about What our balloons were doing, Where they went, and Who we could ask to send them back.  Did they go high or low when we hit them? Were they heavy or light?  We talked about colors and compared sizes: "My balloon is bigger/smaller."  Sometimes we just expressed "My balloon" when we wanted it back.

DO THIS AT HOME:  have fun playing with balloons.  Get the entire family involved and talk about what you are doing, where the balloon goes, and who has it.  If it pops, talk about the loud noise and what you can do so it doesn't pop again.

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.

February Week 3: Heart, Happy, Horse....Harmonica?

phoneme: /h/

Transition Song: H-E-A-R-T by the Kiboomers

Materials: Laminated Letter H, pictures of /h/ words.

Vocabulary and basic concepts: hunt, hat, honey, heart, hippo, hair, hotdog, hug, horse, harmonica, hanger, fish hooks, hands, hammer, happy, Halloween, hummingbird, Humpty Dumpty, hero, house, horn, helicopter, hamburger, hide, Mr. Potato Head, What questions, Who questions, Where questions, First, Next, Last, prepositions.

Pre-literacy: This week we handed out our letter H and the children took over telling the teachers about it.  They thought up of /h/ words, talked about how to draw the letter H using first, next, and last. We put the letters behind us, in front of us, on top of us, and under our knees.

This week Miss Carrie taped 24 /h/ word pictures around the room.  First we went on a hunt to find the words.  Everyone brought back two or three words.  Miss Carrie taught us a new phrase.  We pat our knees and clapped in a pattern while we said it.  Pat-clap-pat-clap-pat-clap.

I have a picture

and it starts with /h-h-h-h-/.

When we said /h/, we blew into our hands so we could feel our breath as we said it.

Then each friend held up a picture and told the class what it was.  Miss Carrie asked us what it was, who had one or had seen one before, and where could we find it (home, outside, park, etc).  Then we put the picture on the wall.  We said the phrase again while we pat-clap-pat-clap and the next friend would get to tell us about their picture.  Some of us had not seen a hummingbird before.  Miss Jen held one before and had a picture to show us.  

No one knew what a harmonica was so Miss Carrie showed a video of someone playing a harmonica.  

We talked about dressing up like a super hero, if we had ridden a horse before, who had a hat at their house or in their backpack, and who saw the hippos  at the zoo.  We had a lot of exposure to practicing our /h/ sound as well as new vocabulary words.

DO THIS AT HOME: Look around for things at home or during errands that have the /h/ sound. practice the /h/ sound by holding your hand in front of your mouth as you exaggerate the sound so you can feel your breath.  Practice the sound in front of the bathroom mirror and let your breath fog up the mirror.

October Week 2: Stop and Go (and other basic concepts)

phoneme: /g/

Transition Song: Five Little Ghosts by the Kiboomers

Materials: laminated letter G, Jim Gill's Silly Dance Contest, street signs for Stop, Go, Slow

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: Stop/Go, Fast/Slow, High/Low, silly, stand up/sit down

Pre-Literacy:  Let's draw the letter G.  "Draw half a circle, not a frown.  Go across the middle and then down."  What other words can we think of that have the /g/ sound?  The children came up with gumdrop, goose, goat, mug, big, bag, wag, bigger.

This is a favorite.  It's the Silly Dance Contest! 

We listened to the song and followed directions.  Miss Carrie had a Stop sign, a Go sign, and a Slow sign.  The children kept anticipating and yelling GO! right before the music said GO!  We danced fast and slow, we jumped high.  When the music STOPPED we had to freeze.  Sometimes we had silly poses or silly faces.  Then Miss Carrie and all the kids would call out GO! and start again.  Then we raised our hands HIGH and then sunk LOW and the music went lower until we were all laying on the ground and laughing.

In case you don't know it, I adore Jim Gill.  His songs are fun and encourage parents and kids to sing and dance together.  If you ever have a chance to attend one of his concerts, it will be well worth your time.  In the meantime, you can find his music online or at your local library.

Aug/Sept Week 5: Bouncy Bouncy Balloons in a Box

Phoneme: /b/

Transition Song: Bouncy Bouncy Bouncy

Materials: small cardboard box, 12" balloons, laminated letter B

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: big/little, breath, blow, box, counting to 5+, high/low, big, bigger, biggest, bounce, hands, feet, predict(ing).

Pre-literacy: It was our last week with letter B.  Miss Carrie had the kids teach her how to draw the letter B.

Miss Carrie brought out a little box.  She had something in the box.  She said it was little but it would get bigger.  Miss Carrie shook the box and everyone took turns predicting what was in the box.  It was balloons!  Miss Carrie asked "How many breaths will it take to blow up the balloon?"  Everyone predicted 1, 2, 5, 10, 1000!  Everyone counted while Miss Carrie blew up the balloon.  1-2-3-4-5!  Is this big enough.  Miss Carrie tied the balloon and then brought out another balloon.  Everyone predicted how many breaths to blow up the balloon. This time it took 6 breaths.  Is it bigger than the first balloon?  Yes.  Miss Carrie brought out a third balloon.  Everyone guessed how many breaths it would take to blow up the balloon.  This time it took 7 breaths.  Is this balloon bigger than the other balloons?  It was the biggest balloon!

Next came the fun part.  Miss Carrie bounced the balloons in the air and everyone could bounce the balloons with their hands.  Miss Carrie reminded everyone to stay on their pockets so they didn't crash into their friends.  Everyone experimented with blowing on the balloons.  Did they move?  When this activity was over, Miss Carrie took the balloons outside to pop them (because some kids might be scared of the loud popping noise.)

January Week 4: More HOT and COLD

phoneme: /c/

Transition Song: Colors by The Learning Station (See January Week 1 for video.  We sing it without the music and have added pink=try to wink, and gray=say hooray).

Materials: laminated letter C, hot pad, frozen coldpacks

Vocabulary and Concepts: hot/cold, touch, feel, fingers, sink, refrigerator, microwave, snow, ice, pizza, soup, ice cream.

Pre-literacy: talking about the letter C.  We each held our letter C in different ways to see if it still looked like a letter C.  No, we can't hold it up side down or the open end pointing up.  We practiced drawing the letter C: "Put your finger at the top.  Draw half a circle and then you stop."  Top and Stop are words that rhyme - they sound the same.  We remembered that the letter C can have 2 sounds: /k,s/.  Words that have the letter C: Carrie, cold, cute (why, thank you!), cupcake, circle.

Group Activity:  Today, I brought in one hot pad and 3 frozen coldpacks.  I had the hot pad plugged in and warmed up before the children came to Large Group at the rug.  I had the children come close and touch and/or feel the hot pad.  They liked that is was so warm.  Then I passed around the cold packs.  They said it made their fingers cold.  I had them touch their cold fingers to their faces. We talked about other things that were hot and cold: summer, winter, ice, snow, wind, fire.  Then we walked around the room to look for things that might be hot or cold.  The sink has hot and cold water.  The refrigerator that holds our Snack Time drinks keeps them cold.  The microwave makes things hot.  The pizza in the kitchen could be hot (if it were real).  Miss Carrie likes to eat cold pizza.  Some of the children said they liked cold pizza, too.

We gathered back at the rug again and felt the hot pad and coldpacks again.  We talked about building snowmen and how they melt when it is warm and no longer cold.  We sang Once There Was A Snowman and grew tall-tall-tall and then small-small-small.

Look around your house and talk about what is hot and cold.  This would be a great time to talk about what is too hot to touch (stove) and other safety issues.  Also discuss that we wear coats, hats, and gloves to protect us from getting cold.  Bath time is a good time to talk about hot/cold/warm water.
Point out hot and cold foods that your family likes to eat.

January Week 1: Hiding Phil (UNDER a lot of things!)

Phoneme: /c/

Transition Song: Colors by The Learning Station

Materials: Laminated letter C, Book: Hiding Phil by Eric Barclay, items to hide under (blanket, table, chair, coats)

Vocabulary and concepts: elephant, hat, house, blanket, swimming pool, bath, tree, happy, sad, nose, slide, teeter-totter, under, What questions, Who questions, Where questions.

Pre-literacy: Talk about the letter C.  Trace with "Put your finger at the top. Draw half a circle.  Now we stop."  The letter C can make 2 different sounds.  A /k/ sound or a /s/ sound.  What words do you know that have a letter C.  Miss Carrie's name starts with a letter C using a /k/ sound.  Who else has a C in their name? Other C words we discovered include cookie, cupcake, candles, candy, circus, cow, cup. The letter C almost looks like a circle. We looked at the letter backwards, forwards, and upside down.

This week we are reading a fun book by Eric Barclay titled Hiding Phil.  I used the book for my READ picture in the front hall by the office.  (The READ board features each teacher in the school with a book they recommend.  We're supposed to dress or bring props themed with the book.  Hence, the reason why I am hiding under the blanket. The kids who take the bus pass the picture to and from the classroom.  They like to point at it and remind me "Hey, that is you!)

Hiding Phil is great fun because of the funny places the children try to hide the elephant.  We also noticed the dog in the book was silly, too.  We looked at the emotions on Phil's face and the children's face. We wondered what would happen on the next page. We asked Where/What/Who questions.

The illustrations are charming.  The few words per page combined with the pictures for clues make it possible for kids to learn how to tell the story back to you.  After they know it, I like to ask the child to 'read' it to me.  Some of their retellings are quite funny!  It is a great way to promote language.

After we read the book, the children went around the room to explore what they could hide under.  They hid under the table, under chairs, under the cloths that cover the toy shelves, and under the coats on the coat rack. Their very favorite part?  I took pictures of them hiding and then we viewed them as a class at the end of Large Group.  The children had SO MUCH FUN identifying their friends or themselves on the pictures and telling us WHERE they were hiding.

August/September Week 6: Bodies

Phoneme: /b/

Concepts: top/bottom, high/low, fast/slow, big/little

Pre-literacy: Practice tracing letter B.  "Put your finger on the top and draw down.  Go back to the top and bounce around."

We're talking about our bodies!  Heads, shoulders, knees, toes, hands, wrist, ankles, legs, eyebrows, eyelashes, elbows, ears, earlobes (yes, earlobes.  One child exclaimed "Those are earlobes?!").  We sang Hands Are For Clapping (We LOVE Jim Gill music!) and followed up with Heads And Shoulders, Knees And Toes.  Click on the song titles to get to videos that will help you learn the songs.

We also talked about what we do when we like the music we are listening to.  We can sway our bodies, nod our heads, clap our hands, tap our toes, and/or smile to show we like the music.

By the way, Jim has a fantastic entry on his blog about engaging with your child.  You can find that entry here.  My favorite part is that he is including the American Library Association's recommendations for young children and their parents/caregivers:

Talk together.

Sing together.

Read together.

Play together.

Write together.

It is part of the American Library Association's Every Child Ready To Read initiative.  You can learn more about that at http://www.everychildreadytoread.org.

August/September Week 5: Bears, Birds, Bats, and Bees

phoneme: /b/

Gathering song:  Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy (hands, shoulders, and backs)

Concepts:  loud/soft, animal sounds, animal characteristics (fly, walk), big/little, What questions, Where questions.

Pre-literacy:  Trace the letter B. "Start at the top and draw down.  Go back to the top and bounce around."

This week we're talking about animals that start with the /b/ sound.  We used the SoundTouch app to listen to bears, birds, bats, and bees.  We talked about whether they walk on the ground or fly in the air.  We saw that bears walk on all four limbs and bats hang upside-down - even when they eat!  We even pretended to be bears, birds, bats, and bees.  We went on a bear hunt...through a candy factory, a peanut butter river, and a jello swamp.  Finally, the children chose to be a bear, a bird, a bat, or a bee to go to their tables for small group.  The overwhelming choice was bat, with a few bears for good measure.

Week 4: Large Group - Buses, Boats, and Bikes

Phoneme: /b/

Gathering song:  Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy (hands, toes, head)

Concepts:  Go/Stop, Fast/Slow, Open/Shut, Tall/Short, Listening, Over/Under

Pre-Literacy:  Trace letter B with your pointer finger.  "Start at the top and draw down.  Go back to the top and bounce around."

Today we listened to noises to guess things that go (See Sound Touch app)

See :48 for the start of things that go.  I adore this app and use it for a great many activities.  After the kids guess the sound (it cycles 5 different pictures for each item), we sang The Wheels on the Bus, changed the song for The Wheels on the Bike, and then Row, Row, Row Your Boat (or sail or drive your boat).  The kids had a great time.

Week 3

We're actually repeating Week 2 as the children LOVE the Silly Pizza Song II and the Popcorn Song.

This week I'm giving the children the opportunity to be the song leader, or to tell me What Comes Next?  Miss Carrie will either forget what comes next or *gasp!* say the wrong thing.  The children love correcting these errors.

This Thursday our Occupational Therapist will be coming in to work on some gross and fine motor skills through whole body activities.  This will take place of Large Group.  We're looking forward to seeing what she is bringing to class.  As usual, Miss Carrie will be there to focus on concepts On Top, Under, In Front, Behind, Over, Under, and Next To.

April Week #1

Phoneme: /p/

Transition Song:  Silly Pizza Song

Concepts:  putting things in places; on top; next to; under, above;

Materials:  laminated letter P.  Laminated place mat and place settings.

Pre-literacy skills:  Draw the letter P.  What words have the p-p-p sound in them.  We say p-p-p without our voices turned on.  If we turn our voices on, then it sounds like b-b-b.

We're talking about the letter P and putting things in places!  We're back to the table settings we did in February.  Where do we put the napkin?  Under the fork.  Where do we put the cup?  Above the plate. Where do we put the spoon?  Next to the knife.

You can find the great placemat print out here.

January Week 2: Opposites

phonemes:  /k,s/

Transition Song:  The Rainbow Song (Signing Time)

Concepts:  Opposites, Who questions, voice volume

Materials:  Laminated C

Book:  Quiet Loud (Leslie Patricelli)

Start with pointing out who is wearing what color, review ASL for colors, then transition song.

Review letter recognition and tracing as per prior instructions.

Let's talk about opposites.  Three year old won't understand the definition, but they will understand a myriad of examples.  We're going to revisit the opposites book Quiet Loud.  Then we're going to compare humming to blowing whistles, talking soft to talking loud, and we are going to review our voice level chart.

We use a modified version of this voice level chart in both preschool classes.  Our teachers have eliminated the Strong Speaker and retained the #3 for Outside voices.  We refer to the #2 Table Talk as our Small Group/Large Group voice since we use that term for sections of our daily routine.

Since children learn best with multi-modal presentation, we'll fit in some fast/slow marching and high/low jumping.

January Week 1: Colors

phonemes:  /k,s/

Transition Song:  Colors of the Rainbow by Signing Time

Concepts:  Colors, Who-questions

Materials: Laminated C





We're talking about the letter C.  The Letter C can make two sounds:  k-k-k cookie, or s-s-s as in cereal.   Sometimes a word can have both k-k-k and s-s-s like the word circle.

(NOTE TO PARENTS:  When making the k-k-k sound touch the space on your neck at the top of your throat where it meets the back of your jaw.  This is our tactile cue in the classroom for the /k/ sound.  When making the /s/ sound, use your fingers to make a snake and have it slither away from you.  This is our visual cue for /s/ in the classroom.  When saying words with these sounds, it is very helpful to use the tactile/visual cues as you make the sound in the word.  That way the children have multiple ways to learn the appropriate sound.  Remember to model the sound.  Don't correct your child and say "No, that's not right.  Do it again."  Just model.)

What other words start with the /k/ or the /s/ sound?  Carrie starts with the /k/ sound!  (For some reason, the kids think that is pretty cool.)  There is also Carrot, Cough, Corn, Car, Cat, Coat.  Celery, City, Circus.  Wow, Circus has both sounds, too!

We're learning to sign colors as well as say them.  We are talking about WHO is wearing what color.  Who is wearing red?  Orange? Yellow, green, purple, blue? (Then we go over the colors not in the Rainbow song):  Pink, black, white, and gray.  Gray is a big one that most parents don't think to teach their children.  It is a good one to bring up and find in your clothes and while going about your day.  "Today the clouds are really gray."

We're also singing the Color Song by the Learning Station.

November: Week 4 - Yummy, Yucky

Subject:  T is for TURKEY (discussion of food)

Phoneme: /t/

Transition song: Gobble Gobble (The Thanksgiving Song) by Nooshi

Concept:  What is food and what is not.  Good food to eat.  New food to try.

Materials:  8x10 Laminated page with large letter T, book (see below), song (see below)



Follow the previous November large group format with transition song, and pre-literacy phoneme and writing skills for letter T.



This week, we're talking about food.  Thanksgiving is a time where children may be overwhelmed due to all the new foods on the table.  All month, we've sung about turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie while showing pictures.  This week we're talking about what is good to eat and what is not.

Yummy Yucky is a great book to talk about what is good or not.  This is preschool - we have children who eat crayons, who put toys in their mouths, and yes, even boogers (gross!).  This book addresses the crayons and boogers as well as sand, mud and a whole host of other nonfoods.  The book also addresses what foods your child may not eat but are yummy - great for picky eaters!  Leslie Patricelli has a series of wonderful books to consider.  I particularly like that the sentences are short and allow the children to practice their pre-literacy skills in supplying the repetitive words.



Expand the yummy, yucky concept.  I'm using photos of foods and items found around the classroom that we've had problems with:  crayons, paint, playdough, etc, that some of our orally-seeking children will put in their mouths.  The group then decides to label that food (or nonfood) YUMMY or YUCKY.  There will be printed YUMMY and YUCKY on the board so the children can then attach the picture under the voted upon title.



Below is the song (technically choral speaking) we're adding to our unit of yummy foods to eat.  Rachel Arntson's recordings are targeted to encourage greater speech and language.  She includes children in her recordings, so it become an extension of the children sitting in large group at preschool.  The song is full of direct models (EX:  Banana.  Your turn.  Banana.)  The children will receive a lot of opportunities to verbalize foods they are familiar with.

November: Week 3 - TOES!

Subject:  T is for Toes!
Phoneme: /t/
Transition Song:  Gobble Gobble (The Thanksgiving Song) by Nooshi
Concept:  Body, Body parts, Who/Where/What questions
Materials: 8x10 laminated page with large T

Trace the letter T as explained in November Week 1 and Week 2.

Let's talk about toes!  Toe starts with the t-t-t sound.  Who has toes?  How many toes do you have?  Where are your toes?  What can your toes do?  Can you touch your toes?  Can you walk on tippy toes?

Song:  Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
Book: Horns to Toes and in Between

Fingerplay:  Everybody Knows I Love My Toes

Everybody knows I love my toes
Everybody knows I love my toes
I love my nails, my knees
My neck and my nose
But everybody knows I love my toes!
Everybody knows I love my eyes
Everybody knows I love my thighs
I love my legs, my lips
My neck and my nose
But everybody knows I love my toes!
Everybody knows I love my feet
Everybody knows I love my seat
I love my skin, my chin
My knees and my nose
But everybody knows I love my toes!
Everybody knows I love my toes
Everybody knows I love my toes
I love my nails, my knees
My neck and my nose
But everybody knows I love my toes!

November: Week 2 - TEETH!

Subject:  T is for TEETH!
Phoneme: /t/
Transition Song:  Gobble, Gobble (The Thanksgiving Song) by Nooshi
Concept:  tongues, oral motor skills, Who/Where/What questions
Materials:  8x10 laminated page with large letter T for each child

Find your pointer finger.  Use it to trace the letter T.  "Top to bottom, now back to the top.  Left to right, and now STOP!  Practice the /t/ sound.  T-t-t-t.  Everyone practice:  Tee, Tay, Tie, Toe, Too!  Whose name starts with the t-t-t sound?  What words start with the t-t-t sound?  Some words we have come up with in class:  tickle, two, toys, turkey, tongue.

Let's talk about TEETH!  Do you have teeth?  How many teeth do you have?  Use your tongue to count your teeth.

We use teeth to chew our food.  Chewing food makes it easier to swallow food. Some foods are crunchy and need a lot of chewing.  Some foods are soft and don't need a lot of chewing.  Put together a snack and see what your teeth can do.  Look in the mirror (yes, you have permission to show your chewed food).  Talk about when you lose your teeth and more grow in.

November: Week 1 - TONGUE!

Subject:  T is for Tongues
Phoneme: /t/
Transition Song:  Gobble, Gobble (The Thanksgiving Song) by Nooshi
Concept:  tongues, oral motor skills, Who/Where/What questions
Materials:  8x10 laminated page with large letter T for each child

Find your pointer finger.  Use it to trace the letter T.  "Top to bottom, now back to the top.  Left to right, and now STOP!  Practice the /t/ sound.  T-t-t-t.  Everyone practice:  Tee, Tay, Tie, Toe, Too!  Whose name starts with the t-t-t sound?  What words start with the t-t-t sound?  Some words we have come up with in class:  tickle, two, toys, turkey, tongue.

Who has a tongue?  We do!  What can you do with your tongue?  We can taste with our tongue.  "Taste" starts with /t/! We can move our tongues. Put your tongue on the left corner of your lips, now right, now back and forth.  Can you lick your lips with your tongue?  Pretend your tongue is a vacuum, and vacuum the bottom of your mouth, the inside of your cheeks, and the top of your mouth.

What do you like to taste?  (Let your child/children name foods).  Look at pictures of foods you like to serve for Thanksgiving.  What tastes good?  Do you like turkey?  Stuffing?  Sweet potatoes?  Mashed potatoes?  Rolls? Pie?

Can you roll your tongue like a hotdog?  Look in the mirror to see.

Pick out the letter T in the book you choose to read tonight.

November Planning

Sound of the month:  /t/
Song of the month:  Gobble, Gobble (The Thanksgiving Song)
Book of the month:  Yummy, Yucky by Leslie Patricelli

This month we are talking about the sound of the letter T.  The children have loved practicing letter and sound recognition, tracing the letter, and discovering who has the letter T at the start of their name.

The song for the month of November is Gobble, Gobble (The Thanksgiving Song) by Nooshi.  You can find it on iTunes.  This song includes some of the traditional Thanksgiving foods and traditions, so it has been great to talk about what foods are yummy.

The letter T rhyme for tracing:  "Top to bottom.  Back to the top.  Left to right and now we STOP!"

Our book of the month, Yummy Yucky, is a great book to reinforce what is good food, and what we don't eat.  Spaghetti is yummy.  Dirt is yucky.  The children love this book and I'm excited to present it to the class this year. This is also a great way to introduce new or different foods at Thanksgiving.  Talk about what is yummy.  I'll blog more of this activity the week of Thanksgiving.

Catching up: October

Sound:  /g/
Transition Song:  Five Little Ghosts (The Kiboomers)

Letter recognition: 8x10 laminated sheet with large bold capital letter G.  Ask children to show their pointer fingers.  Indicate where to put their pointer finger to start the tracing.  Trace the G while reciting the rhyme:  "Draw half a circle, not a frown.  Draw across the middle and then down".  Hold the G high while chanting "Give me a Gee! (Be sure to use /g/ and /j/ initial sound).  Gay!  Guy!  Go!  Goo!"  Discuss words that start with the g-g-g sound, including names of family and friends.

Title:  G Sound, Week 1

Materials required:  Good Night Gorilla, flashlight, animal pictures

Additional concepts:  Predicting, Wh-questions.

Transition activity:  Five Little Ghosts Song

Goodnight Gorilla:

Discussion:  Read the book.

-       Ask What is going to happen next?

-       What are the names of the animals?

-       Who is the man with the flashlight?

-       What time of day is it?  Day or Night?

-       Where are the animals going when they get out of their cages?

-       Why are there two pages all black with surprised eyes?

-       Who takes the animals back to the zoo?

-       Who ate the banana?  The gorilla or the mouse?

-       What is inside the animal’s cage?

Theater:  Shine a flashlight.  Use finger puppets or popsicle stick puppets so everyone gets a chance to help tell the story as you read along.

Title:  G Sound, Week 2

Materials required: 

Additional concepts: 

Transition activity:  Five Little Ghosts

Discussion:  We’re learning more about the /g/ sound. Remember it is in your throat.  Let’s practice. Put your fingers on your neck. G-G-G.

Now let’s trace our letters. Use your pointer fingers.

“Draw half a circle, not a frown.

Across the middle and then down.”

Target sound and recognition:  Gee, Gay, Guy, Go, Goo

What else starts with the G-G-G sound?  Girl, Go, Going, Gorilla, Ghost, Guitar, Grasshopper, Grapes

Show pictures of Grapes.  “What is this??  Grapes has a /g/ sound.  G-G-Grapes.

What color are they?  Green Grapes.  Green also has a /g/ sound.  G-G- Green.  Green Grapes.  Green Grapes are Good to Eat.  Green Beans are good to eat.  Gravy is good to eat. 

Song: Good to eat. (Tune: Frere Jacques.  Adapt the song to what they like to eat)

EXAMPLES:

GRAPES:  Green and juicy, Green and juicy. Nice and sweet, nice and sweet. Dripping on your fingers, dripping on your fingers. Good to eat, good to eat"

CARROTS:  Orange and crunchy, orange and crunch, nice and sweet, nice and sweet. Crunch so loud, crunch so loud.  Good to eat.  Good to eat.

PIZZA:  Hot and cheesy, hot and cheesy, Pepperoni, Pepperoni. Cheese is melty, cheese is melty.  Good to eat.  Good to eat.

Title:  G Sound, Week 4

Materials required:  Laminated G

Additional concepts: 

Transition activity:  Five Little Ghosts

Discussion:  We’re learning more about the /g/ sound. Remember it is in your throat.  Let’s practice. Put your fingers on your neck. G-G-G.

Now let’s trace our letters. Use your pointer fingers.

“Draw half a circle, not a frown.

Across the middle and then down.”

Target sound and wel recognition:  Gee, Gay, Guy, Go, Goo

What else starts with the G-G-G sound?  Girl, Go, Going, Gorilla, Ghost, Guitar, Grasshopper, Grapes

Show picture of ghost.  What is this?  Ghost has a /g/ sound in it!  G-G-Ghost.

Finger play: 

I saw a ghost (fingers circle eyes)
He saw me too (point to yourself)
I waved at him (wave your hand)
But he said, “Boo!” (try to scare the person next to you)

Song: (To the tune of The Ants Go Marching 10x10)

The ghosts go flying 10x10

oo-oo, oo-oo

The ghosts go flying 10x10

oo-oo, oo-oo

The Ghosts go flying 10x10

The little one stops to scare a hen

And they all go flying down to the town

For some fun Halloween

oo-oo-oo-

9x9 – check the time

8x8 – say “we’re late!”

7x7 – look at heaven

6x6 – do some tricks

5x5 – take a dive

4x4- fly through the door

3x3 – to say “Wheeeeee!”

2x2 – to sneeze “Achoo!”

1x1 – to say “I’m done!”