Holiday Songs and Follow Me.

 Transition Song: Must Be Santa by Raffi

We only sing the first three verses in class and we sing it without the music.  The music is too fast for little kids.

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: bells, shake, descriptive words, swing, sway, throw, toss, catch, labeling colors, look, long/short, high/low, fast/slow, up/down, loud/quiet.

This week, Miss Carrie introduced Must Be Santa song and Jingle Bells.  She brought jingle bells for everyone to shake.

Then Miss Carrie pulled our her scarves.  There were  a lot of different colors: dark pink, light pink, yellow, red, blue, purple, orange, green.  We each got to choose a color. We had to think of a second color choice if our first choice was already gone.  Miss Carrie turned on the music and we showed the teachers what we could do.  The teachers followed us, and sometimes would provide vocabulary words or expand phrases if we needed help. We listened to Yo-Yo Ma play tango on his cello, Steve Martin play banjo with the Steep Canyon Rangers, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra perform Flight Of The Bumblebee. We guessed if the music was fast or slow, loud or quiet.

DO THIS AT HOME:  scarves, paper, socks, small towels, or little blankets.  Turn on some music, get your dance moves on, and have your child show you what to do.  Help them narrate their actions.  Get the entire family involved.

September Week 2: Who Is Behind The Blanket?

 Transition Song: Bouncy Bouncy Bouncy

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: in front/behind, Who-questions, peer names, greeting peers, on top/under, counting 1-5, My turn, Yes/No, He/She, His/Hers.

This week, Miss Carrie brought a big, red blanket to Large Group.  She introduced a new game she called "Who Is Behind The Blanket".  To play it, first we had to learn the song:

Who is behind the blanket?

Who is behind the blanket?

Who is behind the blanket?

1-2-3-4-5!

Once we learned the song, Miss Carrie showed us what to do.  She got behind the blanket.  We sang the song.  

When we counted to 5, Miss Carrie dropped the blanket and asked "Who is behind the blanket?"  We answered "Miss Carrie!"   

Everyone say 'hi' to Miss Carrie.  "Hi, Miss Carrie!"

Then everyone was asked if they wanted a turn.  They could say yes or no.  They could say "My turn!"  We had fun learning peer names and saying hi to everyone.

1-2-3-4-5! Who is behind the blanket?

Everyone, say hi to my friend!

Who is it?  What is her name?

Then, Miss Carrie did a magic trick.  She asked Miss Jeana or Miss Misty if they wanted a turn.  They were sitting by the shelves so she went over, held up the blanket in front of them, and sang the song.  When Miss Carrie dropped the blanket, Miss Jeana or Miss Misty had disappeared!  Oh, no!  What happened?  Miss Carrie, what did you do?!

Then Miss Jeana or Miss Misty stood up from behind the shelves.  They had crawled away when no one could see them.  It was so funny!

DO THIS AT HOME:  Parents, you will be surprised how much fun your child has with this game.  The children in our classroom wanted turns again and again.  Some even chose to play it again during Work Time.  Get a blanket, round up family members, and have your child take the lead. Do the disappearing trick, if you can.

March Week 1: First, Next, Last

Phoneme: /p/

Transition: Wake Up - Daily Routines by Dream English

This is one of the most popular songs I cover all year.  We practice patterns (tap knees, clap, tap knees, clap....) as well as fun actions.  This is a song where I sing first, then the children repeat u til the chorus.  Do this at home and let your child be in charge to teach you.)

Materials: Laminated letter P, dry erase board and marker, music

Vocabulary and basic concepts: first/last, high/low, fast/slow, jumping, spinning, shaking kicking, swimming, swinging, plan, What questions, Who questions, animal and environmental sounds.

We started learning a new song today.  It was fun to clap along and we learned to beat patterns.  When the song was done, Miss Carrie asked WHO woke up today?  WHO washed their face today?  WHO brushed their teeth today?  WHO combed their hair today?  WHO ate breakfast today?  WHO came to school today?  Everyone raised their hands and talked about their morning routine.  That routine is a plan.  We make plans every day. We make plans during Planning Time for what we're going to do for Work Time. 

Miss Carrie said it would be fun to make a plan for Large Group.  We planned how we were going to move.  We planned what we would do First, what we would do Next and what we would do Last.    Miss Carrie drew pictures on the board the same way that Miss Jen and Miss Jeana draw pictures on the board for messages during Greeting Time.  (Miss Carrie has a hard time drawing but she keeps practicing.  Sometimes her frogs look more like penguins, but that is okay. Note to Parents - sometimes children don't want to try things because they feel they won't be successful.  Watching an adult try and fail, and hear that it is okay, encourages the child to try as well.)  Everyone offered suggestions on what actions we could do.  Then Miss Carrie turned on music and we followed our plan.  We flew, kicked, tapped, spun, danced, and jumped.  After we followed the plan, we reviewed what we did First, Next, and Last. Then we made new plans.

In this plan we jumped, flew like Superman, and touched our toes.

In this plan, we pretended to eat carrots, swam like fish, and kicked our legs.

This time we jumped up and down like frogs, swam, and flew.

This plan was all about dancing, waving our hands, and flying like butterflies.

DO THIS AT HOME:  Make plan for what you do in the morning, what you need to do to set the table, or just to do actions together.  Draw pictures to show what you will do first, next, and last.  Add some fun music.  Don't forget to review the plan when you are done to see if you did everything you planned.  If your plan didn't go as scheduled, draw pictures to show what did happen.

January Week 3: Dance, Dance, Dance

phoneme: /d/

Transition Song: Colors by The Learning Station.  This week we started singing without the music so we could adapt the colors to what the children were wearing.

Materials:  Laminated letter D, Scarves, jingle bells, music

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts:  dance, What questions, head, neck, shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist, hand, front/back, hip, leg, knee, feet, high/low, fast/slow, jump, sway, stomp, spin or twirl, wave, flap

Pre-literacy:  This week we traced our letter D by driving our fingers and making car noises.  Then we danced our fingers around the letter D. 

Miss Carrie announced that we would dance for Large Group.  We had to decide on at least 2 body parts to move.  We waved arms and kicked legs. We stomped feet, we swayed our hips, shrugged our shoulders, and shook our head.  Miss Carrie brought scarves and bells.  We shook bells and waved scarves.  We threw the scarves in the air.  The music was fast and slow, popular songs, blue grass, big band, and soundtracks.  After each song, we talked to our teachers about What body part we moved.

DO THIS AT HOME:  Turn on your favorite music and start moving!  Talk about what body parts you are moving and how you are moving them.  Use props.  Take pictures and look at them.  Save a few to show other family members and help your child tell the others what they were doing.  You could even print a few pictures to make a book.  Don't be surprised if it becomes a favorite book.

October Week 2: Fall, Autumn, and Leaf Man

phoneme: /g/

Transition Song: Five Little Ghosts (see previous post for link)

Materials: Laminated letter G, autumn leaves, Book: Leaf Man

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: environmental sounds (moo, quack, gobble-gobble) high/low, same/different, big/little, in front/behind, next to, throw, roll, leaves, autumn, fall, trees, labeling colors, What/Where/Who, abstract convo, -ing, plural -s EX:  I have red leaves on my tree.

Pre-Literacy: Draw the letter G together.  What words have that /g/ sound? Go, ground, game, grape, goat.

This week with Miss Carrie, we read Leaf Man by Lois Elhert.  Leaf Man used to live in my yard but he blew away!  We saw a lot of pictures made with autumn leaves: animals, vegetables, fruits.  We guessed what they were and made animal sounds or answered if we liked pears and apples.

Miss Carrie has  A LOT of big trees at her house and the leaves are turning red, yellow, orange, and brown.  She brought some (pretend) leaves in a box and sprinkled them all over.  We rolled in the leaves and threw leaves.  We found leaves behind, in front, and next to us.  We found leaves that were big and little and compared if they  looked the same or different.

DO THIS AT HOME:  Go for a walk and start looking for autumn leaves.  Compare sizes and colors.  Do they look the same or different?  Where did you find the leaves?  On the sidewalk?  In your yard?  At the park?

And one more thing:

These two designed a house.  And look what I see?

It's a piano.  With yellow piano keys and three yellow foot pedals.  I play piano and organ and thought this was very impressive!