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.

November Week 1: FOOD!

phoneme: /t/

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

We're learning this song without the music first so we can take it slower than the recording.  Also, we are only learning the first two verses.  This is a song that will get stuck in your head!

Materials: pictures of foods and classroom items, laminated letter T, pictures of turkey, pilgrim, and traditional Thanksgiving foods.

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: familiar and unfamiliar food items (pizza, apples, carrots, tomatoes, doughnuts, spaghetti, play dough, blocks, crayons, paint, not, like/don’t like, food/not food.

Pre-literacy:  Let's draw the letter T.  "Draw top to bottom.  Now back to the top.  Draw left to right and then we stop."  Let's make the sound /t,t,t,t,t,t,t/.  Who has a /t/ sound in their name? What else has the /t/ sound?  Top, bottom, left, right, time, table.

This month we are talking about about food and Thanksgiving.  Miss Carrie brought out a lot of pictures of foods and items around the classroom (paint, playdough, crayons, blocks) and things from outside (rocks).  We talked with our teachers and friends and Miss Carrie about the pictures.  Was the picture was food or not food?  Do you like it?  Miss Carrie likes tomatoes, broccoli, peaches, spaghetti, and fries.  Miss Carrie does not like peas.  What happens if we put Miss Jen's or Miss Jeana's blocks or crayons or playdough in our mouths?  We would have to wash the blocks.  We would have to throw away the playdough.

DO THIS AT HOME:  Talk about the foods you are eating at mealtimes together.  Do you like it?  What foods do you not like?

Miss Jen is signing 'milk'.

Other things that happened in the classroom:

We're signing a cast!

READ!

Out school has a fun tradition.  Every year, the teacher pose with a favorite book to promote reading.  We usually add props or dress up.  These are the photos we snapped for this year. You'll be able to see them in the main hall across from the office.

Miss Carrie

Miss Jen

Miss Jeana