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. 

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!

March Week 2: Hygiene and Taking a Bath

Phoneme: /h/

Transition Song: Wake up! Daily Routines by Dream English

Who woke up today?  Who washed their face?  Who brushed their teeth? Who combed their hair (or had mommy or daddy help them)? Who ate breakfast or lunch?  Who came to school today?

Materials: Laminated Letter H

Vocabulary and Concepts: hygiene, bath, shower, soap, hair, feet, toes, knees, shoulders, elbow, wrist, ankle, face, forehead, chin, Who questions, more/less.

Pre-literacy:  Let's look at the letter H.  Show me the top of the letter H.  Show me the bottom of the letter H.  Show me the middle of the letter H.  What sound does it make? H-h-h.  I can feel my breath on my hand when I make that sound.  What words have that sound? Holiday, help, hot, hike, hands.

This week we continued to talk about about hygiene.  We asked WHO takes a bath and WHO takes a shower? Do we have MORE people who take a bath or MORE who take a shower?

We also sang The Bath Song by Super Simple Songs.

We jumped from this song to naming other body parts.  Ankles, wrist, forehead, chin.  We talked about how keeping our bodies clean is part of good hygiene.  We need to be clean so we don't get sick.

FYI:  Your kids may talk about how we need to wash our hands and cover our mouths and nose when we sneeze or cough because Miss Carrie does not want to get sick.  I'll remind them to wash hands or cover mouths and they will often respond "So you don't get sick."  Exactly!

March Week 1: HYGIENE, HOT, HAPPY, HELP

Phoneme: /h/

Transition Song:  Wake Up! Daily Routines Song by Dream English.  (PS, this song is very popular with the kids.)

This song is all about hygiene and getting ready in the morning.  We'll be talking about hygiene starting next week as part of our Large Group Theme for March.  But this week we're talking about hot, pop, and other CVC words.

Materials: Laminated Letter H

Vocabulary and Concepts:  Hygiene, help, hot, happy, hello, wake up, wash face, bush teeth, comb hair, eat breakfast, go to school, sequencing

Pre-literacy:  Let's explore the letter H.  It makes a h-h-h sound.  I can feel my breath on my hand when I make that sound.  Whose name has that sound in it?  What words have that sound in it?  Hello, happy, help, hot.  Let's draw the letter H.  Start at the top and go straight down saying ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.  Go to the right and do the same saying hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.  Now in the middle go left to right saying hee-hee-hee-hee just like me.  (Okay, yes, it is cheesy.  Just go with it.  This is why:  The kids start laughing with all the ha's, hey's, hee's, and we throw in some ho-ho-ho if they recognize the sound in that.  It is funny!)

We're playing the Popcorn Game.  Popcorn pops when it gets HOT.  I'm posting the video from Youtube, but we modified our words and songs a bit from this original video:

Pour In the Oil

(kids repeat: Pour in the oil!)

Sprinkle in the popcorn

(kids repeat: Sprinkle in the popcorn)

Put on the lid.

(kids repeat: Put on the lid)

Turn up the heat!

(kids repeat: Turn up the heat!)

Everyone: sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle

(louder) sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle

(even louder) sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle POP!

(The children in the middle, get up and start jumping)

Hear the popcorn, watch it pop!

Hear the popcorn, watch it pop!

Hear the popcorn, watch it pop!

Hear the popcorn, watch it pop!

POP, POP, POP, POP

Now we STOP!

Everyone is either helping to "cook" the popcorn or pretending to be the popcorn popping in the middle of the circle.  The children were excited to take a turn jumping.

You might be asked to play this game at home.  Be sure to sing the chorus a bit slower that you think you need to, in order to make sure that your child has ample chances to articulate at least the "pop".

November Week 2: Food or NOT Food?

Vocabulary and concepts: chicken, banana, bread, cheese, strawberry, grapes, cup, spoon, car, lego block, space man, pony, book, necklace, tissue, glue, playground, NOT, in/out, choose, my turn/your turn, reach inside, What questions.

This week Miss Carrie brought in a VERY BIG BOX.

There were things rattling in the box.  The children gathered on the rug in large group and learned a quick song for Large Group.  Everyone clapped their hands or tapped their knees along with the song (tap-tap-tap-hold):

What's in the box?
What's in the box?
Reach inside - 
What's in the box?

Miss Carrie then asked a child to come reach inside the box and show their friends what they found.  We guessed if it was food or not food and put them in a pile for food and a separate pile for not food.  What happens if you put things in your mouth that is not food?  It could make you sick.  Or, if it is a toy, that means that we have to wash it before our friends can play with it.  We also talked about the foods we found and if we liked it or did not like it.

We're prepping for next week where we will learn to set the table and talk about placemat, fork, knife, spoon, plate, cup, and napkin. The last two weeks we'll be talking about Thanksgiving foods and what we like to eat.

February Week 1: Dinner - Set the Table

Phoneme: /d/

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

Concepts: What questions, Who questions, sequencing, following directions, choral recitation, rhythm

Materials: Laminated Letter D, place mat, plate settings

Preliteracy Skills:  Draw the letter D.  Start up at the top and draw down.  Go back to the top and draw around.  Does anyone have a /d/ sound in their name?  What words have a /d/ sound in them? Draw, down, dollar, do, don't, and.........

Dinner!  We're talking this week about dinner.  Before we eat dinner we have to set the table.  This activity is a repeat from before.  The kids love this.  Many of them now can act as 'voice' and lead the choral recitation.  This time we added more placemats  and settings to the session to keep the children engaged and participating.

(Take a beat on your knees similar to "Going on a Bear Hunt".  Have the class repeat each phrase after the "voice" lead.)

Time to eat?

No, not yet.

What do we need?

A (napkin, fork, plate, knife, spoon, cup)

Put it on the table.

(Repeat until everything is on the place mat.)

Time to eat?

Look....

YES!!!!

At the end of class we looked at our socks.  Depending on the color of our socks, we moved to small group by flying, stomping, jumping, spinning, or skating.

December Week 1: Soft/Loud and Slow/Fast

Large  Group Activity

Date:  December Week 1

Title:  Music

Phoneme: /M/

Pre-Literacy:  Trace the Letter M.  “Draw up the mountain. Go back down. Draw up the mountain, and down to the town.”  Talk about words that have the /m/ sound.  Merry. Moo. Mouse. Me. Does anyone have a name with the /m/ sound?

Materials required:  Laminated Letter M, Laminated Santa parts, classical music, movie sound tracks, lullabies, rhythm sticks

Book: Quiet Loud

Concepts:  Music, Fast/Slow, high/Low, Loud/Soft, Who questions

Transition activity:  Song:  Must Be Santa, by Raffi

We're practicing to go caroling to the front office later this month.  We're singing Must Be Santa and Jingle Bells.  We're putting together our own Santa as we sing (see picture at the top). Don't forget to clap-clap right before "Must be Santa" in the chorus!

Discussion:  listen to the Santa Song.  Do we sing loud or soft?  When do we sing high?  When do we sing low?

Now let's listen to other songs.  We listened to Star Wars, Bridge Over The River Kwai, As Time Goes By, Libertango, Sing Sing Sing, and Taylor Swift's Shake It Off. (but I'm linking this Disney parody because it is hilarious.)  Use rhythm sticks to keep the beat.  Is the music fast or slow?  Is it loud or soft?

Now use your voice like a fire engine to go high and low.  Whisper, Inside table talk voice, Outside loud voice.  Ouch, Outside voices are too loud inside the classroom.

What voice do we use in the classroom?  Inside voice?

What voice do we use in the hallway.  Voices off.

What voice do we use on the playground?  Outside voice.

November Week 3: TOES!

Large  Group Activity

Date:  November Week 3

Title:  Toes

Phoneme: /t/

Pre-Literacy:  Trace the Letter T.  “Top to Bottom.  Now Back to the Top.  Left to Right and now we STOP.”  Talk about words that have the /t/ sound.  Tongue, Teeth, Toes, Turkey, Tomato. Tickle, Two. Does anyone have a name with the /t/ sound?

Materials required:  Laminated Letter T, mirror, Gobble Gobble Picture Binder

Concepts:  Toes, Who/What/Where questions, Rhyming, Counting, body parts, predicting, alliteration

Transition activity:  Song:  Gobble Gobble (What Does The Turkey Say) by Nooshi.

Discussion: Let’s talk about Toes!  Who has toes? Let’s count them.  Take off your socks and shoes and we’ll count.  Where are your toes?  What can your toes do?  Can your wiggle them?  Can you walk on tippy toes?

Song:  Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

Fingerplay:  Everybody Knows I Love My Toes

(This is one of my favorite large group activities!  Be sure to wear the craziest socks you can find, especially if they have the toes knitted separately so you can really wiggle them.  Or just take off your shoes and socks.  I like to have the kids all take off their shoes - but make sure you leave enough time to put all of those shoes back on.  Oy!  I like to treat this as a rap with some choral recitation thrown in. EX:  Everybody knows I LOVE my toes! {have children repeat this phrase}.  Recite the first verse as written.  On the remaining version, have children suggest body parts and add them in.  Be sure to use great inflection and enthusiasm.  Clap a beat on your toes.  Point out the body parts.  Point out the rhyming words.  This is a lot of fun!)

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.

Every body 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!

What about your eyelashes?  Wrists? Shins? Belly/Stomach? Cheeks? EARLOBES?! (We learned that one a few weeks ago and all the kids thought it was a hilarious body part.  Go figure.)

November Week 1: Tongues, Taste, and Set The Table

It's a new month which means new songs, new sounds, and new activities!

Large  Group Activity

Date:  November Week 1

Title:  Tongues

Phoneme: /t/

Pre-Literacy:  Trace the Letter T.  “Top to Bottom.  Now Back to the Top.  Left to Right and now we STOP.”  Talk about words that have the /t/ sound.  Tongue, Teeth, Toes, Turkey, Tomato. Tickle, Two. Does anyone have a name with the /t/ sound?

Materials required:  Laminated Letter t, Pictures of foods typically served at Thanksgiving, Gobble Gobble Picture Binder, laminated place mat, fork, knife, spoon, cup, plate, napkin, rhythm, choral recitation, sequencing.

Concepts:  yummy/yucky, tongues, oral motor skills, Who/What/Where questions

Transition activity:  Song:  Gobble Gobble (What Does The Turkey Say) by Nooshi.

(This song is a great warm up to talking about new foods and familiar foods at your Thanksgiving table.  Stuffing, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, rolls).  It's also a great start to talk about gratitude (I'm thankful for my family and all my friends, our freedom, and our country).

Discussion:  Who has a tongue?  What can you do with your tongue?  Can you do this?  We can taste with our tongue.  “Taste starts and ends with the /t/ sound!  We can move our tongues.  Put your tongue on the left corner of your lips, now right, now back and forth.  Can you like 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.  Let’s walk the vacuum upstairs and do it again.

What do you like to taste?  Let the children name foods.  Look at pictures of foods typically served at Thanksgiving.  What tastes good?  Do you like turkey?  Stuffing?  Sweet potatoes?  Mashed potatoes?  Rolls? Pie?

Can you roll your tongue like a hot dog bun?  Look in the mirror to see. 

Let’s set the table.  (Choral recitation with repetition).  Give each child a part of the place setting.  Put the place mat in the middle. Parents Magazine has a great printable place mat that let's your child see exactly where to set each piece.  I printed them and laminated them to use for this Large Group segment and then put the extras in the kitchen area for the kids to play with during Work Time.  You can print your own place mat from Parents Magazine here.

Get a beat on your knees for this.

Time to eat? (repeat)

No, not yet. (repeat)

What do we need? (repeat)

A ________(fork, knife, spoon, plate, napkin, cup)

Put it on the table (child holding specified place setting puts item on the place mat)

(repeat until all items are on the place mat)

Time to eat? (repeat)

Look! (point to place mat)

Yes! (everybody cheers)

(Can speed up or slow down as needed.  Allow child to take over as lead voice when ready.)