November Week 2: Yummy Yucky

Phoneme: /t/

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

Materials:  Laminated Letter T, binder with pictures for What Does The Turkey Say song.  Book Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli.

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts:  top/bottom, left/right, yummy/yucky, food/not food.

We're learning a song about Thanksgiving and the food we might eat.  We talked about stuffing, pumpkin pie, rolls, and mashed potatoes.  Do you eat these foods?  What do you eat at home.  We talked about favorite foods.  Some of us like mashed potatoes and pizza.  Some like curry and rice.  Some of us like tacos.  Some of us like peanut butter sandwiches (but not Miss Carrie, she HATES peanut butter.  Miss Carrie loves to eat sushi). We're also talking about family and who we might see during Thanksgiving this year.  Miss Carrie is having dinner with her side of the family.  Grandmas, moms and dads, aunts and uncles, and cousins. We looked at a picture of Miss Carrie's family.  Her dog was in the picture, too!

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."

Make the /t/ sound.  Who has a name with that sound?  What other words have that sound?  turkey, toes, tickle, little, top, bottom.

Activity:  This week we are reading the book Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli.  This is one of my favorite books because it covers a lot of items.  Last week (I was there Monday before I had to stay home sick), we were discussing what is food (corn, grapes, spaghetti, potatoes, chips, soup, french fries) and  not food (playground covering, toys, paper, glue, marbles).  This week we ready about the baby who keeps eating things that are yummy (cookies, chocolate sauce, ice cream, soup, sandwiches) and things that are yucky (worms, sand, mud pies, boogers - oh yes, we went there!)  This was a great opportunity to talk about what we liked to eat and what we shouldn't eat.  

DO THIS AT HOME:  talk about what is good to eat, what you like to eat, and what you do not like to eat. Talk about what you like to eat on special occasions.  What foods are traditional for your family celebrations?  This is a great way to get the entire family talking together, especially around the dinner table.

And some pictures of what happened in class.  I'm sorry I wasn't able to get all of the classes this week.  I've been making up the treatment time I missed when I was sick.

Miss Jeana's classroom is discussing the book Rosie's Walk this week.

They also learned the vocabulary words "flip" and "turn" and they discussed ways to manipulate objects and look at them from a different angle.

One of our birthday kids brought Birthday Oreos to share for snack time in Miss Jeana's classroom.

Miss Jen's class has been learning all about the concept of under and they hid under the box with flashlights and then popped out.  The kids loved this and requested it over and over while Miss Jen sang "Who is under the box".

October Week 5: HALLOWEEN

We had so much fun with our Halloween parties this week!  My apologies that I didn't get pictures of all the cute costumes.  I still had to do therapy so I couldn't wait around with my camera for shots.

Look at what the teachers dressed up to be:

Miss Carrie was a witch.

Miss Suzanne was a witch, too.

Miss Jeana was a witch.  We have a theme going here.

Miss Pam was a soccer referee.

Miss Shirley was a Disney witch!

Miss Debbie was a football player...or energetic football fan.

Miss Jen was the house from the movie UP.

Our Principal came into the room looking for a frog to kiss.

In Miss Jeana's room, we played Halloween games and sang Spooky Walk.  In Miss Jen's room, we decorated sugar cookies with frosting (or just ate the frosting), made treat bags and watched Scholastic movies.  Each class had a Halloween parade to the other classroom. We paraded around the room twice, waving to friends and calling each other by our costumes.  "Hello, Link!"  "Hi, Mario!"  "Hi, Rapunzel!"  "Hey, Auna/Elsa/Cinderella/Ariel!" "Hi, Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman!"  "S'up, Darth Vader?"

As much as we talk about upcoming holidays, the best time to talk about them is AFTER the child has experienced the holiday.  Then all the new vocabulary and language concepts come into play and the child has increased comprehension.  So, keep reading Halloween books and talking about what your family did on Halloween as well as what your child experienced in the classroom.  You can also start talking about Thanksgiving.  We'll be talking about experiencing new foods, singing a Thanksgiving song (What Does The Turkey Say? Gobble-Gobble-Gobble!") and talking about families and who your children will see during Thanksgiving.

October Week 4: Basic Concepts and Colors with Scarves

phoneme: /g/

Transition Song: Five Little Ghosts by the Kiboomers

Materials: Laminated Letter G, scarves, Wave Your Hands Up High by Preschool Action Songs Volume 1.

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: high/low, fast/slow, front/back left/right, heavy/light, twist, shake, jump, swim, I/Me/Mine/My, "Show me...", "Help me....".

Pre-literacy: Last chance to trace the letter G.  "Draw half a circle, not a frown.  Go across the middle and then down."  Look around the room. Do you see anything that has the /g/ sound? Green, bag, bug.

Miss Carrie brought a box. A box full of scarves!  We named the colors: Red, green, blue, purple, yellow, orange, and four kinds of pink!  Everyone picked a color.  We put scarves on our heads to see if the world changed color.  What else can you do with scarves? Miss Carrie played Wave Your Hands Up High by Preschool Action Songs.

We waved our scarves high and low. We shook our scarves fast and slow.  We jumped front and back.  We hopped left and right.  We jumped and twisted and swam with our scarves.  Miss Carrie asked if the scarves were heavy or light.  We watched our scarves float to the ground when we threw them.  Miss Carrie and the teachers would try to copy what we did with the scarves.  Sometimes we had to show them how to do it.  Miss Carrie needed a lot of help so we showed her over and over. "Show me how you _________".  "Help me do that."

When we were all done, Miss Carrie called out a color.  If we had that color of scarf, we put it back in her box for next time.  

Do this at home: play with scarves, glow sticks, leaves, pillows, toys.  Wave them around, shake them, jump with them, dance with them.  Narrate how you are moving with your object.  Try to copy your child in their movements.  Help them narrate with simple 3+ word utterances.  Ask them to show you how to do what they are doing.  Start copying their movements.  They will love it!  Make it a dance party and get the whole family involved.

October Week 3: Safari (AKA I saw a GORILLA!)

phoneme: /g/

Transition Song: Five Little Ghosts from the Kiboomers

Materials:  Laminated letter G, Preschool of Rock album

Vocabulary and Basic Concepts: see, look, animal sounds, gorilla, snake, lion, mosquito, stomping, choose, He/She, binoculars, safari, waiting, jungle.

Pre-Literacy: Draw the letter G.  Discuss what words have that /g/ sound.

Activity: We're having some fun with animal sounds.  This activity has a lot of looking around, pretending to find animals.  The first time we do it I use the music from Preschool Of Rock.

These African drum sounds are fun!  We're looking around and listening for the animal sounds, guessing what they are, and then pretending to make those sounds.  We're moving like gorillas, lions, snakes, and mosquitos.

Later when we approach this game again, I don't use the music.  We do it ourselves and the children pick the animals.  I've had to ask what a unicorn sounds like. Depending on the season, some kids find bats or reindeer on their safari. We ask the kids to give us just the animal sound and everyone guesses what animal makes that sound.

Do This At Home: play the game at home, or perhaps go to the zoo and learn some new animal sounds. Go to the library and check out books with a jungle or safari theme to read together and learn about new animal sounds.

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.