Summer fun in house area

It's always fun to change things up in the classroom! At the end of the year, and as a way to pack some stuff up, we turn House Area into a camp. We put up a tent, bring a cooler of fruits and veggies, and build a fire (and find sticks for roasting marshmallows)!

We didn't have a chance to turn the puppet stage into a lemonade stand yet, but what better to go with camping?!

Studentreasures Publishing

I had seen advertisements for studentreasures in teacher magazines, but I figured there must be a catch. Based on a recommendation from a colleague, I decided to give it a try to see for myself. I got a kit in the mail that said we would get a free class book if I had signed forms from parents. The completed books were real, actual hardcover books that were full color. They cost $20, but I thought even that was pretty reasonable, considering they are not being mass produced.

I had to design a cover, although in retrospect I should have had a student draw something to keep it preschool! When I got my box of books, I was so excited! They turned out so cute and the illustrations were a perfect scanned copy!

I wrote down the student's words and they made a picture. 

This is definitely a treasure and I look forward to doing one every year! 

Recreating Monet for the art gallery

To celebrate the Week of the Young Child, we decided to turn the hallway into an art gallery. Every classroom selected an artist to inspire or recreate their works. Since Claude Monet has so many paintings, I decided to do a different one for AM and PM, just because it was so hard for me to decide!

 AM class = Japanese Bridge

I put washi tape on the paper in the shape of a bridge before everyone finger painted, then removed it when it was dry.

PM class = Water Lilies

These students used water colors. When it was dry, I stapled a cupcake cup water lily that we made prior.

I was so pleased with how they turned out! Little artists:)

To add to the look of an art gallery, I mounted them on paper to hang in the hall and printed a label with their name, date, and the title of the work (I also put a black and white water lily in the background;).

Buzz the bear comes out of hibernation

Our class bear, Buzz, began hibernation when the weather got cold. Now that it's officially spring, he is coming out of his cave and bringing an end to his hibernation! We created a cave out of a box and left it in the same area in the class all during winter.

We tried to decorate it so it looked like it had trees all around and snow on top. I added a Do Not Disturb sign to the top. Most of the children respected Buzz and left him in peace. However, one new student pulled him out to play with, and I realized I didn't explain why he was in there. Another child, with behavioral issues, took him out several times during the beginning of his hibernation, but eventually left him alone after we discussed it several times.
They will be excited to see Buzz out of his cave tomorrow!

3D Preschool Word Wall

Word walls are great for elementary school, but are they necessary for pre-readers? Well, I think it is essential to incorporate as much literacy as possible into the classroom. We have a weekly letter show-and-tell which helps with beginning sound isolation and alliteration, and has the added bonus of encouraging parent involvement! After show-and-tell, I pick 2-3 items to add to the word wall with the word. Now, older children need the entire alphabet, whereas I think that would be too over-whelming for preschoolers.

I think this is a great word wall so that students can "read" the words when they see the picture. I use this same concept when I print picture-word cards to put in my pocket chart for students to read before transitioning to another activity.

More fun in the water table

 I thought I'd start with an eye-catching picture of these awesome water balls! I discovered these last year and was instantly in awe. Talk about a fun sensory experience! They start off as tiny opaque spheres, and after soaking in water for a few hours, grow many, many times their initial size! I love the multi-colors too. The downside is that they are crushable when squeezed too hard. Also, it's not good for kids who put everything in their mouth still:/

How about a baby bathtub? Kids love to play in bubbles and wash dolls. This is a perfect extension to House Area!

Writing, writing, writing!

My goal for this year was to increase our amount of time writing. One way to do this, was to incorporate a variety of ways to write as a transition activity into the classroom each day. We have student-sized chalk boards and chalk, magnadoodles, dry erase markers, the Smartboard, and now clipboards.

Switching up the variety of materials makes it fun and interesting for children and we can save their work or take pictures. We still have a journaling time where they write in a notebook, so this is in addition to that. The downside is that students who arrive to school late (typical for many) are missing this extra writing time. 

After our long 3 week holiday break, my coteacher and I created daily sign-in sheets for everyone for the second year because it was so effective last school year. This is a way they automatically practice writing their name every day! So far, I am pleased with the results as many of them have made very noticeable progress in writing and fine motor muscle control:)

Participation via distance and technology!

We had a "Read With Me Daddy" event on Friday which featured the book Giraffes Can't Dance. One student in my morning class had a dad that was disappointed he couldn't attend because he works every day. A few days before, her mom, who volunteers in our room regularly, said dad was very techy and wanted to record a book reading to show on our Smartboard, and would I be interested in that. Boy, was I! I had a "why-didn't-I-think-of-that?" moment! Mom recorded on her phone, they put it on a flash drive, and I previewed it to make sure the program would work on our Smartboard and that the sound was loud enough. It was great! Mom and Dad kept it a surprise so my student was very excited to see the video of her dad:)

I was so excited about this use of technology to incorporate more parent involvement in the classroom and plan to invite parents to do it anytime in my next newsletter!

Preschool Rhyming Book

     Anyone who knows me knows I love to make class books. Kids LOVE them! It is much more difficult to create them in preschool than it was in 1st grade though. In 1st grade, we made enough so that each person got to have one at the end of the year (including me!), but in preschool it's hard to find age appropriate ideas and have the time to do them with so much going on! So, you can imagine my excitement when I saw this idea and tried it.
     Set up the activity by reviewing rhymes. Have a large assortment of things that have a "rhyme match" displayed. After giving an example, I always start with the most difficult skills to see if anyone can find a match independently. Next, you can have them choose an object to find a match, and then for the most help, give them two to choose the right match. I, of course, give lots of help with exaggerated enunciation. Take a picture of each student holding their rhyme match.

When the pictures are printed, they become the illustrations for the book. I considered making it a wordless book, since the students will know the name of their friend and the two objects, but decided it would be better to have them "read" it once I have modeled the pattern of the repeated text.
I laminated each page for durability, and am excited to show the completed book to them on Tuesday:)

Coming to school after a 3 week break...

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised this week because after 3 weeks of no school, I expected everyone to have forgotten the rules! I think they were all not only so excited to come back to school, but also that we had added so many new things to the classroom environment. I added a talking microscope and a basket of textured materials to science area, community helper costumes, doctor kit, and diaper bag filled with baby supplies to house area, and changed up the sand table again.

I cut 6 pool noodles and added some long shoelaces so they can use fine motor and hand-eye coordination to string. As a bonus, I encouraged them to try making a pattern while stringing!
When I took the corn out of the sand table, I decided to use it to make a new sensory box by adding some farm animals instead of tossing it.

When we started the new year, we had everyone "check in" when they got to school by moving their picture (with name printed on the back), but now they have to read their name, as well as sign in daily on arrival.

My homework over break was to create a new job board according to the Conscious Discipline approach; each student should have a job. I have always had class jobs because kids love them and it fosters independence and self-esteem. They take turns and most kids are fine with this, but I have had a few who would become very upset when they did not get a job that week. I was on board with the idea, but scrambled to try to think of 11 more new jobs on top of the prior 6.

It is more difficult to remember who is doing each job all week, but they all take their jobs very seriously!

We have a lot left to do for the rest of the year, but it usually goes by quickly after Christmas!