Saturday, September 23, 2017

Nursery Rhymes

I have been looking forward to this theme all summer! I just kept coming up with ideas, so I made sure it was at the beginning of the year so we could try them all out sooner.

Almost every center was based on a Nursery Rhyme, and had a poster there for them to see it. I made it a point to let them know which nursery rhyme it was and read it to them. I also had them asking me, and loved that. So much literacy!

Dramatic Play: Bakery

This was based on Pat-a-Cake and The Muffin Man

I was shocked myself that I hadn't done a bakery before, and had so much fun putting it all together. I started with the foods I had, then got ideas from pinterest for the cookies and cinnamon rolls. I had planned on just using play dough like I have for the pizza restaurant, but loved the felt ideas for less mess! Then off to Wal-Mart (cheaper than the dollar store) for mixing bowls, spatulas and whisks. I already have dollar store cooking sheets for magnet play. I added a few labels, including some on recycled strawberry containers, and we have a bakery!















 
 



 
This center was popular and busy all week. I love that they use the stove as their oven and it's so cute watching them take orders and giving the customers whatever they grab instead of what they ordered. We had to learn to share and take turns, by waiting for the oven and timer and mixer. Those were really fought over the first day, but then it calmed down a lot after that. I was constantly reminding them that part of sharing is waiting. And also to ask for turns, and be polite and let kids waiting hav a turn if you've had it for a long time. Some kids take things with them to the next center (like the mixer) instead of giving it to the next child :) But most of the time, they are ok with waiting and taking turns. They love telling me when they're done and that they'd given it to the waiting friend!

Blocks

Farm Animals, based on Mary Had a Little Lamb, Baa Baa Black Sheep, This Little Piggy, To Market To Market, Little Bo Peep, and Little Boy Blue.



Castle play set and felt board, based on Old King Cole.


Puppet Theater

This was up for 2 days, so they could use their homemade puppets the second day.
I was very impressed by their puppeteering skills. They told great stories with their puppets and put on fun shows, plus took turns being the audience and listening and clapping for each other. I love that cooperation! It was great having a bakery next door that delivered too, so many yummy treats for the audience!

Flannel boards
We used this to tell the Nursery Rhymes in small group, then it was in small manips, or here in the block area the rest of the days, so they could retell the Nursery Rhymes.


Art

Finger painting, based on Little Jack Horner and his thumb :)

Cotton balls and glue, based on Mary Had a Little Lamb and Little Bo Peep

Puppet making

These turned out fantastic! They were really interested in it. And while a specific end result isn't my goal, I was impressed these all had distinct faces and most had eyes and mouths. This showed me how much they're growing as their art expression has become more purposeful.
It was fun watching them give each other ideas, so many of them ended up with similar looking wings from the feathers. They were pretty equally interested in doing paper sack and paper plate puppets. When they came back the next day, they could use them in the puppet theater, that was up again.

Making muffins for snack, then I put out the rhyming games and sequencing games we had played before in small group. They were great at making the muffins, and added all the ingredients, including cracking the eggs. Some stayed the whole time, others came and went as it was their turn to help. It got a bit messy as they added the batter to the paper cups, but I love having them help and getting that experience. We cleaned up after :)

Small Manipulatives

Nursery Rhyme puzzles: Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo Peep, Jack and Jill

Felt Board with nursery rhymes

Spider lacing cards based on Itsy Bitsy Spider

Clothespins and mittens based on 3 Little Kittens
One child had worked so hard to get them all in numerical order (even the teen numbers I had debated using!), then another came by and took them all down to "wash" them then rehung them to dry. I liked the versatility of this center from learning numbers, to playing pretend, then adding in the pinching of the clothespins for the fine motor skills.

Also, number magnets on the magnet board, and rhyming cards in the pocket charts


Writing

Each day there were different Nursery Rhyme coloring pages available

Snack

Boiled eggs for Humpty Dumpty. They loved reciting it and dropping their eggs to crack them!

Cottage Cheese, for Little Miss Muffet's curds and whey. Only about half of them liked it, so they also had crackers.

Pudding from Georgie Porgie

Muffins from The Muffin Man

Outside

The sensory table had a flower garden based on Mary Mary Quite Contrary

The second week, it had water and spiders and was based on Itsy Bitsy Spider
 They would sing the rhyme as they poured water to wash their spiders down the "spouts." They had to learn to work together because it was hard to hold the spout, place the spider, and pour water, so they helped each other hold and pour, then switched jobs. There was problem solving too as the spider legs would stick to the spout made from pool noodles. They figured out if the spider was on its back, it would go down the spout easier.

Large Group

Each day, we used the flannel board to tell the nursery rhymes that were in the centers they did that day. Then those nursery rhymes were what was made available the next day for them to play with. That way, it'd be familiar.
We also learned Dr. Jean's Nursery Rhyme ABC rap. It goes fast, so we did it without her music the first 2 days. I know if we sing it enough, they'll get it. That video is awful quality, by the way, but it at least gives you the song.
Day 1, the flannel board and song took the whole time.
Day 2, we also learned 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, I caught a fish alive. I lined up cards 1-10, then they took turns fishing for my number fish and matching it to the card. They really enjoyed it!
Day 3, we played active Nursery Rhyme games and did London Bridge and Ring around the Rosies They really loved all the dancing! We even got out the parachute to do more Ring around the Rosies as part of singing time after small group. Plus, we bounced food from the bakery on the parachute as we sang Pat-a-cake.
Day 4, they illustrated their favorite Nursery Rhyme in their journals.

Small Group
Miss Kim has only been available on Thursdays, so I've made a few adjustments to how we've done small group. I still do it because it's easier for them to pay attention and do more difficult activities when there's fewer children.

Day 1, we sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. One group worked on their own with these Montessori-inspired trays. They had star pasta and had to sweep them with a paint brush into the shape. I thought it would take them 30 seconds and they'd be bored waiting for my group, but that was not the case! I was actually surprised, and relieved, with how much focus it took. A few even complained that it was too hard, but I don't feel that it was. It just took some focus and effort and it was good for them.
The other group worked with me on pin pricking stars. First they just pricked anywhere to make a night sky. They were so amazed holding it up to the light and seeing the dots! Sometimes the simple things are most amazing to them. Next, I had them trace the outline of a star to make a star-shaped constellation. As they finished, they switched with the other group, and did both groups that day.


Day 2, we had Miss Kim. We worked on rhyming words. Miss Kim did this game,

and I did this one,

both from The Measured Mom. They were great rhymers!!
She has this great article on why teaching rhyming (and Nursery Rhymes!) is an important literacy skill, although, I do remember reading research in college that says kids can learn to read fine without rhyming, but that it can make it easier. So, don't stress if your kid isn't rhyming yet! That's why we do rhyming things a lot!

Day 3, I worked with a small group doing Nursery Rhyme sequencing, while the other group did Nursery Rhyme coloring.

Day 4, Miss Kim and I did more rhyming. My group did rhyming puzzles, while hers played rhyme memory.

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Welcome Back to School!

And just like that, another school year is underway! If you'll check out the above tabs, I updated them over the summer with new pictures that show off the new (from a year ago) paint job in the preschools, plus the newly done backyard! The play house soffit and fascia were completed Labor Day weekend, so I still need to add that update. I also added a post that's been a work in progress over the last year, that gives details of our centers and how and why I teach the way I do.

As for the school year, we kicked it off 2 weeks ago and here's all the fun stuff we did:

Dramatic Play: School!
This is the first time I've done this DP, and they really liked it. They loved using the pointers and having me be a student. Their teaching style consisted of pointing to things and asking "what's that?" and praising me when I got it right. Great start!
 
We mixed it up week 2 with the white board side and markers.


Blocks:

Mega Blocks




Magna-tiles
I forgot a pic, but they could play with these all day, every day, and never complain.

Floor puzzle














Car rug




Art

Water colors. No pic here.

Collages








Play Dough















Cardboard Easels
I've always hated that I don't have room for painting at an easel daily, but this was a great alternative and they really liked it. They loved having their own paint trays and space to paint, and it's just more fun when it's on an easel! I added water for brush cleaning and regret that, some paint got very runny! And they love mixing colors, so who needs to rinse brushes anyway?



Small Manipulatives

Lacing cards


















ABC lacing beads


Puzzles


Bristle Blocks (forgot a pic)

Also: pattern blocks on the magnet board and ABC matching cards in the pocket charts



Writing Table
I always have paper, markers, crayons, pencils, scissors, and glue. These are the things I added each day:

Colored pens

Color change markers (they loved these! They work great, and bonus, are from the dollar store)

School chalkboard paper

School white boards with dry erase pencils (PS, love these. They don't stain like markers)


Outside

Sensory table had wheat and scooping materials


We added letter tiles the second week. They loved finding their letters and spelling their names.




We also had out balls, and just enjoyed the new grass in the backyard! The swing set and sandbox are always busy, with the grape vines ("grape forest" as they call it) a close second. And they love the play house too. Plus, they've discovered our raspberry patch and love snacking on those and the grapes while we're outside.

Snack
We had some typical crackers and juice days. Our favorite day that's already being requested again, was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They sing this song all the time now!

Large Group

We focused these 2 weeks on learning and reviewing rules, and learning new songs. All of our books were school-related. The songs weren't, but are just for fun. We learned a new one each day, so now we have more songs to add to our rotation from last year. We learned Down by the Bay, Peanut Butter and Jelly, The Music Cantor, and a new weather song. We also kept last year's songs, 5 Little MonkeysHello Neighbor Song, and Tootie Ta in the rotation for singing time the last 15 minutes each day. The youtube links are not what we use in class, most of these are from my Raffi and Dr Jean collections, but they let you hear and know the song :)

Small Group

We drew self-portraits, and wrote in our journals about our favorite thing to do at school.

We also made leaf prints for our summer tree, and practiced tracing our names.