bug/short vowel u

Monday our focus vowel was short u.  So, of course that leads right into the word bug and what child doesn't like to do things with bugs?  At least pretend ones anyway!  Some get a bit dramatic over real ones.  :-P  So, our journal was the simple one word topic of "bug".  (While the older ones were spending more time on their journal, the younger ones were doing calendar and a high-frequency word booklet).  Then we moved onto our story which was Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema.  We are having a real issue with this bug bugging us!  So it was a fitting story. If you haven't read it before it's an interesting book to read to the kiddos.  The ending is quite fitting.  :-)

www.amazon.com

We then transitioned into our /u/ cvc words, starting with b-u-g.  I've posted a picture of our moveable letter activity in the past.  We are still doing it the same way so I won't post another right now.  We'll be doing a review activity next week with the short vowel sounds.

Then of course it's time to move!  We got the parachute out again and put on some stretchy bugs.

Parachute is always a blast for the kids. You can purchase them in so many different sizes or you can simply use a light weight blanket.  So, they tried to keep the bugs on as long as they could.  These really went bouncing high...often on top of the piano and out into the kitchen and a time or two they hit the ceiling. There was a bit of squealing going on because of it but that just makes it more fun.  Then after they were all off the parachute, they kept their hands on and I showed a bug card which they named and then we shook the parachute while we said the name to find out how many syllables were in it.  Then the bugs were put back on and we continued on that way for a bit.

Then it's numeral formation time. 

They simply created a caterpillar and wrote the numbers backwards (their idea) from ten to 1 or 0. 

Then it was art time but I posted about that yesterday so won't say much about it now.

I also forgot about our letter formation B butterflies...and then we ran out of time so we'll do those tomorrow.  We did our Listen and Do activity (following verbal instructions) along with our scissors activity.

This activity was reproduced from Word Family Helpers a Mailbox publication.

And I decided that part of our fine motor component would be game playing.  I found that we just didn't have time for that during the school year and playing games is very beneficial as they are learning to work together to solve problems, follow rules, take turns, learn about good sportsmanship, (paying attention to whose turn it is so they didn't annoy those waiting), and it's good for fine motor skills, especially if there are cards involved.  Remember that flipping cards over is great for developing/strengthening muscles in the hand and wrist which is necessary for good penmanship.

Our game yesterday (and we played it again today :-))...

 

Need a gift for a preschool age child?  This is an excellent game.  It took longer to complete the game then I expected when I first saw it.  Today we averaged going through 3 stacks of the cards before completing a game but it's pretty fast moving. They played three games in a row!  "No reading necessary" though it does use words (good thing too!) it has symbols also to give the children clues.  My 8 year old still enjoyed playing the game with the younger ones and to be truthful...I kind of had fun too!  Some board games (like Candy Land) drive me bananas.  :-P This one didn't.  So it has that going for it!

For our phonological awareness activity we use a borrowed story set from our local Regional Resource Center.  All brand new since it's a new resource to our area.  They are beginning to provide infant-preschool materials for us to borrow.  It'll be interesting to see how it all works.  I've been wishing we had something like this in the area and so I'm a bit excited.  It's a good way to try something out before purchasing it yourself also.  So, one of the student's favorite book is There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly so we used the very nicely made set to work with sequencing and retelling a story.  I have some home made pictures for this story but the children loved (including Trent, now 2 years old) putting the animals inside of the woman. 

All made of thick felt and velcro.  Definitely something I'd consider purchasing.

All for now!  Tomorrow we are moving to the short o vowel and will do a bit with "pots".  :-P