C is for ...

C is for cat!

www.amazon.com

This was a nice rhyming book.  Not a book I'd go out and purchase but one I'd get from the library again.  There is a mouse on every spread of pages which was fun!

KWL Chart

We used the computer today as a "research" tool.  I find that what happened here is very typical for this age group.  My students are very use to giving "dictation" so 'what I know' is really easy.  The hardest part is the 'what I want to know'.  Usually you have to help them out in this regard until they are use to thinking like this.  And then 'what I learned'...with a group of children is pretty easy again.  They like to tell about new information.  And one child's comment will spark another child's thought and so on. However, with K.  She was ready to do something else by this point.  KWL charts are a great tool to extend thinking.  Perfect for a beginning of a theme, learn about the topic and end with the KWL chart by reviewing what was learned.

Scissors: Calico Cat

I like how this cat template looks similar to the letter C.

www.familyfun.go.com for the template

Crayon-paint resist.  Part of our "research" was to find out about colors of the cat.  So the main colors of a calico cat were black, white, and orange.  She did have some white crayon markings on there but I can't see them in this picture.  We, of course, to time to trace the c.  Magic C is the term used in Handwriting Without Tears and I often state as a reminder to make a circle, magic c and close it up. 

-at Family Review

Typically I use lowercase letters for 'reading' activities like this...obviously, since when I pulled my paper letter squares down (OTC, by the way) I had very few lower case letters...so we used upper case instead.  The paper letter squares are nice but you can do the same thing with letters cut out of magazines and newspapers. 

Fine Motor: Lacing Cat

Addition/Subtraction Cat

I've been wanting to get more addition and subtraction activities in for K.  This is a very simple paper plate cat which can be used multiple times.  We talked about the number 5, how it was formed, what the word looked like, how it looks with dots (like dice).  You can't really see it in the picture but the light pink nose is just a piece of paper with the number 5 on it.  Then we used cubes to think of three addition facts and three subtraction facts that would equal five and wrote them on the whiskers.  I used sticky tack to hold the nose and the whiskers so we can do this again with other numbers.

Color Cats

If this looks familiar-I used these color cats during our summer program.

I made it more challenging for my preK student by having the color word card in lower case but the magnets in upper case.  Just a little way to reinforce that upper/lowercase matching.  I made this activity flow a little more smoothly/timely by having the letters for each color together with the color cards.  It's important not to spend too much time on one thing because they may lose interest.  So think about what specific goals you want to have and focus on those.  Works so much better to do small tasks with a specific concept multiple times over the course of time vs. trying to teach a specific concept all in one large session. 

Math: Patterns

Well, one thing I love to do is create activities.  The other side of it is that I've had K. since a baby so I like to do "new" things. Well, anyway...I keep forgetting that stuff done awhile ago she would have been too young to really remember/grasp the concept so I've been really trying to go out to my tubs and glance through the before I start planning and making something new.  Help save on cost and time.  So this was one of the activities I pulled out of one of the bazillion tubs.  LOL  Mailbox publication activity I'm sure.  Looks like their type of pictures.  You could easy "stretch" any animal like this either drawing freehand or using a coloring sheet.  I laminated the cardstock cat (and dog) and placed a piece of velcro across the body.  Then the pieces were laminated and velcroed also and voila!  :-)

Art: Table Top Easel

We had lots of fun today...hope you all did too!