Birds!

We had an abbreviated preschool routine this morning due to my 3rd grader's class putting on a skit. I appreciate the flexibility my student's families have shown that allows me to attend my own children's school functions. Many thanks!

A. is the child who would NOT look at me.  LOL  He  doesn't like my camera.  I called the child next to him because that usually works but not this time.  Only J. responded.  And then it got worse because all of his classmates were trying to get him to look at me.  LOL

 I was impressed though, A. pretty much was at this microphone the whole time...he had a lot to memorize!  He didn't practice at home either.  He was mouthing everyone's lines and everyone's songs in addition to his own.  However, when it came for him to sing he was too quiet to hear, everyone drowned him out, even at the mic.  Ha!  Was so sweet though, when a classmate came up that was shorter than him and had to stand on his tiptoes to talk into the mic I saw A. head over and then hesitate and then must have decided it was okay and went and adjusted the mic for his classmate.  That just made my day.  Might have something to do with the idea that he's the second shortest in his class!  :-)  Was feeling empathy!

Okay, onto our day....

Bird Spelling Mats

We've done this before using various wooden animal shapes.  You can see that post here.   I find that the children LOVE to "spell".  This week I wanted to use various types of birds.  The spelling mats printable has an owl, bird, duck, chick, penguin, pelican, turkey, and flamingo.

There are several different variations that can be done.  Today, my younger preschoolers match lowercase to lowercase letters, like "pelican".  My older student sounded out the words, putting the letter tiles on the mat as she thought they would be and then checked her work with the lowercase mat like "flamingo".  In the afternoon, she went back to it again and matched lowercase letters to uppercase letter mats, like "bird".  I also have matched uppercase to uppercase letters and had them practice letter formation by copying the word.

Mr. T. loves this type of "work" also.  However, with his age, it works better to only do one at a time.  Having 5 birds/mats and their letters tend to cause problems...and heaven help us if he accidentally bumps his mats and the tiles come out of their space.  :-)  I couldn't find my little containers I usually use for this type of activity so I made simple pouches out of a folded index card and scotch tape.

Feel free to download a copy of the bird spelling mats for your own personal use.  They were created to be used with 1 inch letter tiles such as these from Amazon.  I believe mine were from Wal-mart's teaching section at the beginning of a school year, quite a few years ago.  However, if you do not have letter manipulatives, you are more than welcome to print the pages twice and cut the letters apart for one of them.  Another option is to create your own letter tiles by cutting 1"x1" squares from construction paper or use foam squares to write the letters on.

Turkey PreWriting Lines

I wanted to slip in at least one turkey activity because this time of year is when we actually see the turkeys.  :-)  Not so much at Thanksgiving time.  I simply printed a turkey pattern and used pencil to lightly draw the prewriting lines.  They traced over with marker (to make it darker) prior to cutting and gluing onto a piece of construction paper.

Bird Seed Collage 

I love to provide bottles of liquid glue for the children to experiment with making various types of lines.  Squeezing the glue bottle is a great hand strengthener and it's always a favorite.  Often we do colored sand on a black background.  Today I provided a piece of cereal box cardboard and bird seed.

One More/One Less  

found in the Bird Printable Pack by Homeschool Creations

This is a lovely printable!  The children roll the dice and cover the number that is one more (or one less) than what's on their dice.  We do quite a bit of exploration with a number line so this was another way to incorporate it. The number line we used can be found here.  It was the number line I used with our Spring Missing Numbers activity.   My younger preschooler used the One More side and my older preschool student used the One Less side.  T., the toddler just rolled the dice and put the foam squares on random numbers.  :-) 

Fly the Birds!

www.childcareland.com

I think I put my own letters on the inside of the birds as they look like the font I use vs. the font she normally uses.  I had the children help me put the bird houses on the wall in alphabetical order and then I hid the birds around our room.  They went on a search and "flew their birds" to the corresponding birdhouse.  It was just a quick review before the end of the school year.  Letter recognition and upper-lower case letter matching seems to be pretty well mastered here. 

This was one of the books we read today...great book!  Very informative!

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I mentioned I'd share what our wax paper blot butterflies ended up looking like.  Here they are:

You can read about the process we used here.

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Sight Word Writing

inspired by Beansprouts Preschool Blog

I had more baking soda than salt in my cupboards and so we used baking soda.  I think I'll use the salt next time...but it worked okay.  She really enjoyed this.  I poured a layer of powdered tempera paint at the bottom of the dish and covered completely with baking soda.  As she wrote her sight words, the red would start to appear.  She went back to this tray to draw and write in multiple times throughout the afternoon.

It really didn't get messy until T. got to it.  :-)  I ended up giving him a pencil to write with because it was a writing tray vs. sensory and it was getting ALL OVER as he dug his hands in it.  Normally I wouldn't care but this was powdered tempera paint and it was all over him, the desk and the floor.  So yes, messy for toddlers, nice for preschoolers.  :-)  However, it cleaned up relatively well so I'd do it again! 

 

The Dolch Sight Word Cards that we used with this activity can be found here.

Missing Numbers-Spring

One of the activities we did today was to work with our number line up to 52.  Actually, I expected to get up to 32 but as K. put the number strips in order she kept on going without much issue so I let her.  Then I added a pot of flowers over top of six numbers and her goal was to tell me what the missing number was by using the numbers on either side to give her a clue in stating the number name and then to write the numeral down on the flower pot.  I laminated the activity so that we could use dry erase markers on the number line and clipart.  The goal was to continue to work with seeing patterns in our numbers.  She was able to check her work by removing the flower pot and compare the number she wrote to the answer.   She did a great job and really enjoyed this simple activity.  Great practice for number recognition and writing! 

Feel free to download the colorful number strips (up to 52) and the six sets of spring themed clipart to create your own Missing Numbers activity.  Please remember that these are for personal use only.  Thanks!

W is for Weather

Had fun creating a batch of weather themed mat activities over the weekend.  I'll share them for those interested.  The link is at the end of the blog post.  We won't do these all at once as it's a bit much.  I'll spread them over two or three days.  I do want to apologize for not really being that great of a photographer.  The pictures aren't that best...I haven't figured out what to do yet with the combination of our new choice of lightbulbs and my digital camera.  Can't find any setting that actually works without me fiddling around and it taking so much time and still not getting a decent quality picture.  And so I try to use natural light because the flash always whitens the picture or reflects but then without the flash, ALL pictures are blurry no matter what setting I have it on.  Any suggestions?  I think I might put some photography learning for a summer goal.  :-)

Rainbows- more/less/equal

Use dry erase or washable markers to write the correct sign.  Provide manipulatives and/or a number line as needed.  A simple number line pattern to 30 is available in the file.

Partly Sunny- Number to Word Match

Encourage the child to put the suns in numerical order.  Then have them read the number words on the clouds and place to cover the sun partially.  0-10.

Sun-Patterning

I'll slip this one in now but it's not in the pack as it was easier to just create with a circle cutter and scrap paper vs. in a program on the computer.  But you may wish to use make something similar.  We'll be creating a small booklet that K. can take home.

Snowy-Addition and Subtraction

Extra materials needed: Snowflake manipulatives such as play-doh, white beans, mini pom poms, etc.    I intend to have them separate the addition and subtraction clouds.  K. still gets confused about which is which.  I'll also include a number line so that she can review that subtraction goes backward and addition goes forward.

Stormy- Measurement and Seriation

I created the pictures so they are wholes and halves of an inch...so if you wish to use a more formal route to measurement (my preschoolers have always LOVED rulers...makes them feel important and "smart") then remove the halves and allow them to measure the wholes.   I added magnet to the back of ours this time.

Umbrella Puzzles

This activity is to work with recognizing numerals represented in different ways.  I wanted to include TouchMath so on the numeral I drew the TouchPoints.  The tops of the umbrella are cut into three parts (each with a different cut to allow for self correction), the number represented with dice, tally marks, and ten frame.  The basic pattern for these umbrellas are in the pdf. file.  I chose to just draw in the dots and tally marks as it was just so much simpler.  I strongly recommend you add magnet strips to the back and work at a magnetic surface to help the puzzle pieces stay in place.  It's frusterating to put the pieces together and then accidently bump them.  :-)  Sticky tak would work in a pinch but velcro is not recommended as the pieces are too small and would bend as the children are removing them from the mat (personal experience speaking).

Tornado- Number Order

Sets of three numbers to dump out of their tornado and put in order.  I did explore with stapling the pockets along the side but I went back to Scotch tape. Works a lot better.

This is the perfect time to do a weather theme here in MI.  :-)  We can see every single type of weather in a week (actually, multiple in a day!).  Yesterday was SO SO SO nice!  Kids spent 5 hours straight outside with no coat.  First day in the sandbox, first day with picnic-y foods (grilled hamburgers and potato chips!), first family walk/bike ride, first day with windows wide open (and yep, we turned off the heater and forgot to turn it back on last night.  Oops!  Just a bit chilly in here this morning.)  Today, it's about 40 and quite a downpour going on.  Suppose to rain all day today, sunny tomorrow, and more rain on Wed.  Perhaps it'll turn into snow.  Definitely a possibility!  LOL

Weather Themed Math Kit

Hope you find something helpful for your child or students!  Please remember that these are for personal use only.  Please link back to the blog vs. the actual pdf. file.  If you do download and use any part of these with your students it would be great for you to comment and let us know how you used them.  Thanks!

Heart Math

So since it's Valentine's Day...we're a digressing and doing a bit more with hearts.  :-)  We are also doing most of our activities "together" to encourage sharing and conversation about friendship.

A few of our math activities we did today...

Number Line Addition/Subtraction

I believe I've already posted a similar activity we did recently.  There was some changes I wanted to do with it to make it more helpful to the children so we did it again and yes, it was more helpful.  One of the changes was to put them on the same side of a number line (instead of having them face each other).  Today we shared a number line because we did quite a few "sharing" activities today as it was Valentine's Day.

The sharing led to "closer quarters" and I love this picture!  We had done a few addition and subtraction facts together and I had stepped back out of the conversation to see if they really understood what we were doing.  Here they were discussing what number they needed to start with.  :-)

Odd/Even Number Exploration

I like to provide various ways of looking at concepts.  Truthfully, my students have already picked up odd and even number concept by our daily calendar activity using craft sticks. 

One child passes out the craft sticks (ie: today is the 14th so they are passing sticks to the rest of us and then add as many as they need to get to 14), we set them out in front of us in a row and then buddy them up.  They know that if all their sticks have a buddy than it's even, but if one is left without a buddy it's an odd number.   We also take the time to talk about who has more/less or equal number of sticks and K. has been in the habit of counting her sticks by two's when she has quite a few at the end of the month.

Today, we just simply used heart beads and pipe cleaners to show that connection. 

A closer up of one of the children's numerals.

The extra fine motor component of putting small beads on small pipe cleaners is a plus also!

Pattern Crowns

:-) I love K.'s expression...she had just dropped her purple play doh on the floor. 

Hard to see their actual patterns so...

H. is a young 4 yet and so he was encouraged to an ABAB pattern.  I wouldn't say it's mastered completely yet but he did do this ABAB mostly on his own once he got started.  I say that it's not mastered yet because he can copy and extend but he doesn't truly recognize a pattern on it's own and usually he needs help in getting a pattern started.  K. is 5 yrs. now and I told her she could create any pattern but it could NOT be an ABAB pattern.  It's hard to see her's but she did an ABBC pattern! 

Our pattern pieces are simply cut from  Valentine gift wrap from the dollar store!  I love these cheap veggie/dip containers.  I have a bunch but use the black one the most because it's more appealing visually.  Allows for the children to see all their materials in a somewhat organized fashion.  Actually, I find that they use more of a variety when offered like this vs. all sorts of materials mixed together (which, yes, I've seen some teachers do-goes along with my toy box philosophy!  :-D). 

Hope you all are having a great week.  This week looks like it's going to be a short week again.  Was hoping to get I and J together in one week but since we had Valentine's day, Friday is a day off of school, and both preschool children have appointments this week.  So we'll change up our plans.  :-D

K is for Kisses. (Hershey Kisses that is!)

Personalized Hershey Kiss

Awhile back I remembered seeing something similar to this in a search I made in Google Images.  If this was your idea...feel free to let me know so I can give you credit!  :-)

This was a "cute" project.  I turned it in into our scissors skill activity using cardstock.  Really I should have used cardboard so they could wrap the kiss in aluminum foil more independently but then they wouldn't have been able to cut out the kiss on their own.  Hmm...will have to ponder over this one and see what else we could do!

Hershey Kiss Letter Formation Reinforcement

Reinforcing H and K (Hershey Kiss).  Yes, I encourage them to form the letter as we would write it.  Last week we had a really short week for H and so I'm slipping in some letter formation activities this week for H as well as this week's focus letter of K.

K. completes her activities before H. most times and so this tray and Hershey Kisses were perfect for her.  She went on to create...

patterns                 and                 shapes.

She was actually in the the process of making a circle in the above picture but I snapped this picture because it shows that she is creating a circle using the "magic C" formation.  This is something I definitely reinforce over and over and over.

Hershey Kiss Number Line

First the children practiced writing their numerals on their "kisses"...with some children you may wish to do hand over hand while singing the numeral formation verse that corresponds.  They then glued in order onto their paper strip.  Then...

I had created small "flash cards" with simple addition and subtraction signs.  This is not "new" material...we've used number lines with addition and subtraction before.  Good foundation building for Kindergarten.  So they chose one of their "flash cards" and told me what number was first.  They put their kiss on that number.  Then they looked at their math symbol and then looked at me as I crossed my fingers and said "plus" and took one finger away and said "minus".  They then told me what their sign was...we reinforced that plus goes forward and minus goes backward each time.  Then they moved their kiss accordingly, said the answer and then wrote it on the back of their flash card.  FYI: Somethings I would do differently- for more than one child ... arrange them so they are all sitting with their number line in the same direction.  My younger student got confused with the forwards/backwards mainly because he was watching K. and it looks the opposite in that regard.  They learn a lot by observation so going back and forth between these two instead of working independently was very benefitial.  I'm also considering creating a visual to go along with plus goes forward on the number line and minus goes backwards.  Should be relatively easy to do.  Typically I use only addition or only subtraction with preschoolers but decided to challenge the children today and help them notice detail by mixing the two together.

A little closer up image...we went up to numeral 10 on the number line.

Rabbit Stew and Short Vowel O

Well, that was quite a morning!  Very profitable in the sense of the activities and the work the older children did but the two youngest weren't "cooperating" and so though it was a profitable morning, Ms. Amber is a wee bit exhausted!  :-) 

So we started with our journal (younger student also doing the calendar and High Frequency Word Book): I stated the topic word "pot" and since we were using an actual pot for an activity I used it as a prop since I really didn't want Aaron (8 yrs) to be drawing a toilet.  LOL  So it was more of "what's in your pot?"  I got "cooked onions-see the smoke coming out the top.  You can't see the onions because it's in the pot" (which was on a stove, by the way).  And I also got meatballs.  Our third student came late and so missed journaling, and Aaron chose to make "alfebet" soup.  He printed his sentence as well as wrote it in cursive.  For a child who does not "know" cursive, I say he did a good job!

Our book today was Rabbit Stew by Donna Kosow.  You can branch off of this book in many different directions.  If you haven't read it before, check it out!  One of the children noticed my label in the inside.  "Amber Clarke-w/ Canton, MI address".  :-)  Oh my, guess I've had that book for awhile!  So that observation led into the conversation of how long a book will last when we take good care of them.   

Our moveable letters were the short vowel o.  We started by writing pot and dog on our board (connections to our book) and talking about the English language and how sometimes the vowels change their sound when they have a buddy-in this case "og".  We did some rhyming also at this point. Then we moved to our letter tiles.

For large motor today we played Pass the Pot.  Sorry, I did get a few snapshots but none that I can actually post.  You'll have to picture it in your head!  The children enjoyed this.  Children sat criss cross in a line, like a train.  The first person in the line had a pot with tactile numbers inside.  Children were encouraged to show good posture and then twist their upper bodies and pass the pot to the person behind them until it got to the last person in line.  That person reached in, eyes shut, and chose a number.  I encouraged them to feel the number and tell me what it was before looking.  Then that person chose and then we did that action as many times as the number represented.  Here's one: be like a lightbulb.  Hmmm.  That's imaginative.  So when somebody says something like this then you just ask. "and what would that action look like.  Show us!" This child started low at the ground and jumped op saying "on" and then crouched back down saying "off".  I was a bit out of breath when we got through those! 

Our numeral formation activity came right from the book Rabbit Stew.  This became more time consuming then I thought it was going to be but that's okay.  Go with the flow.  First of, we always create a number line with the tactile numbers, which if you remember were in the pot.  So I handed the pot to Aaron and asked him to create our number line.  Well, that turned into someone saying, "Let's go backwards. " And then that turned to someone saying, "Let me put one on!"  Which then made us decide to go forwards because it would be easier to find where the numbers go.  So the children took turns deciding if the number went in the beginning, middle or end of the number line and between what numbers.  It was quite funny when we came to the last number and Aaron took it upon himself to do a "Ms. Amber"  LOL  He had asked the child what number she needed to complete the line.  She told him 6.  So he reached into the pot and pulled out a 4 and handed it to her.  She squealed.  It was quite hilarious.  So it went on for a bit until he finally pulled out the 6.  My point being was that you can have so much fun with such a simple activity.  Kids love to joke or catch an adult or older child in a mistake.  And the more fun they are having the more they will retain.
Okay...back to the numeral formation activity. 

We had a "pot" (an envelope cut in half) and inside the pot were vegetables and rabbits that I had cut and placed in so that they would have enough to make sets 1-10.The children dumped them out onto their tray and sorted by type.  Then they graphed them onto the pot graph.  After they glued them all they wrote the number at the top.  Then we talked together as a group about their  vegetables and rabbits (more, less, equal).  This really worked their fine motor.  Those itty bitty pieces of papers.  FYI:  I would not do a graph this extensive or use such small pieces for anyone younger then 4.  If you want to simplify it and make larger pictures, then go for it.!  The pot was hand drawn (obviously) and the pictures all came from Print Shop.

Our color mixing activity was red and blue.  We didn't read the whole Mouse Paint book again but did skim through it.  We used circle sponge applicators and a skinny paint brush.

www.theartgarden.info was my inspiration.

Our Letter Formation activity had nothing to do with this theme as I had meant to do it on Monday and didn't get to it.  So we did it today.  B Butterflies.  :-)

We did our Listen and Do activity and scissors.  Again our scissors activity came from the Word Family Helpers, a Mailbox publication.  I had each child do the "dot/arrow" method of sounding out each word.  I had a post that included that concept in  

Our phonological awareness activity went VERY WELL and I will so do this again! I call it "Sentence Building".  Children, during their preschool years-at least here!, learn about letters, and that letters together make a word and that words together make a sentence.  We also talked a bit about punctuation marks.    It was a bit time consuming because I used paper and sticky tack but I think I will go searching for my pocket chart and use either word strips or index cards next time.  So, we started with the sentence "The dog made stew." (Connecting our Rabbit Stew book.)  Then we went around the table (did this at lunch since we ran out of time) with each child telling me a descriptive word to add to our sentence.  Here are the first and last pictures.

The dog made stew.

The brown and white dog made yummy smart rabbit, potato, onion and tomato stew in a pot.

Yes, the commas were the older children's idea.  I should mention that I put the first sentence word strips on the table, mixed up and they all guessed how it went.  Aaron (8) pointed out that he knew "The" was first because of the capital letter...which led to a conversation about capital and lower case letters. 

We ended with the book...

A fun phonics book using -og word family words.