Firsts and Bursts

I love "firsts." It's one of my favorite things about teaching very young children.

The first time Alya used, "Help me, please!" without any prompting. The first time Majed strung the sounds S-O-N-Y together to read, "Sony!" on the MP3 player. The first time we had a successful English-only brainstorming session.

No matter how many "firsts" you have, they never get old. Take today: A little boy identified a letter in environmental print for the first time:

"Ms. Emy! Ms. Emy! LOOK! O." 

I was instantly flooded with so much excitement and pride I thought I might burst. (This is frequently true about so much of what my students do!)

Here's the letter on our carpet:

I wrote before about how we tape and walk our letters. Since then, the children have started helping me construct the letters, which has been a great way to work on critical and spacial thinking skills, as well as team work.

The letter "O" love didn't stop there. The same student that identified it on our "Colors" poster during whole group decided to write it out during centers - another amazing first!

Do you see his pink "O's" in the center? And the yellow one to the right?

From across the room he called to show me what he'd done, and when he realized I didn't understand right away, he showed me:

:)

Now, of course, all the children are extra busy finding and writing letters they know (and some they're not so sure about yet!). Not only do I love the "firsts," but the whirlwind domino effect is pretty spectacular, too! Here's to many a few more of these learning bursts as we enter these final weeks of KG1.

Ocean Bottle Word Cards

Lately the children have really been enjoying making word cards (index cards with a vocab word on one side and a drawing to represent the word on the other). 

During our Under the Sea unit, we worked together one morning to create "ocean bottles." We filled empty plastic bottles with water, then added a few drops of blue food coloring, glycerin, and glitter. The glycerin helps to suspend and slow the glitter as it travels through the water. Then we added various ocean-related objects, like seashells and plastic fish.

The cool thing about these bottles is they're easily cross-curricular. We put them together as part of a science activity, and we incorporated math by measuring, tracking, and counting what we added (i.e., "We need 2 drops of blue food coloring. Maitha, will you add 2 drops?" and "Let's put in ten fish! Can you count out ten for me?" or "How many red fish can you find swimming in this bottle?").

On this particular day, I put our bottles in the writing center to use for word cards.

The children tipped the bottles around and observed for a bit. They then selected an item from the bottle to use for their card. I'd placed several completed example cards in the center: ocean, fish, frog, and seashell. As I said, each card had the written word on one side and a drawing on the other.

Here, a little boy has selected the seashell card to work on:

Not every student is 100% comfortable writing letters/words just yet, so one way I adapt our word cards is with alphabet stamps. I'll write out a card with the word "fish," for example, with a blank line underneath each letter. The children then match the correct stamper to each letter, filling in the blanks until they've finished the word. Sometimes I set out the full set of stamps; other times I limit the stamps available based on what's needed to complete the word card. It really depends on the student (and the day and the time and . . . so on :) ). Many students enjoy working on both types of cards (written and stamped).

One nice thing about our stampers is that they are pretty small - meaning the children have to pinch them and place them carefully, building up fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Finally, I'd like to point out that I never force a child to do anything s/he is adamantly opposed to or disinterested in, especially at this age. I certainly do my best to engage all of my students, and if something isn't working, I change my approach. That said, the majority of the children LOVE making word cards and approach the task enthusiastically.

Making a Mural

We worked together to create a beautiful display for our Under the Sea theme last week.

Using recyclables (cardboard tubes and egg boxes), we painted a bubble-filled background on blue butcher paper . . . 

. . . while others worked to make cardboard squid:

Some of us sponge painted "R" shapes to look like reef. Did you know sponges actually come from the ocean? ;)

Eventually we added some other fun items, including the cool cardboard fish we'd been working on the week before - but not until we'd used them for a little addition practice!

We fished in two separate "ponds," gathering the fish in a basket, then counted our total catch. (The process was similar to what we did here with eggs. This time, however, some children drew out their own addition problems as a way of leaning into that next developmental step.)

Our mural is now hanging in the corridor, and we've been getting lots of compliments on our hard work! As always, pictures of the finished product to come . . . stay tuned :)

Color Word Step Books

As the children's understanding of English has grown, their enthusiasm for reading and books has exploded! Inspired by this activity, I decided to have them make their own books (they loved it!), adapted to suit the needs and abilities of our class.

Here was our process:

1| Gather colorful rectangles in various sizes.

2| Layer them by size and staple together.

3| Match and glue the corresponding color word to each page.

4| Display as a beautiful banner for all to enjoy!

This past week we moved on to accordion books. The children just love the process of making something beautiful, familiar, and functional to call their very own. I do, too :)

Sorting Smarties

As part of our exploration of colors and color mixing last week, we worked on sorting Smarties in Numeracy. Because this activity encompassed a range of goals (sorting by color/matching, counting, recording and analyzing, reading), I worked with the children in small groups over the course of the week. This allowed for plenty of one-on-one time, and it gave me an opportunity to really see where each child was at.

I introduced the activity to the whole group and explained that we'd be sorting the candy by color, demonstrating this process. However, when working with the children in small groups, I didn't give them pointers or reminders right away. I simply handed them the materials (a counting grid and small tube of Smarties) to see what they would do. I wanted to know if they'd wait for instruction or jump in, if they could open the candy container by themselves, and then how they'd go about getting the candy out (which, I learned, can be a bit tricky!). Something as simple as this is great for developing and assessing children's problem solving skills.

The next step was to sort the candy by color. Some children simply placed the candy in a completely random way all over the grid. I let them go about their business for a bit, before clarifying that we were sorting by color and showing them how to compare a piece from the pile to a color already on the grid, ensuring that each row is a different color.

Some children worked horizontally, making equal rows to start.

Many understood right away what was expected and got to work.

I love watching the systems different children have -- how organized they are, what methods they employ, etc. It's just fascinating to me.

Eventually everyone successfully completed the sort. No one had any trouble with the 1:1 correspondence aspect (one candy piece per box).

After sorting their Smarties, the children counted each color, and I recorded their results. (Most of the children recognize numerals up to ten, but no one is really writing them yet.) In this way, the children were able to observe the written formation of different numerals as well as an important function of writing (to record and communicate). We also talked about which row had the most and which had the least. 

After counting, recording, and analyzing the results, the children read each sentence back with the help of the teacher. (Quite a few were able to recognize "I have" after the first few sentences and read the remaining ones independently.) This was a great way to practice sight words and color recognition. Most of the children were extremely focused on the reading process, and they seemed proud to be doing something so grown up.

And then, of course, there was the best part: Eating our Smarties!

Every child enthusiastically participated in this activity -- all aspects of it. Honestly, they seemed to enjoy the sorting, counting, and reading without giving a whole lot of thought to the eating part! I loved that I could observe a range of skills and help the children practice others, without a lot of stuff or fuss.

Story of the Week: Press Here

Yesterday we kicked off our new unit with the book Press Here by Herve' Tullet. Tullet's books are bright, playful, and creative, which makes them some of my favorite to use in the preschool classroom.

Press Here is full of directional language and really plays on children's curiosity as they watch the magic unfold on each page. Here's an example from the first few pages of the book:

Press the dot on the first page, and two appear on the next! Children are excited and amazed by what they can "cause" the book to do as they read. (And believe me, it only gets better!)

Press Here also incorporates red, yellow, and blue (the primary colors), along with black and white, which made it the perfect tie-in for our colors/color mixing theme. After we finished reading, we made tissue paper dot collages using different sized circles.

We used paintbrushes to cover a sheet of white tagboard with a mixture of glue and water, then (gently) placed the tissue paper circles onto the sticky surface.

This was a process-based activity, meaning there was no specific end-goal in mind or "right way" to complete the project. The idea was to allow children to explore the materials with minimal teacher input as to what they were "supposed" to make. A few learned very quickly that rubbing the tissue paper would cause it to tear, and that too much glue would cause wrinkles. These kinds of discoveries are so much more meaningful when children figure them out for themselves, in their own time.

Pulling individual circles from a stack was also great for developing fine motor skills.

Our collages are dry but still need to be hung; we'll update you on the results once that's done. Have a great night!

Our New Light Box

Ever since seeing DIY light boxes pop up on various teacher blogs, we've wanted one for our classroom. Over spring break, Mrs. Emy finally managed to make one. Here's how she did it.

You will need:

-a large, low plastic tub

-mylar (or similar material) to line the tub

-freezer or baking paper 

-double-stick tape, glue, or another adhesive

-scissors

-battery-operated lights, plus batteries to go in them

Purchasing information: The plastic tub here is from IKEA. I found a large mylar-coated foam lawn mat at Daiso, though the reflective shields for car windows (available at Lulu's or Carrefour) would work, too. The battery-operated push lights are also from Daiso.

You don't need to be super precise. The main thing is to make sure there are no gaps along the bottom or sides so that the light won't escape. (I cut a large rectangle for the bottom, then cut separate panels with plenty of overlap for the sides.) Attach with double-stick tape as you go.

Here's what my tub looks like fully-lined with the mylar. As you can see, no perfectionism present :) I tucked the overhang from my side panels under the lip of the bin and used more double-stick tape to hold it in place.

Place your push lights inside the lined tub.

Cut a piece of baking or freezer paper to cover the top of your tub. This will help mute and disperse the light. Again, it needn't be precise.

Push your lamps on when you're ready to use the light box. Obviously, you'll need to move the paper for this step :) Place it back on, secure the lid, and you're almost done!

This, of course, is optional, but salt writing is a really fun way to explore the light box. Since it's also the first activity I wanted to try with the kids, I decided to test it out at home.

I brought the completed light box to school today as a sort of "Welcome Back" gift for the children. I'm happy to report that they loved it!

I mean, look at that smile!

Trails in the salt

Someone discovered the colored plexiglass viewers I'd placed in our new "Science Lab" role play corner, adding a whole new element of creative play.

I will never grow tired of little hands at work. 

This was an easy and inexpensive enough project that we're thinking of making a few more boxes. It would also be a great item to have at home to encourage creative, open-ended play.

--

PARENT CORNER

Why salt writing?

Salt writing is a great sensory activity for young children. Pre-schoolers and toddlers especially learn through the use of their five senses, and salt-writing on the light box stimulates little eyes, hands, and minds. Using fingers to draw helps prepare hands for writing and allows children to practice making letters and marks in a pressure-free way. Writing with a finger is generally less frustrating to a child that may not yet be comfortable holding a crayon, pencil, or other writing utensil.

If you're interested in learning more about sensory play, these articles are a good place to start:

"A Handful of Fun" by Amanda Morgan at NotJustCute

"Sensory Play. . ." by Emily Harmon