Make it personal

One of my favorite things to do in the classroom is to bring the children into every area.  I don’t mean by physically dragging them over to the blocks or dramatic play areas.  What I mean is make each area personal for everyone.

Children love to see themselves, don’t they?  A great way to bring them into the areas and activities is to bring in pictures of them.  Here is a simple list of ideas that I enjoy:

Make block play people out of their pictures.  Print out pictures of the children making each child about 4 inches tall.  Glue those pictures onto cute and sanded 2x4 blocks that have been cut to size.  You can even take intentional pictures of the children and ask them to pose however they want.  Don’t tell them what it’s for.  They will get a kick out of it and love to play with each other’s blocks.

Recreate Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  Using pictures of the children, write your own book having each child on the page.  Write the words as in the book, substituting the children’s names for the animals. “Suzy, Suzy who do you see?  I see Alyssa looking at me.”  I did this once in a toddler classroom and used laminated pages so that when a child left and a new child came it was easy to change the children’s names on the pages as necessary.

File folder games!  There is so much you can do with this.  First is a matching game.  Real simple, a picture of John matched a picture of John.  There is the puzzle one where you glue half the picture to the file folder and they have to match the other half.  Use their pictures for this!  For a bit more creative, take pictures of the children in specific numbers of group so they match the picture with the written number on the file folder board.  If they are getting more advanced in letter sound recognition, have them match the child’s name to the letter on the board.

Make lacing cards with their pictures glued to cardstock, teach them how to wave them together to make a long line of classmates together!  Have a stack of pictures where they can sort by color shoes, boys and girls, color of shirts, etc…

What other ideas do you have to integrate pictures of the children into the environment?

Read your books

It is very important that we are intentional with everything that we do in the classroom.  I have seen teachers who, wanting a literacy rich classroom, fill their rooms with books.  Everywhere you turn there are books.  This isn’t a bad thing. 

However, I caution you to be intentional in the books you put out.  Make sure there is a good balance of fiction and non-fiction, fantasy, real, science, math, language, and all levels.

I was at Costco this weekend and was looking through the various books they had for children.  Costco is a great place to get what I call “toy books”.  These are books that do have words and are meant to be read, but they are much more interactive than literacy based.

They aren’t bad to have around, but again, be careful and intentional.  Why do I emphasize this point?  Because of the following:'

I picked up this book that is a foam book, so probably intended for the Infant/Toddler reader.  It is called a Lift & Look Opposites, therefore, I already know that it will be about things that are opposites.  It looks cute enough at the front

It actually wasn’t too bad.  It had simple sentences that worked through as rhymes.  This is always a bonus so that it becomes predictable somewhat as well as easy to memorize. 

I was chuckling to myself knowing that those shaped puzzle type pieces that popped in and out as the lift & look would often be found strewn about.  The children will LOVE taking these out. 

Then I got to the last page.  If you can’t see it says, “Cheetah is fast.  Who is slow?”  Think you know the answer?

I forget what the line before it said, but I thought I knew for sure that it was going to be a snail.  To my surprise, this is what I saw:

  

WHAT!?!  Do you see it, too?  That, dear readers, is a BEE front and center.  I was shocked.  I stuck the piece back in and turned to my husband.  I said, “Honey, what’s the first thing you see when I take this off.” 

I took the piece out and he said, “A bee.”

Yep, that bee is front and center and BIGGER than the snail to which the child is supposed to be looking at.  It says, “Snail is slow.”

It actually took me a pause to notice that the snail was even there.  He is just kicking it back there on the fence, almost blended in to the background.  He gets completely missed!

I wasn’t really looking to buy any books that day; however, if I was, this would be reason enough for me to not purchase this book.

This is what I mean when I say we have to be intentional in what we bring into the classroom.

What’s the worst mistake you’ve noticed in a children’s book?  What’s the best children’s book you have ever seen?  What’s the most surprisingly good book you have ever seen?

Play Clay

Yesterday I gave you a great recipe for play dough; I also mentioned that I prefer there to be clay in the classrooms.

At the beginning of the year, I like to start children off with play dough.  Especially if they are younger three year olds.  However, as they get older, I switch out that play dough for CLAY.

Why?  Because it is harder to work with and they NEED to build that muscle in their fingers if they are going to be successful in learning to write and hold a pencil.

Clay can be frustrating for the children so you have to sit with them when you first put it out.  Talk to them about squeezing and pushing it.  The more they work with it, the easier it gets because, as it gets warmer, it gets more pliable.

After a couple of weeks it will be just as popular as the play dough, but it will take some getting used to; however, it is much better for the children to be using play CLAY because of it’s benefits.

Plus, you’ll see them start to use it to make sculptures rather than flat images.  Again, you have to encourage this and give them some examples.  Get our some art books on ceramics!  TAKE AWAY the cookies cutters!  Show them how to stack balls, make cubes, and roll that snack up to turn it into a snail.

It’s amazing how clay will change their play.

Literacy and Home School Connections

We are in the middle of a 4 day weekend.

Most, if not all, of the children in our classrooms had a very exciting weekend.

Monday is going to be crazy for those children in attendance because it was a long weekend (filled with candy and presents) AND this is another short week.

How do we keep things a little bit sane?  Making those connections!

Why not invite those aunts and uncles to visit for a couple hours?  They can share in the children’s experiences and the children LOVE feeling that special.

Have the children write their own books and stories about their exciting weekends.  This is where dictation paper comes in handy.  Have them draw pictures of the people who visited or they visited.  Draw pictures about what they ate for that special meal.  Draw pictures of their favorite present.  You get the idea.

Then, turn those pictures into special books for each child.  Put those books into the library area.  Children will revisit their books and then have a chance to share their experiences together!

This works for more than just the holidays, but it’s a great way to focus on these hectic days.

Writing Letters

I have been reading about many parents of preschool children, especially SAHM, that want to teach their child to write letters.  It got me thinking, maybe we should address that here.

First, in the classroom, make sure that the letters that you write or are posted on the wall are appropriate.  DO NOT hang up alphabet lines in which the letters are written in cursive.  I mean, it’s great for second or third grade, but on in preschools.

That being said, stay away from other alphabet lines except for standard BLOCK LETTERS.  Yeah, I know, it looks boring, but it is this simple lettering that the children need in order to be exposed and be prepared to write.

When you label your shelves, and please label your shelves with pictures AND words, make sure you print in lower case letters.  Look in a book.   Is everything written in capitals?  NO!  They need to learn to recognize and write the LOWER CASE letters first.  Introduce the capital letters on an as needed basis: first letter in proper names, names of cities and states and countries, etc…

Then we go into what order do we work on the letters?  DO NOT go in alphabetical order.  Sure, it seems to make sense.  Get them started in the order the letters go in the alphabet.  However, there is a much better method with true scientific research behind it:

start with: cadgqoes

Why?  Well, we teach the c first, then, to make an a, you make a c and a short line down.  To make a d you make a c with a big line down.  Do you see how this works?  Continue through to the s.

Next we go to the straight lined letters: xvwyzk

Again, one leads to the next.  These ones are a lot of straight lines, but they are lines in different directions and it can get complicated.  Remember children need to be able to cross pathways in their brain before they can draw a horizontal line.  Some of them have JUST mastered this task.  Letter writing is so much more complicated. than a horizontal line.

Finally, we teach the pairs:lh tf ij bp rn mu

Do I need to explain how each of these go together?  The h is an l with a bump.  The f is a t with a little hill at the top.  The b and p are the same, the line just starts at different points.  Then the r n m and u kind of all go together.

There is great proof that method is a huge success.  It is the way to teach children to learn to write.  It is the way that, when used correctly, the children just fall into the learning.  It makes it so easy for them.

Authors and Illustrators

Authors and Illustrators are people.  They are very talented people that we make sure to recognize in our classrooms daily.  Each classroom highlights an author every week.  The children learn about the authors in great detail: where they are from, books they have written, heck, if we can find out, we’ll even talk about their favorite foods.

We do this to make sure the children know that authors and illustrators are people and not just words on a page.  We post their pictures on the circle board all week.

Another way to reiterate that authors and illustrators are people, and to give children a love for books, is to make the children authors and illustrators themselves.

We do this in two ways.  The first way is one that I am sure many of your preschool classrooms are doing (and if you’re not, you need to be).  We have the children write their own stories.  Take out the dictation paper, have them draw a picture, and then the teacher sits down and writes the words with them, right?

One very important aspect of this is to make sure that the children know WHERE to draw their pictures.  Having introduced them to the books very carefully during circle time and free choice time and any other time we can find, the children are familiar with the makings of a book.  They know the front, the back, the spine, where to find the words, etc…

The second way we enforce for them that authors and illustrators are people; and to also instill a bit of teamwork, we have a very fun activity.  This is typically done on weeks that the book has an author who is different than the illustrator.

Then the children pair up with one being the author and the other the illustrator.  The first time we do this, they work very closely with the teacher.  They talk about what kind of story they would like to tell.  They map out their story together.

There are then two different ways to implement.  First, have the illustrator draw the pictures.  Once the child is finished, then sit down with the author and have that child tell you the story as you write it out for them.

The other way is in reverse: have the author sit with you and tell you their story, then sit with the illustrator and read them the words on each page and have them illustrate that story.

It’s a great way to enforce so many aspects of development and learning.  Also, don’t forget when it’s done to read it during circle time.  They will LOVE it and it will spark all sorts of other books and teams of authors and illustrators.

Over Thinking

Many times I talk to teachers and give them suggestions to improve their classrooms. Now, before you go saying something like, "what right do you have to go into another teacher's classroom and tell them something" let me remind you that it's my JOB. I am a trainer. That's my title.

How did I get this title? Well, because I am very good at going into other people's classrooms and telling them how they can improve things. The job came to me; they asked me to do this job because I am good at it. Not to sound pompous, but it's my gift. I have a way of telling a person a better way to do something without them feeling like I'm insulting them. I'm not quite sure how I do it, but people take it really well from me and will even seek out my advice after having experienced this with me.

So, onto the topic at hand. There are times when I go into the classroom and suggest a new idea to the teacher and she thinks it's a great and fabulous idea and is all for it...but (yeah, you knew there was a but), "How do I introduce it to the children? How do I start this?"

My advice: STOP OVER THINKING IT!

Many times, like 99.99999% of the time, it's just a matter of doing it. Just jump in and the children will follow.

Let me give you a perfect example:

The other day I had a teacher sitting at my desk wanting some ideas to get them interested in writing and books. I suggested she make a class book. "Have the children draw a picture then dictate to you the story. Write the words, put the pages together, and then read their book at circle time when you gather again later." (this was on Monday).

Her response, "But, how do I get them to do this? How do I introduce this concept to them?"

"Just do it. They are familiar with books. They know that the words and pictures go together. At circle time, before you dismiss them to free choice, tell them 'at this table we will be making our own book. You can draw a picture and then I will write the words for you.' It's really that simple. Just like you introduce every other activity before you dismiss them."

That pretty much ended the conversation and she told me she would try it out. I knew she would; but I also have worked with her for several years and know that she wouldn't try it until she was ready. I was expecting it to take about a month.

Today is Wednesday; less than two days after we had this discussion. She came to me with a classroom book in hand, "Look, we made our first class book. They loved it; and when I read it they were so happy. They all got shy when I read their page. I don't want to put it out though because I'm afraid they'll rip it."

I am so proud that it took her such a short time to prepare herself mentally for this. But it also shows a huge growth for her. She has learned in all this time with me that she just has to do it. Jump right in and the children will follow.

That is my lesson to you all today. When you come across a new activity or even a new classroom practice, just jump right in and do it. Want to start a new conflict resolution policy with the children? Just make the change. You don't even need to discuss it with them; they will pick it up very quickly. Want to change your nap time routine? Just say, "Today, instead of putting our mats out before lunch, we are going to leave them until after lunch. When you clear your plate, you'll come over and get your mat."

That's it. No preparation for a small change is necessary. The hesitation for these changes really are with the adults in the environment. Take all the time you need to get comfortable with it; but the children will always follow you...as long as you are a good leader.

(side note: I did tell her to laminate the pages and, until then, put the book in a three ring binder. The children would be very careful with this book because they made it. This is a book that class will cherish for a long time...or at least until they make the next one.)

Sneaky Education

So many times parents come into the center and think their child is "just playing" all day long. They think that we aren't doing anything with them.

Then, after a few months that same parent comes in all impressed because their child is writing his or her name, counting to 100, and recognizing shapes and patterns while on outings. Here's the thing, we don't let our children know they are learning most of the time.

Sure, at circle time the children probably can figure out that it is "lesson" time. But during free choice activities, they really think they are just playing! How do we do it?

We set up an environment that is conducive to learning and the children don't even know it. What to teach patterning? We do it so many different ways. My favorite is with Lego's. In the block area I put out a container or Lego's and I join in the fun:

When I approach I find out what they are making (usually airplanes, robots, or jet fighters). "Can I make one too?" Of course! Then, I talk out loud while I am building. "Hm, green, blue, green, blue, green, oh, I need another Lego for my robots leg." This draws them in. They hand me one (maybe red). I put it on, "No, that's not right. Look at the colors I'm using." They hand me a green one. "No, I have a green one there" They are now intrigued by what I am doing. I comment, "See, it doesn't fit my pattern." Now they are involved with what I am doing and are helping me to create the patterns.

That's all I have to do. I have created enough interest now that the next day when they are playing they are making patterns themselves...and showing me! Slowly, I start pointing out patterns around the classroom; slowly, they start pointing them out to me!

Another thing I do is put a sign in book for the children. Each child signs his or her name when they come in and when they leave for the day. Their name is written in big letters across the top of the page so they have a sample (I don't dot the letters or highlight anything, they copy it on their own). I also have a book in the writing area that has all of the children's names on a full sheet in protective sleeves with dry erase markers available. They can now write any child's name they want. At circle, and other times throughout the day, I listen carefully for that "how do you spell" or "what is this word". I take that cue and then create more pages in this book of "favorite words". These are words that they are interested in learning to write themselves.

We have treasure hunts. Cut out shapes of letters, shapes, numbers, anything and hide them all around the school. Then we have to find them! I also will create a map in which I put the location of the letters on the map and say "Let's go find the letter g" looking at the map we find it there, then we go look around the center for it.

When we are getting ready for a big activity or special event I ask them what we need. As they come up with the list, they write it out. Yes, I am writing it down as well so I can remember what it is if I can't read it, but that's on my own paper they know nothing about. Typically each child gets to write their own suggestions, but we might have a "secretary" who gets to write everything.

At the lunch table we might talk about what our favorite food on the plate is. As we are talking, I am writing down a graph on my clipboard. After everyone says their favorite, we talk about the graph I just made!

Another one of my favorite graph activities is in the manipulative area. I get one dice and a paper with columns of squares (six columns) I write the numerals at the bottom (1-2-3-4-5-6) and put a marker with it. Every time they roll the dice, they color in a square in the corresponding column. They just like rolling the dice, counting the numbers, finding the numeral, and then coloring it in. They don't realize they are making a graph and learning about probability.

When parents ask me what they can do at home to help them learn; they are typically looking for "Sit them at the table and have them write..." What I tell them is: have them write the grocery list and read it when they get to the store, show them how to find the price of an item and have them tell you how much it is (as they get older, have them add up the items as you shop-round up or down for the younger ones $5 and $2 is how much), look at signs on the street and talk about the shapes, read books and have them "read" aloud to you.

What things to you tell the parents to do at home? What is your favorite classroom activity that is teaching the children when they don't know they are learning?

Labeling your Preschool Classroom

I don't know why I haven't hit this topic before today. It's not that I assume everyone knows this; because I clearly remember the day my mentor teacher told me this. I see it in many classrooms (preschool and older) done the wrong way. So, here is the one thing that every teacher needs to know and, for some reason, never seems to be brought up in any college classes:

Always label your classroom in lower case letters!

You are teaching children to read. You want them to read successfully. We don't write or read in all capital letters. For the most part, we read in lower case letters. The capital letters are relatively rare to the lower case. We have adopted the practice in our program to introduce only the lower case letters. We will introduce the capital letters as they come up, but we focus on learning to read and write the lower case letters.

When I walked into a classroom the other day, the teacher was so proud that she had just labeled her entire classroom. It took a lot of work. I could tell! However, it was done in all capital letters. When I pointed this out to her, she understood what I was saying but commented that she had never been told otherwise. She has been a teacher for several years.

So, I beg of all of you, please label your classrooms appropriately. On top of that, teach the children to write in lower case letters first. Yes, the capital letters are easier (they are more direct lines and curves); but they need to learn the lower case first.

Do you have any classroom tips that seem like everyone should know, but really no one thinks about until they are told?

Book of the week-Let's Get Ready For

Let's Get Ready for Kindergarten! and Let's Get Ready for First Grade! are by Linda Desimowich and Stacey Kannenberg and were sent to me to review this past week. As a preschool teacher (okay administrator-turned-trainer- in-two-days, but I did get here from somewhere right!?!) I was anxious to get these books. I didn't know what to expect. So many people try and create a book that does it all for the children. Let's cram everything they need learn in a year into one book, right? Well, these books do that, but in a very good way. I like them.

My favorite thing? The pages are sturdy and slick! When a child write in it with a crayon or marker (and they probably will) it is real easy to wipe off. (I don't know that from me doing it, I know that from other books made out of this material). And actually, in both books, there are places in the book made just for writing in. I personally would use a dry erase marker for easier clean up, but that's up to you.

They did a great job with the writing. One of my pet peeves is that so many "educational" books for children write everything in CAPITAL LETTERS! This is not how words are supposed to be. They need to learn the lower case (and actually should learn lower case first if you want to choose one or the other; we do them both at the same time. The words are all written correctly and the drawings are recognizable.

In the classroom, I wouldn't use these books at circle time. I would put them out in the library, or, better yet, on the writing table. It is a great book to sit down one on one with a child and bring them back into focus.

This book was obviously a collaborative effort between many people, but there is no picture. Being that this book isn't read at circle time, I can forgive them for not putting any pictures of the author's in it. However, in case you want to still introduce the author to the children, I did find a picture of Stacey (couldn't find any of Linda-send one to me if you want).

Book of the Week-Shark Trouble

This weeks book is a classroom favorite: Shark Trouble by Sam Lloyd (illustrated by Jack Tickle). If you are an animated reader and can improvise in a sing-song voice, this is going to quickly become a favorite. The previous title (Yummy yummy food for my tummy) is the repeated line throughout. Of course the child children will enjoy shouting along with you as the sharks come "YUMMY! YUMMY! FOOD FOR MY TUMMY!" They quickly memorize this book, or at least the idea on each page. The children love sitting down and playing teacher read it to their friends. This is one of the best books to spark that interest in reading and literacy. This is one of the first books I introduce at the beginning of the school year and it stays on the shelf throughout the year...and yes the pages are tapes together so many times because of the use it gets (not the abuse, but the use).

Now, unfortunately I can't find a picture of the author to share with you or the illustrator. If you find one let me know so I can put it up!

Alphabet Sorting Containers

There are so many items that we have in the classroom that I consider a luxury. No matter how much your center has or doesn't have, everyone has luxury items. What I consider to be luxury items are anything that is not an absolute need.

We need: red, yellow, blue, white, and black tempura paint.

We also get: orange, green, purple, pink, magenta, and all the other fancy colors.

We need: markers, crayons, paper, scissors, glue

We also get: feathers, pompom balls, every color of construction paper, fancy scissors, etc...

We need: books

We also get: big books, books on tape/CD

We need: pencils and plain paper (scrap paper would work)

We also get: line newsprint, pencils of every size

Do you get where I am going? There are some things that we enhance what we are doing. It's not a bad thing; really it's not! We can make a lesson out of anything, yet we fall back on some items that aren't necessary. I look for teachers who can make quality lessons with a rock and some leaves. Anyone can sort and categorize colored teddy bears; a thought provoked teacher can sort and categorize anything!

That brings me to the Alphabet Sorting Containers that somehow made their way into my center (They were there when I arrived years ago). Now, we don't need this. Any teacher can ask the children to bring in items that start with a letter and add it to the manipulative area, or the science area. However, today I was sitting with a child who is three and a half. This is a child with lots of behavior challenges. He sat with me for 30 minutes picking up different items from a bowl, saying the name of the item, and repeating the first sound over and over until he figured out what letter that was. Yes, I helped him with some; probably more than not. He is 3 after all and we don't work on academics until the second half of their preschool year. They first have to learn to socialize. The pride on his face when he said "Lion...llll...llllll....llllll...ELLL!" That made this item worth it.

So, I am not saying that everyone should go out and get this item. What I am saying is, if you have a few hundred dollars sitting around and wondering what you should buy (and you don't need 5 more gallons of paint, new paintbrushes in every size, big huge easel paper, play food, or anything else) go ahead and spend your money on this. It is worth it.

However, if you don't have the money...make your own with the children. They will remember it so much more!

Catalogs

There is nothing like a catalog. Not for us in the administration. Not even for the teachers as they dream about what they would like to have in the classroom. For the children! They love catalogs. Want to see a group of children sit at a table for possibly hours on end, without fighting, and all talking to each other? Put a couple catalogs in the middle of the table. Some types of catalogs (Avon, coldwater creek, oriental trade) will get conversations that talk about what they like. They discuss the pictures; and just plain enjoy looking through them. Other catalogs (Discount School Supply, Lakeshore, Kaplan) are great fun. They not only talk about what they see and like, but they begin to make connections to what is in the classroom. Most of the time, in my experience, it quickly goes from "Hey this is the same carpet we have" to "Miss N, can we get this?" They make that cognitive connection that the things in their classroom are the things that are in this catalog; that must mean that there is a possibility to have more!
I am always impressed with the language and conversation that comes out of this simple thing. They develop so much language, conversations, social skills, and everything from a simple catalog. They even develop small motor skills (turning pages), literacy skills (which way do the pages turn, what are these words, etc..), and, in an older group, math skills (how much would we need to have to buy these five things you want to get?).

Book of the Week-Fox Tale Soup

Here is a book I recently discovered; one which I can use as an extension to my stone soup curriculum. Fox Tale Soup by Tony Bonning; illustrated by Sally Hobson. This book takes a unique twist to a classic story: animals! And who would farm animals trust less than a fox? When they finish the soup and he leaves, of course they invite him back for more stone soup whenever he would like! The use of a sly fox adds to this tale. The bold colors used in the pictures add to the tale as well. This is a great book for group reading and one on one time. It is also great to expand on the stone soup curriculum; showing children books with the same story written/interpreted by different authors is a great social awareness.

Again, with not picture of the author or illustrator, I am cutting down your work (but only in half). Here is a picture of Tony Bonning:

Curriculum Ideas-Stone Soupd comes to life

Have you ever read the story stone soup? It's one of my favorites. I especially love to do a storytelling rendition of it in the classroom. I have a special stone that I once found that only comes out for this purpose. I have been using it for years! Anyway, I would encourage you to find a special stone for this purpose. I get a clear bowl and set it aside; I also fill a cloth bag with all sorts of play food (carrots, lettuce, corn, salt/pepper shakers, etc...). I also have a pitcher of water available and a long wooden spoon. I start the story by showing my special stone, "Do you see this stone? This is a very special stone. It's very old and it has a very special, magical story that goes with it. Would you like to hear the story?" Well, of course they are all enamoured and want to hear the story. Wouldn't you? As I tell the story, I bring out the supplies as needed. The whole storytelling is one which leaves the children in awe and wondering...and always begging for another telling. I usually tell it everyday (sometimes several times a day) for about a week. After this, the children are eager for my next lesson plan idea...we make a classroom, very edible, stone soup.
I send home a request list to the parents of items we need to be shared with the classroom. I have done this a couple of ways: 1, make a list and post it on the door; 2, send a list home and ask them to bring in something off the list; and 3, send a paper bag home with each child with a specific item listed on the bag to be brought in. The last one works best. This one gets every parent to remember to bring in something and you don't end up with tons of carrots and no corn.
Leading up to this, I talk to the children about parties and dancing and singing, and we decide on the activities for the day of the soup making (I also plan a few surprises of my own). On the day of the making, we start immediately after breakfast. I set up a crock pot at circle time. I pull out the special stone and start the story telling process. "Let's see if this stone will work for us." I announce as I place it in the crock pot. Then I tell the story as if they are the villagers. They get all excited when I mumble to myself "It tastes all right, it just needs a bit of corn." "Oh, I have corn Miss Jenni!" Then, after the story telling, I have to leave it hanging because the villagers all dance and sing and have a party (in this version: "while they wait for it to cook"). And we have party games and I always include a dance lesson (square dances or line dances work well). We play musical instruments and it is a VERY busy morning hopping from one activity to the next. Then, of course, lunch time comes and we enjoy our soup!
This is a fabulous activity that totally wears them out (nap time is a dream!). It also takes some preplanning on your part. You have to introduce the story at a time that they are ready for it; and you have to get them so enamoured with the story that they ALL are eager to hear it and experience it. During this process, you also have to pick your window of opportunity. Have your soup party too early, and only some will be interested; have it too late, and they'll be tired of the story by this time and won't be interested. It is a great language and literacy experience; it's great for sharing and community; and it's fabulous for introducing some dancing and singing that maybe some of them would never try otherwise.
It's also a very busy day that, for the most part, the whole group seems to travel together (no one really breaks off into their own areas for fear that they will miss the magic of the soup).
In the end, however, it is well worth it!

Book of the Week-The Blue Day

The Blue Day Book for Kids by Bradley Trevor Greive is an absolutly fabulous book! I ran across this book for the first time yesterday as I was inventoring some new books purchased for our center. This book uses photgraphs of animals to illustrate the words; and the pictures are perfect! They are absolutly adorable first off; and I am sure that the animals had to have been posed for these shots they so perfectly go along with the words. Okay, they are definitely not posed, but I am still trying to figure out how he captured them so well.

It so happened that yesterday I had a child in the center who was very blue. So blue that he was bringing me down! I told him to "Seth, you're making me want to cry. How can I help you?" He was just having one of those blue days. I ran across this book just before I was getting ready to leave, but I had to give it to him. When I went into the classroom he was just standing up in the loft, hand holding his head, still looking blue (he had been in this mood since his drop off 4 hours earlier. I really felt for him. I brought him the book and told him that it might help. He took it over to the assistant teacher to read to him; I only got to stay and watch for the first few pages, but it really seemed to help him.

Now, I don't know the end result of this helping him, but from what I witnessed, it was beginning to help. I know a book isn't going to make all his problems go away; but it might help him learn some ways to cope with it.

This book cheered me up as I was reading it, and I was already in a pretty good mood. I could look at the pictures all day! I would say that this is a book any classroom or parent should have on hand just in case of those blue days...we all have them!

Another plus to this book (can you guess what I'm going to say?) The author's picture is on the inside back cover! BONUS! Of course, I can't find a picture to post here of him, but you won't be needing it as it is already in the book!

Question of the Day

Two years ago, our agency decided to by the Question of the Day for every preschool classroom. We mandated it to be used every day. Let me just say now, I am never for mandating something to be used in a classroom because each child, teacher, and classroom is different. What works for one does not necessarily work for the other. For that matter, what works one year does not necessarily work the next (even with the same classroom and teacher...the children are different). That being said, the Question of the Day is a useful tool in the classroom. The way the classrooms use it is at circle time they ask the chidlren the question of the day, the child then takes their nametag and puts it under the answer they choose, and then you count it...like a graph. It is a very useful tool! It helps with language, math, and social skills. However, if I were in the classroom this is how I would use it:

When the children arrive, the question would already be posted. At this time, they would (with their parent) find thier name tag. They would then read the question and make a choice for an answer. This would bring in the parent involvement and give the child a responsibility that needs to be completed (kind of like homework). Then at circle time we would discuss the results. I would allow any child to comment on why they chose their answer if they wanted to, giving them an opportunity to create conversation and also to wait their turn to talk. Used right, this tool could be a huge resource of stimulation in the classroom. Name recognition, lanugage, communication, social skills, counting, patterning, comparisons, etc...

Now, the product itself is very well made. Yes, you could probably make it yourself with a poster board and some velcro, but this was definatly worth the money. All the pieces are laminated; this means you can write the children's names on the tags and reuse them next year. Here's a handy tip: use permanent marker so the names don't wear off. At the end of the year, or when the child leaves, rub a dry erase marker over the letters and wipe off. Anytime you get permanent marker on a wipable surface, dry erase will erase it! It also comes with a box full of potential questions, front and back, and they are catagorized and sorted. It's easy to decide what kind of question you are looking for and then find it. Want a question on colors? How about animals? Transportation? Yes or no questions? It's got them all. What? You can't find the question you want? Well it also comes with several blank pieces so that you can make up your own question. The answer cards are also catagorized and have lots of options. Again, there are some blanks for you to make your own answers. I like to mix it up and make it fun for the children. For example: How did you come to scholl today? Car, walk, bus, airplane. The children find this funny, and even funnier when one of the characters actually chooses airplane.

Let them pick their answers. This is one of those "there are no wrong answers" activities. So what if they want to say they came by plane? Does it really matter? They have their reasons. Maybe they pretended their car was a plane this morning...maybe that was the only way mom could get them in the carseat!

I would say that this is an activity that should be in every classroom (whether you buy this product or not). I would also say that this product is well worth the money and is an asset to the classroom experience.

Book of the Week-Twinkle Twinkle Little Start

I was first introduced to Iza Trapani through Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I loved her version of the song! The girl I was a nanny to at the time also loved the book. We would read it over and over. It's an excellent bed time story. The pictures are soft and comforting. They really fit well with the words. She also takes you on a different adventure for the song. What would it be like to be a star? What would you see? Where would you go? Well, this is a peek into those answers. She has several books in which she took popular children's songs and added or changed the verses to take you on all sorts of adventures. One great thing is that she includes the original verse at the beginning and the end. After that, everything in between is consistent with the rhythm and rhyme of the original verse. These are fabulous books that have brought many happy story times, bed times, and reading times. Of course, because they are songs, the children easily memorize them and are able to read them to you themselves. If you are completely "tune" deaf (can't remember the tune to save your life), the music is in the back of the book...which may not do you much good since most people who are "tune"deaf are also tone deaf and can't read music anyway!

Again, I just wish there was a picture of the author/illustrator on the book, but alas, it hasn't caught on yet. So, just for you, here is her picture:

Heart day!

Yes, I am mean. I don't let my classrooms celebrate Valentine's day. I do this for several reasons: 1st, it is to commemorate a religious saint!!! I have to keep religion out of it; therefore I can't teach the children the real history of this holiday. 2nd, do I really want all those kids bouncing off the walls on candy?. 3rd, Valentine's day is supposed to be a day that celebrates love and a day for lovers; well, do the children really love each other? They aren't even developmentally able to for friendships, no less love! and so the reasons go on and on.
What do I do instead? Well, my two year old class is talking about mail and where does mail come from? And how do you mail a letter? And if we time it right, they get to see the postman deliver our mail and maybe even ask a few questions.
My 3 year old classroom is talking about the colors red, white, and pink. We are mixing red and white to make pink; we are hunting for things around the center in those colors, and they are dressing in those colors to come to school. This will also lead to making patterns by standing in line according to the colors in our shirts.
The Pre K classrooms are writing letters to another center to create pen pals. They will get to mail these letters out themselves. So, we are practicing our writing skills, plus learning a new form of writing skill: writing a letter.
So you see, we still do something special, we just leave the Valentine's for the parents and home.

Curriculum Ideas-A child's view

This was a very fun activity. When I did this, we used disposable cameras. My teachers now use a cheap digital camera. You can get some really low cost cameras at Walmart most of the time. I've even seen some for under $15. I don't mind letting the children using these cameras. Anyway, let each child use a camera to take 3-4 pictures each. They get to choose anything they want. They can take a picture of their friends, something in the classroom, outside, their parents. Anything they like. Then get the pictures printed.
Once the pictures are printed, the real fun begins. Give each child their choice: They can use one paper per picture, or all pictures on one page, or anything inbetween. Once they have decided where their pictures will sit, have them glue them on. I use glue sticks because it's a little less destructive to the pictures in the end. One teacher even had the children use stickers on the corners to hold them on the page; that was a nice touch. Once they have the pictures in place, they get to tell a story about their picture. At this, I also give the children a choice. They can dictate to me and have me type it up; they can have me write it directly on the paper; they can have me write it on a separate paper which they will then cut out and glue on their page; or they can write with me helping them spell the hard words. This last choice is more for the advanced student.
Once everyone has made their pages we read them aloud to the class. I usually will pick 2 to read at each circle time throughout the day and week. By the end of the week, I have read everyone's books. I then put each of the pages in a clear plastic sheet protector and make a binder with everyone's stories in it. This is a great activity for language and literacy. The stories the children come up with are fabulous. You can also really see where some of them are in their story telling. You'll get some who just tell you what the picture is of; then you'll have others tell you a made up story to intepret their pictures. It's great fun! It's also fun to do a few times during the year to see how their ideas develop.