Hug Machine
2/15/2020
Our favorite book this week was "Hug Machine". A story about a little boy who hugs everyone and everything! He wants to make sure everyone feels special, even the porcupine that never gets hugs! Love is shown in lots of ways, and everyone is deserving of it. It was Mister Rogers who said, "Whether we're a preschooler or a young teen, a graduating college senior or a retired person, we human beings all want to know that we're acceptable, that our being alive somehow makes a difference in the lives of others" and to accomplish this, we need to spread love.
"Wow" Experiences
2/8/2020
The Creative Curriculum recommends sporadic "Wow" experiences, in which students are exposed to people and places related to the topic of study. These experiences help students relate what they are learning in school to the real world. These past two weeks we have been studying health and the body. We understand that eating the right foods and exercising are important, but we are not finished with this concept until words are connected to actions. We visited The Dome for a time of play and movement. We used the parts of our body we learned about in the classroom in a practical way. Parents play a huge role in creating "Wow" experiences. Each adult that visits our classroom sparks excitement in joy in our students. For example, if we begin a discussion about dinosaurs, we may invite a paleontologist to talk about fossils. If you are an expert in a specific field of study, we are always open to planning an activity or listening to your story!
Move Your Body
2/1/2020
This week we focused on our health and exercising! We learned about the different parts of our body that make us strong. We also talked about how exercise and rest effect our heart rates. Our dramatic play area was full of doctors and patients this week! They practiced taking temperatures, reading the eye chart, and using the stethoscopes. We learned that when we exercise, our heart rate increases. We used paper towel rolls to hear each other's heart beats after jumping up and down. Our line dots were used in a sensory wall this week. The students had to hop onto each dot, stop and clap three times, touch the door, and turn around. Our class in the cobra pose! Yoga is one of the ways we can move our bodies in the classroom. We also tried belly breathing, a great strategy for calming the body. We created weights with water bottles and beans. We felt how light they were when empty and how heavy they got when filled. Two of our favorite books about the body!
I Have a Dream
1/25/2020
One of the most important take-aways from this week was that Martin Luther King Jr. did kind things for others. We talked about what he did and how it changed the way we interact with each other today. We also talked about some of the characteristics of Martin Luther King Jr. and what it really means to be a "hero". We painted peace signs to show our support of Dr. King's message. Students followed directions to create a portrait of MLK Jr. One of our favorite books from this study! We are so glad we can all go to the same school no matter what we look like. Ms. Daina showed us how to be brave by participating in the Brown Bag Talent Show (one of characteristics of MLK Jr.). Thank you for your participation in our Preschool Toy Drive. As we talked about why we were giving away our toys, it was apparent that the students were very excited that someone else would have the opportunity to play with them. It was a great lesson in giving and being kind to others.
Inspiring Inquiry
1/18/2020
Children are born eager to learn. They are curious by nature, and are excited by new things. Because of this, we wanted to incorporate something in the classroom that the students would want to investigate. We signed up for Amazon's monthly STEM mystery box to keep our class wondering. The most recent box we received had a drill set. The students can sort and count the colorful bolts, map out all kids of designs, and develop critical preschool math skills. Dynamo Dominoes is designed to engage kids in their early STEM development, it encourages children’s spatial thinking abilities, and color recognition. We love to learn through play, and the Amazon STEM boxes help us do just that. We cannot wait to receive our next surprise!
Snow Happy
1/11/2020
This week we learned about ice and snow. When children learn about things that are happening in the world around them, it is easier for them to understand vocabulary words and activities surrounding the study. Just like snowflakes, we are all different yet equally beautiful! We each created a snowflake out of glue and glitter. We learned that snowflakes are shaped like hexagons. In our sensory bin, we conducted an ice rescue! The students used tongs and water to break the sea animals out of the ice. This activity taught the students about one of the ways we can melt ice. It also had a fine motor skill component. For our science experiment this week we watched as sugar and salt melted ice cubes! We recorded data and drew pictures to represent what happened to the ice. Paint the ice! A fun activity involving the mixing of coloring and the concept of melting. As the ice melted over time, the water mixed their colors (yellow and blue) together creating green. As a class we made snow dough! To create this dough we had to follow a recipe step by step. Once it was made, the students were asked to create snow scenes; some friends made snowmen and others made snow covered hills perfect for sledding. Count the snowflakes! To incorporate a math element this week we covered our papers in felt snowflakes and counted them afterwards. Peeling the backing off of the stickers gave the students fine motor practice as well.
Happy Holidays
12/21/2019
It's the holiday season, and what better way to celebrate than holiday play! We used stickers, markers, and paper to create a winter wonderland for our gingerbread friends. Using scissors and glue can be a challenge in preschool, that's way we practice as much as we can! We used marshmallows and toothpicks to create shelter for our toy animals. This STEM activity promotes creative thinking and shows the students there are many ways to complete the same task. One of our favorite books this week was, "The Gingerbread Man". We created a life-size gingerbread man to decorate and bring to life! We talked about team work and communication, because nine friends working on the same project can be difficult. We used shaving cream to practice writing letters in the "snow"! This is a fun way to practice handwriting. We had a fun filled spirit week! Happy Holidays, see you next year!
The Importance of Dramatic Play
12/14/2019
1. Dramatic play teaches self-regulation.
Toddlers and preschoolers are known for acting impulsively, but dramatic play is a positive stepping stone toward self-regulation. NAEYC notes that children tend to be highly motivated to follow rules and stick to the roles of the play. This helps them grow in their ability to inhibit their impulses, coordinate with others and make plans. 2. Dramatic play gives children an emotional outlet. Dramatic play allows kids to act out scenarios they’ve seen or heard in real life, giving them an important emotional outlet. 3. Dramatic play teaches conflict resolution. Both unstructured and structured dramatic play offer teachable moments about conflict resolution. Disagreements between children will crop up naturally during unstructured dramatic play, which offers a chance for kids to work through their differences and arrange a compromise. 4. Dramatic play supports literacy. Dramatic play provides a prime opportunity for kids to see functional print. Kids who are playing grocery store, for example, will be exposed to text in the form of a shopping list, coupons and a checkout receipt. This gives them a chance to gain firsthand experience with the many ways we use text in everyday life. 5. Dramatic play allows you to support your kids and encourage their ideas. Children process their inner thoughts and emotions externally through dramatic play. That means you can learn a lot about what makes your kids happy, scared or frustrated just through observing their pretend play. With the Creative Curriculum, we incorporate dramatic play with other areas of learning such as math, science, and social studies. We can point out patterns in plates used for playing house or pretend we are predator and prey. Learning happens through play! Source:https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/why-dramatic-play-matters/ Arctic Adventures
12/7/2019
The winter weather is here! It is a perfect time to talk about the Arctic and what lives there! We spent this week talking about animals of the Arctic and hibernation. We used cotton balls and glue to create furry polar bears! The kids had to use their fine motor skills to pull apart their cotton so they had enough to cover their bears. This activity was great practice for following step by step directions. We practiced finding numbers made in different ways! The initial polar bear with a numeral had to be matched with the correct amount of fingers on a hand and a ten frame with the correct amount of dots. We read and colored our own bear books! This book focuses on positional words such as in between, on, in, and so on. The awesome thing about this book is that the kids can practically read it on their own if they understand the picture. The weather outside gives the kids an understanding of what it is like during the Arctic winter. We talked about how a lot of the arctic animals have white fur to camouflage themselves from predators. Emerging from hibernation! We talked about how bears sleep all winter long and wake up in the spring! We practiced letter writing with dry-erase markers.
With this activity, the class was exposed to the alphabet and practiced using correct pencil grip. T is for Thankful
11/23/2019
A week of turkeys and thankfulness:We created turkeys using the letters in our name! We are getting really good at writing letters and putting them in order to form our name. The kids also cut the feathers out themselves! We practiced letter writing with turkey themed tracing. This is good fine motor practice as well as an opportunity to work on letter recognition. One of my favorite Thanksgiving foods is pumpkin pie! We created "Pumpkin Pie in a Cup". We began by crushing graham crackers to use as our crust, then mixed together pumpkin, yogurt, and pudding mix. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what we are thankful for. This special edition of Famous Friday gave the kids a chance to talk about what they are really glad they have in their lives. We also conducted a Q&A for each student to practice language skills. I am so thankful for this class! Have an awesome Thanksgiving holiday!
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Annalee JohnsonEK Teacher Archives
January 2021
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