Search results matching tags 'preschool' and 'literacy'

Linking literacy with music and movement

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:00:00 GMT

Research shows those of us in early childhood that movementis a young child’s preferred mode of learning – and that children learn bestthrough active involvement.

The same holds true for children's literacy learning. Linking movement activities to story time and other literacy learning gets children more actively involved in the experience.

When you involve children to physically perform action words (such as jump, march, roll) or descriptive words (like strong, gentle, huge, soft) – the understanding of those words is immediate. The children have heard the word, felt the word and seen the meaning of the word. And, "the more senses used in the learning process, the higher the percentage of retention" (Fauth, 1990).

"Book & Boogie"

"Book & Boogie" is a children's story time program that we use at local area preschools ... in which we bring together story themes with a music and movement component to go with the stories, which gets children moving and actively learning.

By actively involving children in a story theme with music and movement, it enhances their early literacy development, expands their vocabulary, and helps children to improve gross motor skills and coordination. When we use music and movement ... the sequencing of movements “accesses many learning modes: visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, rhythmic, vocal, mnemonic (long- and short-term), and creative.” Block (2001, p. 44)

To see how "Book & Boogie" works ... take a peek at the video below:

More online videos are available which provide story ideas, music choices and simple dance choreography that teachers and parents can use with their classroom or playgroup.

Laura Eldredge is a teacher and curriculum coordinator at a NAEYC accredited early childhood program in Connecticut. She also co-founded the website The SEEDS Network, as a way to provide early childhood professionals with ideas and resources that support them in their quest to provide quality care and education to our youngest learners. She blogs at www.theseedsblog.com.

Research credits:
Pica, R., “Linking Literacy and Movement”, www.movingandlearning.com

Block, B.A. (2001). Literacy through movement: An organizational approach. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 72(1), 39-48.

Fauth, B. (1990). Linking the visual arts with drama, movement, and dance for the young child. In W.J. Stinson, (ed.), Moving and learning for the young child(pp. 159-187). Reston VA: American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.

Fall Fun: Leaf Explorations!

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Hi! I'm Ayn and I am a Ga. Pre-K teacher, serving 4 and 5 year olds in an inclusive setting. I share my classroom adventures on my blog, little illuminations.

Fall has begun here and it's the perfect time to explore nature. We've recently discovered the book, "We're Going On A Leaf Hunt" by Steve Metzger written similarly to the favorite "We're Going On A Bear Hunt".

We enjoy taking nature walks and collecting interesting leaves, acorns, gumballs, pine cones and other natural items along the way. We often bring items back to class to put in our science center for independent exploration, as well as in our art center.

We measure our leaves, both with standard and non-standard measures. Of course, as a true scientist would do, we hypothesize about what we think our results will be. (This is a great time for me as a teacher to ask questions and try to prompt critical thinking.) We use math cubes to measure length.

We cover the leaf with pennies and try to guess how many it will take to cover it completely.

We explore the properties of buoyancy. Do leaves sink or float? What if we weight it down with pennies? How many pennies will make the leaf sink?

We explore how the leaves travel through the wind to land in various locations on our playground and recreate the wind with a fan.

On the playground, leaves and natural items are an integral part of our play.

Gumballs are everywhere this time of year, and feature prominently in our outdoor play. The children often call them "meatballs".

Sometimes, they are featured in our art, as well.

In our art center, we make leaf rubbings.

After I saw this idea on Pinterest, we painted the back of leaves and made leaf print paintings.

Some of the kids made nature wreaths with found items.

Sometimes, we take the art materials outside to create with what we discover there.

One of our favorite fall books is "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert.

The "Leaf Man" book often inspires the children to create their own "leaf people".

Leaf explorations are often a great way to help children begin to notice the world that surrounds them. I get as excited as the kids when I hear, "Hey, Mrs. Ayn, guess what I found?!" They are always excited to share their finds.

There are so many ways to explore the nature that surrounds us. Sometimes, a simple nature walk can lead to so much more!

Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook!

Valentine's Day Activities for Preschoolers

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:00:00 GMT

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, the boys and I explored a few Valentine's Day learning actitvities during preschool time with my 2 year old and 3 year old. Finding ideas was so easy this year because I had downloaded the heart book. It's an ebook with over 100 crafts and activities for kids-- all with a heart theme! It's only $5 and you can get a copy of the book when you make a donation to the AHA. But it's only available for the month of Februrary!

In our Valentine Themed preschool time last week, we read some Valentine books and did some literacy related activities.

My Heart is Like a Zoo. This book was suggested from Reading Confetti. In this book, author/illustrator Michael Hall uses hearts to create many different animals. Check out this book trailer to see!

We created the caterpillar. Logan really liked looking at the one from Reading Confetti and trying to copy it. It was much easier than trying to copy the ones from the book. Of course, older kids would be able to come up with their own animals too.

We also read one of my favorite Valentine books EVER, The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by Jan Brett. In this sweet story, Mr. Bear and Mrs. Bear set their alarm to interrupt their hibernation on Februrary 14th so they can exchange Valentines. Now, that's love!

This is a perfect book to use to talk about ways to show love or to talk about making or writing Valentine Cards.
We made a few cards but we also did an activity with envelopes. I found this at Hubbard's Cupboard.

I printed free Alphabet Stickers from Carl's Corner. This is a great FREE resource! You can print these pictures onto sticker labels-- or just use paper and then cut and glue. There are several pretty clear pictures for each letter. I glued a picture to the front of each envelope (apple for a, banana for b, car for c, etc). I controlled the activity by only providing the first 5 letters. You could also just pick the letters you child knows. I also provided letter stamps. Logan chose an envelope, looked at the picture, and chose the correct letter stamp. For example, "I see a frog. Frog starts with the letter F". The stamped the f in the corner. After he stamped all of the envelopes, he filled the envelopes by sorting all of the other pictures into the corresponding envelope! You could probably split this into two activities.

We also did some math games.
This was a cute game I found on pinterest. I used playing cards which provides an extra scaffold of the number on the card. Mine was more of a matching game. If you don't want the numbers on the card, just use card sized paper and heart stickers (or draw the hearts).

We also did some sorting of Conversation Hearts by color and graphing/ counting with the hearts.

Tyson mostly liked dumping the hearts into containers.

My boys love art.
We were able to find some great ideas in the heart book for art time.

"From the bottom of my heart... to the tips of my toes, I Love You!"

One that was did was this handprint and footprint craft. Of course, you'll have to get the ebook to see the rest of the great ideas ;)

Have you gotten a copy of The Heart Project ebook? What are some of your favorite heart crafts?

*** Don't forget to stop by my heart project giveaway!**

Here's where I am linking up:

Get Caught Reading Contest

Anonymous — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 23:00:30 GMT

I hope you will be joining us for the Literacy Beginnings book study blog party. Our party will kick-off here at Pre-K Pages on Monday, July 27th, there’s still time to get the book if you’re interested. So, you’re probably wondering why I’m talking about the party again if it hasn’t even started yet, right? Well hold on to your hats because I’ve added a little something to kick it up a notch!

I was thinking about lugging my book all over the US during the next four weeks (top secret locations- shhhh!) and I was reminded of the famous Flat Stanley project that we all know and love. Then it hit me, wouldn’t it be fun if I took pictures of myself with my book in interesting places too? That sounded a little too one-sided for me so I’m inviting you all to do the same thing! Can I get a little “Oprah’s Favorite Things” action here? That’s more like it!

Here’s how you can enter the Get Caught Reading Contest:

Take a picture of yourself reading your Literacy Beginnings book in an interesting or unusual location
Publish your picture in your book study blog party post
Link up via the link below
Vote for your favorite pictures

One winner will be announced on Monday, August 15. The winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card. The contest should begin today (crossing my fingers- this is my first attempt at hosting a voting contest with InLinkz!) so start your cameras!

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Join the Literacy Beginnings Party

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 23:00:29 GMT

I’m so excited about the Literacy Beginnings book study blog party! We will kick off the party on Monday, June 27 with each chapter hosted by a different blogger. There’s still time to get the book if you want to join in the fun. I’m also planning for a fun contest to go along with the book study, stay tuned for more details!

Here is a list of the awesome blogs that will be hosting the chapter discussions:

Here’s how you can participate in the book study blog party:

Follow each of the blogs listed above.
Post your own chapter reflections on your blog, grab a linky party button (coming soon!), and link up your post to the linky party.
Don’t have a blog? No problem! You can join in by commenting on the blog posts.
Going on vacation? No worries! If you subscribe to the blogs above you can catch up on all the great discussions when you return.

Here’s a line-up of the topics and hosts:
Section One: Living and Learning week of June 27th
Pre-K Pages
Teach Preschool
Brick by Brick
Prekinders

Section Two: Foundation of Learning week of July 5th (no posts on July 4th)
Brick by Brick
No More Worksheets
Pre-K Pages

Section Three: Supporting Emergent Readers week of July 11-15
Look at My Happy Rainbow
Growing in Pre-K
Pre-K Pages

Section Four: Supporting Emergent Writers week of July 18-21
No More Worksheets
Prekinders
Growing in Pre-K

Section Five: Letters, Sounds, and Words week of July 25
Pre-K Pages
Teach Preschool
Prekinders

Section Six: Assessment of Literacy week of July 25 or August 1
The Seeds Network

I can’t wait to read all of your fantastic posts and comments! Happy Reading!

Want to let your friends know about the book study blog party? Click “Like” at the top of this page or choose from other social media options below.

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Literacy Beginnings Book Study Blog Party

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 11:00:19 GMT

There are some people who think teachers have three months off and it’s all one big party; but teachers know the reality is much different. Being a lifelong learner is an important part of being a teacher. If you’re anything like me you have a big stack of professional development books sitting on your nightstand just itching to be read. It’s also just as important to take some time for yourself each summer to recharge your batteries for the next school year, it’s all about balance.

I can’t find the time to read professional development books during the school year so I usually select a few to read each summer. Of course, reading said books while laying in the sun and sipping a cold beverage is the best of both worlds. This summer I decided to read the following professional development books:

Math Work Stations by Debbie Diller
In Pictures and In Words by Katie Wood Ray
Literacy Beginnings by Fountas and Pinnell

(Don’t you just love my quilt in the background?)

One thing I always felt was lacking from my summer professional reading was interaction with my peers. Wouldn’t it be great to discuss the book with other teachers? After reading about the book study blog party Mrs. Wills is hosting for Math Work Stations the solution was clear; I am officially announcing a book study blog party for Literacy Beginnings! {Hugs to Mrs. Wills for inspiring this awesome idea!}

My goals for creating the Literacy Beginnings book study are:

To promote one of my passions as an early childhood educator; best practices in early literacy instruction.
To encourage professional dialogue and collegiality between early childhood teachers.

Here’s how the book study blog party for Literacy Beginnings will work:

Starting June 27, 2011 (this will allow everybody who wants to participate to get a copy of the book) there will be a series of linky parties hosted by different bloggers.
Each week a different section of the book will be discussed on participating blogs.
The blogger that is hosting will provide their thoughts on the chapter and readers can leave comments with their thoughts and ideas as well as link up their posts relating to the topic using the linky.

Here’s how you can participate:

Make sure you have the book Literacy Beginnings by Fountas and Pinnell
If you are a blogger and would like to host a chapter of the Literacy Beginnings book study blog party please contact me using the contact tab above.
Stay tuned to the Pre-K Pages blog and I will announce the bloggers who will be hosting each chapter and the dates they will be hosting.
Leave a comment below if you are interested in discussing the book with others and what you would like to learn.

I look forward to reading and learning with you! You can read samples from Literacy Beginnings here.

All of the authors mentioned in this post have other titles that I also highly recommend. The Literacy Beginnings book study blog party is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed in any way by Fountas and Pinnell or Heinemann. I have not been paid to promote this book or the publisher.

If you enjoy visiting Pre-K Pages please click the “Like” button at the top of any page or share it via other social media outlets using the links below.

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Kabongo Reading Games Review

Anonymous — Wed, 18 May 2011 11:00:24 GMT

Spring fever is in full-swing and both teachers and students alike are looking forward to summer vacation. Its times like these that call for a little something new to shake things up and keep everybody going for another month (or two). A few weeks ago I stumbled across a site called Kabongo that will help put an end to spring fever in your early childhood classroom. Kabongo isn’t just another online learning game site; it’s THE hot new online learning game site. What makes Kabongo stand out from the crowd? Well, since you asked:

Critical Thinking Skills: Unlike many online games that focus on very basic skills and right or wrong answers the games at Kabongo target the critical thinking skills and problem-solving strategies that are essential for future reading success.
Research Based: Games are designed by cognitive psychologists and learning experts
High Quality: The animation in these games is fantastic- move over PBS and Disney!
Interactive: There is no “osmosis” learning going on here, everything is highly engaging and fun.
Learning Skills Chart: Kabongo provides a Learning Skills Chart that lists the skills covered in each game which is very helpful for teachers and parents.

Kabongo features three different learning habitats; each habitat is broken up into three games that target different skills. Each habitat is offered for a one time flat fee of only $4.95, however you can use the coupon code shown above (LEARN) for free access to everything for a limited time! That’s nine games absolutely free. The habitats are:

Galaxy Gardens
Laughter Lake
Twister Top

How does it work?

Go to Kabongo and click on “play free” at the top of the page.
Next, sign-up to create your free account.
Once you confirm your subscription, log-in and select your habitat to start playing.

Aside from classroom use, Kabongo is also a great resource for parents. Kabongo has many parent friendly features such as a parent dashboard and progress reports delivered directly to your inbox.

Since summer vacation is right around the corner and many parents are looking for rainy day suggestions consider sending out a link to your parents letting them know about Kabongo. Kabongo’s target ages are 4-7 so you can suggest that siblings have a turn too.

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Pizza Box Flannel Board

Anonymous — Sun, 08 May 2011 21:38:23 GMT

A flannel or felt board is an important part of any early childhood classroom. One of the biggest benefits of having and using a flannel board is the opportunities it creates for oral language development. At the flannel board students can re-tell nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and other popular stories. Flannel boards come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

I was very fortunate to have a beautiful, free standing easel with flannel on one side and a magnetic dry erase board on the other. While being very pretty and expensive the large easel does have its drawbacks. The flannel board easel is very tall which obstructs your view when you are trying to monitor all the students in the classroom. It is also very narrow making it difficult for two students to stand side-by-side and play. I prefer that my students use the flannel board in pairs because of the social interaction and oral language opportunities it offers. Another problem I encountered with the flannel board easel was that it was difficult to offer the students a variety of different flannel stories to choose from. When I tried to hang Ziploc bags from the side of the easel the story pieces were quickly mixed-up and became a huge mess.

The pizza box flannel board has solved all of my problems -except how to get rid of the giant flannel board. Now students can select a box and sit down on the carpet to re-tell their favorite stories. The re-telling center is much more popular now than ever before because I can offer more choices to the students. Creating your own individual pizza box flannel boards is super simple! I have included the materials you will need below.

Flannel/felt from craft store
Hot Glue Gun
Scissors
Pizza Boxes- ask your local pizza parlor for unused boxes, most are happy to donate
Optional: Computer labels

Next, cut your felt to fit the front of the pizza box and use the glue gun to adhere the flannel to the front of the box. Flannel stories can be stored inside the box. The name of each story can be typed on a computer label and attached to the side of the boxes. Store several boxes on a shelf and allow students to choose their favorites.

If you enjoy visiting Pre-K Pages please click the “Like” button at the top of any page or share it via other social media outlets using the links below.

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Stepping Stones Together Review

Anonymous — Mon, 02 May 2011 22:00:17 GMT

As a classroom teacher I feel just as much responsibility for my students learning during the summer months as I do during the school year. I want them to have a balanced summer filled with fun and learning support at home so they can begin the next school year right where they left off in my classroom. Unfortunately, research shows that children can experience significant learning loss during the summer months. Imagine if an athlete stopped training, he or she would see a significant decline in performance. The human brain is no different; it needs daily exercise to maintain learning.

In an attempt to prevent learning loss during the summer I provide parents with a calendar listing free or low-cost local activities such as library story times, public pool information, and discount days at the zoo or aquarium. I also send home a folder filled with educational activities for parents to do with their children. However, one skill that I am not able to fully support during the summer is reading. Many parents read to their children but when it comes to helping their children learn how to read parents want to help but often don’t know how.

I was recently introduced to Stepping Stones Together; an online program for parents who want to support their child’s reading abilities at home. I am not a fan of any pre-packaged curricula or “teach your baby to read” programs so you can be assured that Stepping Stones Together does not fall into either of these categories.

The philosophy of the Stepping Stones Together program is research based and focuses on fostering a love of reading in young children ages 3-7 while providing a positive bonding experience between parent and child. The program takes only 15-20 minutes per day so there is still pelnty of time for summer fun. This is not a program where the child sits in front of the computer while mom makes dinner; this is a fully interactive program that provides busy parents with the tools they need to take an active role in their child’s beginning reading skills.

Developed by Dr. Erika Burton, the Stepping Stones Together program provides simple, step-by-step directions that parents can easily follow. The program consists of the following components:

90 High-interest printable books on popular topics such as superheroes, princesses, sports, fairies and more
Printable incentive chart
Daily writing practice
Printable instructions explaining how to introduce the books
High-frequency word games
Printable certificates of completion for each level completed
Printable flash cards to introduce and review high frequency words in each book

While the program is designed with parents in mind, after careful review I believe it can be easily used by classroom teachers. Many teachers are required to teach their students to read but are not provided with all of the tools necessary to do so. Stepping Stones Together offers everything, including the books for a very affordable price. Classroom teachers can also send home the Stepping Stones URL in their summer educational packets for parents who are interested.

Here’s the good news, Stepping Stones Together is offering readers of Pre-K Pages a special one day only discount. This discount allows you to access to the complete program for one year for only $19.99, use discount the code Pre-K Pages If you missed the first day special you can still receive a 5% discount on the program using the same code.

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Winner of the Jack Hartmann Giveaway

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:00:04 GMT

The three lucky winners of the Jack Hartmann gift certificates are as follows:

1st place winner of a $50 gift certificate: Hope D.
2nd place winner of a $30 gift certificate: Sue H.
3rd place winner of a $15 gift certificate: K.R.

All winners have been notified via e-mail and will have seven days to claim their gift certificates.

The winners were selected using random.org. Thank you to everybody who entered, we had more than 200 individual entries but since there were five different ways to enter we had almost 600 entries total!

If you enjoy visiting Pre-K Pages please click the “Like” button at the top of any page.

Don’t forget to sign-up for the Pre-K Pages newsletter. Subscribers receive early childhood teaching tips in their inbox each week.

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