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Friday, August 21, 2015

I can't believe that it is almost August!  This is the time of the year where I start getting organized and ready for the next school year.  Unfortunately for me I am not sure which grade I will be teaching yet.  I may be 4K for the year with the plan to come back to kindergarten next.  However, we are on the line with numbers and I may still be kindergarten.  So what do I do?  I plan for both.  The good news is, is that my youngest son will be in 4K so he has been having a blast with all of the 4K activities:


Whoo Who's in 4K is a part of the Fall for Preschool unit.  In this activity, the boys and girls will make an owl crown.  I like to have some of the pieces already cut for them (great activity for parent volunteer).  After everyone completes a crown I take a picture of each child and place all of the pictures on a bulletin board with the header "Whoo Who's in 4K (header is included in package).  

I like to make the crown after we read the story:

Monday, August 11, 2014

I Love Science!

Science and exploration is one of my favorite parts of the preschool curriculum.   It is easy to create science activities and the students tend to gravitate towards the area.  Here is something that I just made to put in the science center.  I love how is can be used in different ways by different leveled students.  In the beginning of the year they will have fun playing with the rocks.  They might compare sizes, colors and shapes.  By the end of the year they might be able to line up the rocks in alphabetical order.

I choose 26 flat rocks that were different shapes and sizes.  I bleached the rocks and let them dry for a few weeks.  Then I bought a variety of paint markers from Walmart and wrote the letters on the rocks and outlined with black.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Fine Motor Friday: Just a Dot

I like to make fine motor activities fun and messy!  This fine motor activity not only helps students build those tiny muscles, but also helps them practice and important preschool skill...using glue!

 Materials needed:  
A variety of glues 
Avery label stickers
googly eyes or other small decorations 



 This would also be a great activity to use for nocturnal animals or night/day.  Use black paper instead of white.  


This is an activity that I would demonstrate first.  Encouraging them to use a "bunny hop" or "dot" of glue.  This is a fun beginning of the year activity!

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Why Won't You Take a Nap?

My big 4 year-old turned 5 this year and with that he feels he no longer needs a nap.  Which I would totally disagree with him!  So he has been busy helping me prepare activities.  We love anything sensory.  Here is a picture of some rainbow rice that we made for the sensory table

We also had a fun time making the "What's Inside the Pumpkin?" activity.  After observing a pumpkin for a few weeks during the month of October, I like to open the pumpkin and have the students help pull out the seeds.  We dry the seeds and make a snack.  I save some of the seeds for the boys and girls to complete the project below.  It is a fun way to use observation in preschool.







Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Fall Fun
I can't believe that it is almost August!  For me, that means it is time to start planning and preparing for the new school year.  However, this year I am not sure if I am teaching 4k or Kindergarten.  So what do I do?  Prepare for both!  Luckily for me I have a son that will be in 4k this year, so we are having a lot of fun with our 4k products!

In the fall one of my favorite books to read is Owl Babies by Martin Waddell.  This may be a fun alternative to the Kissing Hand, that is so popular in the beginning of the year.
After reading the story and discussing how the baby owls felt and how their mother made them feel better.  The boys and girls will create an owl crown:
This crown is a part of our Fall into Preschool unit.  I usually have several of the pieces cut out ahead of time (by a classroom volunteer).  The boys and girls follow the directions to put the crown together.  When it is competed I take each child's picture and place it on a bulletin board labeled "Whoo Who's in 4K (label included in packet).  I then give each child three white pom poms or cotton balls and have them pretend that these are their "Owl Babies," and it is there job to take care of them:)  They love this!

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Summer Fun!

I can' t believe that our year is winding up!  My students are having fun with our summer fun printables.  The printables have been great for morning work, centers and send home fun!  It has helped keep them on task!




Thursday, May 1, 2014

 
I am so excited about our ocean unit.  The boys and girls have been super engaged (which is hard to do this time of the year).  To introduce the unit, I started gathering information from the students.  We first discussed all of the bodies of water and then how they were different then the ocean.  The boys and girls told me everything that they knew about the ocean (and what they thought they knew), and we wrote them on a large tablet.  As we learn new information we will clear up the misconceptions and write our new learning.

My favorite book is A House for Hermit Crab, by Eric Carle.  This activity grabs their attention immediately and sets the tone for the entire unit.  

Here are a few activities that we did in our classroom!
 After reading the story the boys and girls created this hermit crab using a paper plate and reproducibles from the Ocean Literacy Unit.  First they water painted the plate and wrote the title of the story and their name on the inside.  Then I asked them to place the animals on his shell as they appeared in the story.  
We reviewed the story using role playing cards and the real creatures below.  They loved having something to hold in their hands while we read the book.