Snowman Fun!

   Winter is in full effect and we are trying to embrace it! It was a rough and early start to winter, as we were slammed with snow (measured in feet!)- back in November, which is now known as "Snowvember". And it is only the middle of winter, so we have no choice but to try and embrace it, even though I am so over snow already at this point!
   HOWEVER, all of this snow makes planning fun learning activities very easy!
   We have read many books the past week, pertaining to snow and snowmen, and of course, we had to make a snowman craft to spruce up our January bulletin board!

   The munchkins have been getting lots of practice writing their names and I am so proud that so many of them have come a long way! The ones who were not even able to make a scribble, can now write their name legibly! And my munchkins that were not even able to hold and grip a pencil properly can now trace their names.... I love seeing how each child is progressing!

  Anyhow, I extended our name writing to make these cute little snowmen!

 We also talked alot about how to build a snowman! 

   Check out "How To Build A Snowman", as told from 4 year old preschoolers:

 

With all this snow and snowman talk, I have had many of them ask many times "Are we going to play outside today?"  (I wish we could, BUT I have already planned something I know they will enjoy- I will be bringing some snow into our water table later this week!)

    There is so much to do when it comes to Winter Fun and although I wish we had time to do it all, sadly there just isn't time- especially since Parent Teacher conferences are around the corner.... and you know what that means... the dreaded Progress Monitoring!!
   Well, I know I am going to try and make the best of it the next few weeks...

On the Road to Literacy!

   So I know the last time I posted anything about my classroom, I mentioned that things were under construction. Well, things are still under some construction as I continue to find ways to meet the needs of my munchkins, who have been a challenge for me thus far in the school year.

   The past few weeks have been both stressful and hectic, yet somewhat inspiring at the same time; as I have been able to reflect on my teaching practices and express some of my concerns and challenges with my director who has given me some direction and further insight on how to manage my classroom of boys! 

    I think I now have a clearer sense of where I need to focus my attention & energy and where to start. It is basically back to the drawing board!! 

    I know, it is already November, but I have to start somewhere right?

    In our preschool curriculum, we have just begun our Letter of the Week series.!  Although I have been implementing literacy activities since Day 1, it is now time to focus on one letter and sound at a time.

   Learning the alphabet alone provides SEVERAL different fun and engaging learning activities for my kiddos. And thank goodness for Pinterest and  my wonderful collection of The Mailbox Magazines (which have always been a valuable resource for me) which highlight many different hands-on letter activities that I plan to use in my classroom this year!

    So, we are on the Road to Literacy! J

    Here are a few things we have been doing to get ready to learn letters:

    The most appropriate way we began our study of letters has been through name recognition activities.

    The munchkins have done name puzzles and have matched  and counted the letters in their name.

    I created a dry erase card for every child to use, by gluing a sentence strip onto white construction paper and then laminated it. I made sure the writing section contained no lines at all, giving them the confidence to write their letters as big and round as they need to!

Some kiddos are working on writing their full name, while others are practicing their first name.

    I pulled out a set of alphabet flashcards and have provided several opportunities throughout the past 2 weeks for the children to explore them and practice writing letters on blank dry erase cards.

    And we are still getting some good use out of our old Apple Pie PlayDoh by using letter cutters to spell names!!  (This is definitely the last week of it and then  it is getting tossed in the trash!)

    And… our sand table has become an Alphabet Digging Ground.

    There are so many fun and engaging ways to introduce and learn the Alphabet, my mind is in over drive! 

     What are some of YOUR favorite Alphabet activities???  

     Please share.! I would love to hear comments and/ or suggestions! =)

Deadlines & Stress...so here is a Freebie!

    Well, I am coming up on the 45 day deadline! What is that? 
  Well in working for Head Start, there are many things (aka tedious paperwork) that need to get done and it has been quite the rush (and a pain in the butt) to get it done; all the while trying to teach and maintain a consistent classroom routine for a wild bunch of munchkins!

    In addition to the required paperwork, as a Universal Pre-K teacher, I have to administer a test (yes, I said test) called CIRCLE to all my little preschool munchkins. For those Kindergarten teachers who are familiar with the DIBELS assessment, CIRCLE is just that--- for preschool. Wow. Yes, I know. It’s ridiculous.

   SO needless to say, it has been a painful process. Some of my kiddos are still adjusting to preschool and some are still trying to get used to our routines and transitions! And to have to sit and test these kids in 4 different academic areas--- OUCH!

    As I have been trying to balance testing and paperwork and actually teaching, I have become quite overwhelmed this week! BUT there is a light at the end of the tunnel and soon the 45 days will be past us and I will actually be able to TEACH again! =)

    Anyhow, enough on my testing woes…

   This week, my preschool munchkins have been continuing to celebrate FALL !

    When October began, I introduced a new math skill on my calendar: Patterns.

    Every day this week, we worked making AB patterns with different objects, during circle time and center time, using manipulatives, such as linking cubes and colored leaves. Some children were even eager to try AABB patterns!

   Today I had the munchkins try out their new math skill on their own!

    Click here to get your Fall Pattern Freebie!
I am also featuring this on TBA's Freebie Friday!

   We have also been working a lot with the letters in our names and name recognition.

    I had seen Crayon Resist artwork before and I was eager to try it with my students. We had the children use a white crayon and a white sheet of construction paper to write their name. For the ones who did not know how to do so, we wrote their name very lightly onto the paper and had them trace the letters.

  Then we gave them some watercolors and thick paintbrushes and showed them how to brush the watercolor over the letters. They were thrilled to see the letters appear on the paper like magic as they painted!

    Now after an overwhelming week (which was only a 4 day week!), I plan to relax a bit and have some fun with my own little munchkin as we work on our own fun, Fall projects! 

   

Magnets & Velcro... My new BFFs!

   I bet you are wondering what happened to all the learning fun that I was doing with my little munchkin, huh? Well, obviously now that school has started and she is back in daycare/preschool during the week, our Learning Fun time is back to weekend learning fun! =)

   She is learning so much in her little daycare/preschool! 

    I use the two words interchangeably because I can see that it isn’t “just daycare”… she is learning a lot and having lots of fun!  Two thumbs up!!  =)

   Even though I am all over the place with the start of the new school year, I have TONS of learning fun in mind for my little one!

   We had done a few more shape activities before all the Back To School madness started.

To give her some On-The-Go Learning, I made this little Shape Match game/ busy book with shapes and Velcro dots!

    We also used craft buttons to sort by shape, BUT before we even did an activity, I changed gears and I used a glue gun to make them into magnetic buttons for play , by gluing on magnet dots that I found at Walmart awhile back. (These are just like the ones I made for my classroom science center.) 

    She then used the magnetic buttons to count and sort buttons by their shape!

    Last weekend, as I browsed through my teacher bins in the garage, I started to brainstorm new, fun activities for my little munchkin, and I couldn’t wait to get started this past weekend!

   In her preschool, she is learning about the first letter in her name and that just happens to be exactly the kinds of activities that I have in mind for her at this point in time!

   I took the same idea from the Shape Match game/book and made her a "Letters in my Name" Velcro activity.

   I took the name activity that I had done last week with my preschool munchkins and had her do the same kind of activity. And she surprised me at how fast she finished it! =)

    I had also found these foam letter squares at Dollar Tree. 

I slapped some magnetic strips on the back and made a quick magnet game for her that she used on a cookie sheet after pasting the letters of her name in order! 

    Can you sense my obsession with magnets & velcro yet??

**Do you have any fun magnet and/or velcro activities 

that you want to share??**

    

"What's My Name?"

    Alright, it is time for me to get focused and get this school year off to a great start!
     I have been so focused on the Chicago Teacher strike and have spent my evenings keeping updated on all of it via Facebook, and text message/calls to my teacher friends in Chicago. 

    As of today, things are looking okay. Progress has been made, there is a framework for a FAIR contract, and the teachers of Chicago have found Solidarity with teachers (especially inner city teachers) all over the nation.... Very inspiring! =)

    Well, seeing as I am no longer a Chicago teacher, I am not on strike, and it has been work, work, work for me!!

    Week #2 had its challenging days (and when I say “days”,  I mean challenging ALL DAY!.) But it wasn’t all bad and I think for the most part my little munchkins are getting familiar with our daily routine! =)

    Anyhow, here are some additional pictures of my classroom. 

    I have now introduced most of my centers, with the exception of the Writing Center (it is still under construction) and all centers are available for Free Choice Time!  Yay!!

    House Keeping/Kitchen:        

    Math & Science Center:

    The feature activity was Magnet Play. I took some random magnets and then used a glue gun to glue magnet dots onto buttons and pom poms.

    I really enjoyed watching their faces as they explored the magnets… Some children even discovered that the magnets stuck on the legs of the table and on the file cabinet!

    Art Center:

    Every 3 days in the past 2 weeks, we have switched activities in the center and showed the children how to use the tools (such as glue , paper, play-doh) and how to properly clean up the art center. The activities were the usual favorites: Play-Doh and Collages.

    Listening Center:

    This is the one center that I need to spruce up! Thanks to my renewed teacher account with Scholastic Book Clubs, I hope to build up my Listening Center library this year!

    So there is my classroom!  I will try to get a large snapshot of the whole room. Oh, and the ONE center I forgot to take pictures of is our Sand/Water Center!!

   Anyhow, aside from learning the rules of the classroom and getting accustomed to our Daily Routine, our focus has been name recognition.

    Here is our Morning Attendance Check In Chart:

     I had each child decorate their own name tag with all sorts of stickers, in hopes that it might help them to recognize it more quickly. And for the most part, they have been doing a pretty good job during Morning Check In.

    I also made some simple name puzzles with their pictures and as they completed the puzzle, I asked them to attempt to write their name on another sentence strip.

(For the ones who had no clue, I wrote their name in pencil and demonstrated how to trace over the letters with a marker.) This activity enabled me to observe how each child utilized writing tools and allowed me to see which children are going to need some additional fine motor practice.

   With just observing the munchkins in centers everyday I have gained a good sense of where they are in their development, in each area.

   It's a good start!! =)