This is how we do it... Part 2

Here's a sample of one of our More.Starfall.com lessons. These are amazing and VERY engaging for my sweet little ones. I am so happy that the administrators in our district purchased it for our Begindergarten classrooms! This is a very long post... since I am a teacher nerd, I would read it, but if you are not I get it!!

Warm Up Your Brain

Children follow these directions to do a twist and shout exercise:

• Twist at the waist with your arms stretched out to the sides and shout “1-2-3-4-5.”

• Bend at the waist to touch your toes. Shout “1-2-3-4-5.”

• Bend at the waist and use your left hand to touch your right toes, then use your right hand to touch your left toes.

Circle Time 

Indicate Let’s Eat. Say: We have talked about cherries that are red, (Make the red

hand sign. Make fist, raise the pointer and middle fingers, cross them, place them in front of your mouth and slide your hand down to your chin as you say red) oranges that are orange, (Make the orange hand sign. Make an “o” using your fist, place it in front of your mouth and squeeze the whole shut while saying orange) a pineapple

with a yellow inside, (Make the yellow hand sign. Make a fist, stick up your thumb and pinky, hold your hand to the side and twist it while saying yellow) and pears that are green.

(Make the green hand sign. Make a fist, aim your pointer finger out, hold your hand to the side and twist it while saying green) Let’s read to see what fruits are next!

Read Let’s Eat.

Indicate the blue Color Card (on the bulletin board). Say:

• This is blue. (Children repeat, blue.) The word on the card says blue.

Blue begins with b.

• Which fruit in the book is blue? (Children identify blueberries.)

• Let’s learn to sign blue in Sign Language. Ready? Demonstrate the sign for

blue. Say: Make a b with your fingers (face your hand palm out, holding your fingers and thumb up straight, bend your thumb over your palm) . Place the b hand to the side and twist your wrist back and forth. When children perform the sign correctly, continue:

You just signed the word blue. Let’s try it again. (repeat)

• Let’s play “I Spy.” Children look for blue items in the classroom. They report their

findings in complete sentences (Example: The crayon is blue.) and make the ASL

sign for blue each time a blue object is named. 

Indicate the purple Color Card. Say:

• This is purple. (Children repeat, purple.) The word on the card says purple.

Purple begins with p.

• Which fruit in the book is purple? (Children identify grapes.)

• Let’s learn to sign purple in Sign Language. Ready? Demonstrate the sign for

purple. Say: Make a p with your fingers (make aim your fist down, stick out your pointer and middle fingers to make a downward v). Place the p hand to the side and twist

your wrist back and forth. When children perform the sign correctly, continue:

You just signed the word purple. Let’s try it again. (repeat)

• Let’s play “I Spy.” Children look for purple items in the classroom. They report

their findings in complete sentences (Example: The marker is purple.) and make

the ASL sign for purple each time a purple object is named.

Gingerbread Boy whispers he knows a nursery rhyme about the color blue. Indicate

Nursery Rhymes page 26. Read “Little Boy Blue” several times.

Shape Patterns

Indicate a circle, a triangle, and a square. Volunteers identify the shapes. Two children stand and hold the two shapes, beginning a circle, triangle pattern.

Say: Let’s say the names of these two shapes: circle, triangle. Two more children hold a circle and a triangle to continue the pattern.

Say: Let’s name the shapes in order. (Children name the shapes, circle, triangle, circle, triangle.) Good job! These shapes make a pattern.

Ask: What shape would come next if we continue this pattern? A volunteer chooses the next shape (circle) and joins the others. Continue until there are five of each shape. Collect the shapes as children return to their places.

Say: You are so good at making patterns! Let’s see if we can make a pattern using a circle, a triangle and a square. Repeat the above procedure to create a circle, triangle, square pattern.

Story Time: Our Eyes Can See

Indicate Draw Dragon Dot Eyes and other Chinese Fables as told by Ellen Ching. Ask:

• What was Sung-Yow’s secret?

• What didn’t Sung-Yow paint on his dragon?

• What happened when Sung-Yow added the dots for eyes?

• Do eyes have an important job? What is it?

Say: Close your eyes. Can you see anything? (no) Now, open them! Look around the room. Let’s make a list of things our eyes can see.

Indicate the sentence stem “Our eyes can see…” and read it to the children.

Say: Our eyes cans see toys. (Write “toys” on the chart paper.)

List responses on the chart paper with volunteers’ names next to them as they complete the sentences. Review the responses. Ask: What would happen if you didn’t have eyes? (discuss) Was it was a good idea for Sung-Yow to give his dragons eyes?