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?

This is how we do it... Part 1

When I said the title of this post in my head it goes to the tune of the old '90s song by the same name. I would have linked you to the music video, but this is a family blog and it's a bit too racy for my littles!! I would also like to note that while I am a child of the '90s this is by no means one of "my" songs... I'm just a nerd with an internal radio playing most of the time!

In an effort to make you all feel like a part of our classroom, I want to walk you through the different parts of our day. I will do this over a series of weeks, so keep checking back if you are interested. 

Starting our day...

I put 2 red baskets of crayons (found these at Walmart, they are actually grill baskets, score!) at each table for the kids to share. We don't use our pencil boxes until we start learning our letters and get a bit more responsible, plus they clutter the tables and can be distracting for 4-5 yr. olds. I want only the 8 basic colors in their pencil boxes so all the extra crayons we get from the easier to find 24 packs are used here and we just stack 'em up when we are done. I also have their writing journals sitting on their table spots ready to go. So far these are more of a drawing journal, but as we learn our letters and how to write the students can add beginning sounds and familiar words. For now the adults are labeling their work. We will start a new one each month. I got the packet Journals through the Year by Rachelle Smith on Teacher Pay Teachers and they have the most adorable covers! 

Students stop at their lockers to hang up their things and take out their lunch if they have one. Lunches go on their name tags. We had a little trouble in the first weeks because the kids used to put their lunches in a bin by the door and when I asked what they were having for lunch several would say "hot" when they actually had cold. Now I can quickly see who has it and mark it on the slip for our cook and we collect the lunches for the bin. I also collect any notes. Now that we have a "Friday" folder there are way less of these, which is nice. It works so much better to have my parents call the office if they are being picked up and the secretary just compiles a list. This way there is no lost sticky notes or confusion and tears at the end of the day! (Great idea, Mrs, Miron!!)

They will begin working and do this until all the students have arrived from the late bus and have had a chance to draw something. I walk around the room to monitor them and ask about their pictures. The students practice staying in their seats, sharing, and using one crayon at a time. I allow them to visit at this time. I think they need a chance to get the talking out and greet their friends, just like most adults like to. That way, when I begin teaching, I can say... "You already had a turn to talk, now it's my turn!" They usually have this taking turns concept down and have an easier time focusing on me.

Next we collect the journals and the kids sit crisscross legs and popcorn  ball hands (Thank you, Mrs. Moberg for that one!) around the outside edge of the large circle carpet. I go to the calendar board and trade the name card to pick a new leader and grab the flag. The leader goes around the outside of the circle and touches each child lightly on the shoulder to count up the kids. That way we count over 20 each day, helping us get to the goal of 50 by the end of the year and practicing those confusing teen numbers! Then we talk about who is here or not! Next, the leader stands in the middle of the circle and holds the flag. This is the cutest thing!! All the other kids stand and raise their right hand over their head. I give them a high 5 if they get it or switch the hands of those who forgot. They take that raised hand and put it on their hearts. We say the pledge last and sit back down to start circle time.

This all happens in the first 25 minutes of the day! We practice the routine until it goes smooth and then. we're. off!! :)