Fall, Farm, and Fun!

Lord Almighty, I have no idea where the past two months have gone, but it's time to play catch up with this blog post!  I am going to start with the most recent and work backwards this time.  We started learning about fall....these are a few things we have been doing.

We raked leaves, which is an oh, so good, crossing the mid-line activity!

We read 'There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves' and sequenced the story.

And, we used liquid watercolor and droppers to make these beautiful fall leaves!

I made this sign for our door.  If you would like a copy for yourself click HERE or on the sign below.

Clipart is courtesy of Krista Wallden and font is courtesy of Hello Literacy and KG Fonts.

4.  In September, we finished up our apple theme with these activities.

We made 'apple pies' by cutting brown circles out of construction paper, tearing light tan construction paper into small pieces to resemble apples and gluing them on the pie crust.  We then squeezed glue over the top and sprinkled cinnamon and apple pie spices on the glue.  They smelled amazing, plus made such a cute door display after reading the book 'The Apple Pie Tree'.

We had an apple fun day and one of our activities was playing baseball with apples.  

 After reading 'Ten Apples Up On Top', everyone took turns stacking blocks that had apple stickers on them.

 We also stacked the apple blocks on top of our heads!

We used apples to measure all sorts of objects around the classroom.

We even measured ourselves and recorded the results.

To get some counting and one to one correspondence in, we made these apple five frame books with apple stickers.

5.  I have also been busy finishing up some retelling packs that I will be using this fall.  The first one is for the book 'The Napping House', which is one of my favorites to read around Thanksgiving.  What better time to take a nap after gorging on Thanksgiving dinner?!?!

The second one goes with the book 'Where the Wild Things Are'.  One of my favorites to read in October!

Well, that's my last few weeks in a nutshell.  You can check out more blogs on Doodle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday linky party.

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day :)

Science Center Blog Hop!

I am participating in Pre-K Partner's Learning Centers Blog Hop.  This time we are exploring the science center.  I love, love, love teaching science to my preschoolers.  To see the wonderment and amazement on their faces is priceless.  It's almost magical in their eyes!

In my classroom, I have an area that houses a light table and two water/sensory tables.

All are portable, so if needed they can be easily moved to the center of the room when we are doing a large group activity.

 In addition to the larger items, I have really been trying to invest in STEM activities.
For example....

This magnetic ramp set is one of the favorite center time activities.  It is also one of my favorite items to observe my learners trying to figure out exactly what needs to be done to get wheels to roll down the ramps and drop into the tray below.  There is lots of predicting, observing, adjusting going on!  Plus, the joy on their faces once they figure it out is just priceless!

Speaking of joy, magnets are some of the most inexpensive and amazing items to have in your science center!  Again, we see hypothesizing, predicting, and observing going on.

This little guy was sorting magnetic vs. non-magnetic items when he came up with the theory that magnetic items were usually metal.  Pretty smart for a four year old!

I have lots of 'toy' tubs available for students to build items such as vehicles,

houses,

 and bridges.

I also have Magna Tiles (another favorite item).

And, Magna Tiles on the light table...

even cooler!

Teaching science to preschoolers is a natural thing.  So many things we do every day involve science.  For instance, while learning colors I will introduce color mixing two primary colors.  We observe the weather every day during circle time and recess.  Children are naturally curious and want to explore the world around them.  Early childhood science involves the process of inquiry—theorizing, hands- on investigation, and discussion.

A must in my science center/classroom would be the following:

• magnets
• magnifying glasses
• sink or float items
• food coloring or liquid paint, along with a clear pitcher or jar to observe color mixing
• magnetic and non-magnetic items
• items from the world around us, such as: rocks, shells, sticks, leaves, nests, plants/flowers, etc
• pipettes
• coffee filters
• ice cube trays
• paint
• construction paper
• paper to record results of experiments or journals
• blocks/cars to build ramps
• sensory table/tub materials like, oatmeal, sand, beans
• measuring cups

Items that are not necessary, but nice to have would include:

• water/sensory table
• light table
• Magna Tiles
• STEM materials available through stores like Lakeshore

With encouragement from the teacher, children discover and explore the world around them.  It is the teachers role's to provide hands on activities where children are engaged in the process of inquiry, theorizing, hands- on investigation, and discussion.

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Apple Activities!

Apples were our focus this week. 

There are so many things to do with this theme.  It's definitely one of my favorites!  

To highlight our week, I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday linky.

Let's take a peek at our week!

For some fine motor work, little hands strung apple flavored cereal to make a delicious editable  necklace.

Of course, we had to taste test apples.  To engage our senses, little ones smelled each type of apple before they took a bite.

Then, they crunched away!

Since we are learning about graphs, it was the perfect opportunity to see which apple was the class favorite.  The learners colored the apple to represent the one they liked best.

And, the winner was.......

RED!

One of our sensory tubs was filled with oatmeal, cinnamon sticks, mini pie pans, bowls, cups, and utensils.  Pouring and dumping is SO fun, plus helps with fine motor development.

The second sensory table was filled with mini pie tins, small apples, felt, pompoms, and lots of different types of tools to pick to the apples and pompoms, such as scissor spoons, tongs, bug catcher type tongs, etc.  This table is close to the kitchen area, so my littles went to town making and baking lots of apple goodies.

 We also made apple pies with some play dough for additional fun and fine motor work!

 We used a salad spinner to paint apples for our apple tree.  I read about this idea on Teaching Two and Three Year Olds.  Sheryl always has fun ideas and this one was a hit!

 Little ones squeezed paint onto a cut out apple.  We put the lid on the spinner and then pulled the string {another fine motor workout!}

When we peeked inside, we saw beautiful works of art like this!

Here's a look at our apples on a tree.  I love how they all turn out so different!

Another must do art project is of course painting with apples.  This was a huge hit!

 I have found my students are needing a lot of fine motor work this year to strengthen the muscles in their hands.  Tearing construction paper strips to make these apples was just the ticket!

I am loving this bulletin board!

  Last weekend was the MIZZOU home opener and I was lucky enough to attend the game with these lovely ladies!  I firmly believe that taking the time to have fun helps me be a better teacher.  Good family and friends is just what the doctor ordered....kind of like "an apple a day"  :)

 Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)

Math and Manipulatives Centers!

 I am so excited to talk about the math/manipulatives center in a pre-k classroom.  Math is one of my favorite subjects to teach.  It's so rewarding when a student makes the connection with numbers, counting, and one to one correspondence.  After that, it all seems to click!

I am blessed to have so many great math tools in my class.  I don't put everything out at the same time.  Instead, I focus on different learning objectives and narrow the math manipulatives down.  I also make a lot of items to use with my themes.

 This is my whiteboard/magnet board divider in my room {which I love and highly recommend if your budget allows} and an example of something I use that I made.  I back the pieces with magnetic tape.

This is another example of an easy thing to use in your math center.  There are different types of ice cube trays and muffin tins, along with pompoms to practice one to one correspondence.  As a bonus, add tweezers, tongs, etc. to strengthen fine motor development.

On my shelves near my circle time area, I have different counters and counting games that I can easily pull out during group time.  These things are also available during centers to allow my little learners to practice playing games that require counting.

I have several 10 frame activities that I use throughout the year.  I usually introduce 10 frames after first quarter and then hit the concept heavy in the spring.

These are referred to as toy tubs in my class.  Often my students will pull these out after arrival, while some are eating breakfast, during rest time when some students are sleeping, and during centers, if they choose.

Here are a few of the items up close.

I also have several color sorting activities for my sweet ones that still need practice in that area.

These counting tubes are a  class favorite!

 I also have puzzles that work on math concepts.

Another absolute favorite item are these Magna Tiles!

I love that not only do they build with them, but they are also learning things like if you put two triangles together you can make a square!

Speaking of shapes, I love my attribute blocks and these 3D shapes.  I use them more in the spring to help prepare my pre-kinders for kindergarten.

According to the The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) "high-quality, challenging, and accessible mathematics education for 3- to 6-year-old children is a vital foundation for future mathematics learning".  They go on to state that Mathematics helps children make sense of their world outside of school and helps them construct a solid foundation for success in school.

There are SO many amazing books with math concepts.  We are doing an apple theme right now, so we just read Ten Apples Up on Top and Ten Red Apples, but you can find books specifically written to teach math skills.

This set of math books is from Lakeshore, but there are many, many great titles you can find for just about any theme.

The role of the teacher in pre-k is to enhance a child's natural interest in math by providing hands on manipulatives, along with enough time to for students to engage and explore through play.

I hope you have enjoyed getting a peek at my math/manipulatives centers in my classroom!

Now it's time to check out Pre-K Partner's blog and learn about her math centers!

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)