Old Lady Learning!

The past week we have been busy with all kinds of higher level thinking in this pre-k classroom!

1)

We read two "Old Lady Books" and then made a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the stories.

My little learners LOVE all the "There Was an Old Lady" books.  For Thanksgiving, we read "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie" and "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey".   I had gathered items representing both stories and put them inside an old lady puppet.

 Each student pulled out an item and had to decide which book it was from.

A few of the items were in both books, which lead to a great discussion of where it should go.  I love seeing my sweet ones learning a new concept!

2)

Play dough is one of my all-time favorite things to use in my classroom.  My kids love playing with it and it is a fantastic tool to use to build muscles in little hands for fine motor development.  For a fun Thanksgiving/turkey twist, little ones gathered supplies and set to work creating.

They loved making and showing off their turkeys!

3)

Speaking of showing off, these two handsome young men were in my class last year,

They came back for a visit to read to me!  Oh, my, word, talk about proud!   I can't describe the feeling I have to see them blossom in kindergarten.  I am beyond thrilled to know the learning that took place last year has catapulted them to exceed in their kindergarten year!

4)

 I just had to throw this picture in because it's too cute!  We work and play hard at school and sometimes we are so tuckered out that we have to rest.  This sweetie pie was wrapped up like a cocoon in her blanket while taking a cat nap.  :)

5)

A big thank you to all who helped me celebrate my birthday by entering my birthday bash giveaway! I wish I could give everyone the TPT gift card, but here is my lucky winner.

Congratulations Penelope!  I will be emailing your gift card soon.

I hope each and every one of you have a relaxing Thanksgiving weekend.  I am thankful for so many things in my life.  Being able to blog and share with my readers is one of them.

Check out Doodle Bugs Teachings Five for Friday linky party to see lots of amazing posts from amazing teachers!

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.  :)

Birthday Bash: $50 TPT Gift Card Giveaway!

It's my birthday and I want to celebrate with YOU!  On Wednesday, November 23rd, you may enter my rafflecopter giveaway for a $50 TPT gift card to spend any way you would like.  :)

Enter below to win the TPT gift card.  {Disclaimer:  Last time I tried to use Rafflecopter, entrants had trouble signing up for the giveaway.  Hopefully this will not happen again BUT if it does, please just leave a comment with your email address.  Fingers crossed!}  Good luck!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

But, there's more!  I have slashed my December products 50% to help you get ready for the upcoming holiday season.  I want to show you how thankful I am for you!

#SPEDGivesThanks!

Thanks for checking in today!  

I am super excited to be participating with a whole host of amazing teachers who are offering some of their products for $1only!  This is good for today, Sunday November 20th!  Go to Teachers Pay Teachers and type in #SPEDGivesThanks and see all the outstanding products available for $1!
Here is what I am offering:  My newest pack:  Mooseltoe!

and my updated There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell Retelling Pack.

 

They are $1 today only!  I give thanks to YOU and all your support!

Fall Fun!

I am showcasing the last couple of weeks of fun we have had in our classroom!  

Let's start with the most recent.

1)

We made the cutest turkeys this week!  Lots of fine motor work went into these babies.  First, we sprayed large coffee filters with brown tinted water to make the body.  

Next, we colored a small coffee filter with a brown washable marker and then dropped water through pipettes to spread the marker.  

For the feathers, little ones were given 3" strips of construction paper strips and then they rounded the corners.  This was a bit tricky for some of them, but it's a great way to teach using a helper hand and turning the paper instead of the hand.

Love how these turned out!

2)

Speaking of LOVE, check out Max from "Where the Wild Things Are"!  If you already purchased my "Wild Things" pack, be sure to check back for a an updated version!  I will be adding the patterns to these soon!

3)

We also read "Owl Babies" and made this super sweet craft.

4)

Here are some of my sweet babies working on pre-k skills, such as recognizing letters of the alphabet, counting, and coloring the room activities. 

5)

 Be sure to check back on SUNDAY for an exciting announcement!

Be sure to check out Doodle Bugs Teaching Five for Friday to see what else is being showcased this week!!

Thanks for reading!  Have a great weekend!!!

Tech Center Blog Hop

I am participating in Pre-K Partner's Learning Center Blog Hop Series.  This post highlights technology in the early childhood classroom.

I do not have student computers in my classroom.  However, I am lucky enough to have several i-Pads for use with my students, as well as as an interactive team board. My team board is a bit too high for my students, so I use step stools when needed. My students don't mind one little bit.  They are focused and engaged with any and all team board activities. 

My i-Pads are stored and charged in this cart.

I usually include i-Pads in my station rotations.

Headphones are available, which is especially nice if we are doing others activities in the classroom.

I have to admit, I sometimes struggle with not wanting to use a lot of technology in the classroom.  I feel most of my little ones are already overloaded with too much of it already.  Between, smart phones, i-Pads, video games, and computer games, most of my students have had access to technology since birth.  However, I remind myself that these little learners are growing up in a digital age that is growing and changing rapidly.  

Teacher guides and classes to stay current with technology are what I have found most helpful, especially since I did not grow up in a digital era.  I feel it's important to stay up to date so I can offer my students the most up to date technology.  

I feel the most important role of the EC teacher is to research and find the most appropriate apps that will optimize opportunities for young children’s cognitive, social, emotional, physical, language development.

If you have a suggestion for any apps to use in the pre-school classroom, I would greatly appreciate any suggestions!

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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