the latest and greatest…
the newest slide show to get you up to speed…includes “Miss Nelson Is Missing”, Pirate Week, Halloween, “I Stink”, and “Wilfrid Gordon MacDonald Partridge”!
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Fall Session Slide Show…and Ms. Susan!
EXCITING NEWS! Ms. Susan has started her own business venture…she will be with FUN CLUB until the holiday break, and then we will wish her well as she continues to grow her personal concierge service known as “Everybody Needs A Susan”. Click on her link to check out her services and be sure to wish her well in her new career track! : )
EDUBLOG AWARDS: Nominate this blog for the edublog awards! Last year, we were nominated for Best New Blog…I would love to be nominated again this year! Click HERE to nominate us…
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Weeks Seven and Eight…
WEEK SEVEN: Pirate Week
avas, me hardies!
pirates are a subject that have fascinated me since my very first “treasure hunt” with my Grandpa Ferd at age four. In honor of my Grandpa, and the little adventure-seeker that lives in every preschooler, Pirate Adventure Week is a must.
We start out making the classic newspaper pirate hats–note to parents/teachers–be careful what images/text are on your newspaper! Hats can be decorated a number of ways–for our time purposes, we colored with marker. Our art requirements were: your name, jewels, feathers, and a parrot medallion. Requirements keep the children on task while providing flexibility and choice–some students worked for ten minutes on their hats while others worked for thirty or more! (Students go to “choosing time” when they are finished.)
Our books this week included “How I Became A Pirate” and/or “Pirates Don’t Change Diapers!” Senior Kindergartens also generated some excellent questions about pirates, for example, were pirates real? are there still pirates? did all pirates have eye patches? what did they eat? etc. I have an excellent book called “What If You Met A Pirate” that has a wealth of pirate facts and interesting tidbits. (The illustrations are a bit graphic though, so you may want to wait a few years before putting this one into your child’s library.)
After our storytime, children participated in a treasure hunt–I hide small paper clues all over the room, and then we become a clue-finding team, hunting high and low for clues. It is really important to prep the children to help others find clues if they find one first–a lot of really kind moments and sweet sharing takes place during this activity. Also, be sure to have more clues than children–they really like to be able to find one (sometimes I keep a couple in my pocket and check to see who hasn’t found one yet–I then quickly hide them and invite the remaining child/ren to help me look for the last few clues.) When clues are gathered, we put the words together in a circle, using our emerging reading skills to “sound out” each of the words, and then unscramble the message (intro to sentence structure). Invariably, the message reads, “TO FIND THE TREASURE, YOU MUST FIND THE X!”
Children begin to hunt for a large letter X…when they find it, they point to it, giving everyone a chance to “spy” it. (This year, the treasure box was in the refrigerator upstairs!) A teacher carries the treasure box to the table and when all are seated we open it and take turns choosing our treasure!
Closure for the day includes learning the Pirate Handshake (make a “hook” finger and shake your neighbor’s “hook” and say “ARGH!”) and the Pirate Song, which goes like this:
“When I was ONE I sucked my thumb (show one finger, show pretend sucking thumb)
Going over the sea (make wave motion with arm)
I JUMPED aboard a PIRATE SHIP (jump aboard, make a sneer and a fist for “pirate ship”)
and the CAPTAIN said to me (salute on “captain)
He said, “GO THIS WAY (lean left) and THAT WAY (lean right)
FORWARD (lean forward) and BACKWARD (lean back)
over the deep blue sea!” (make wave motion with arm)
When I was TWO I tied my shoe (show two fingers, show pretend tying shoes)
Going over the sea (make wave motion with arm)…
You can see where that is going. Just change the first line each time to the next number and an appropriate rhyme! Students love to help think of a good rhyme too…be prepared for some wacky ones though (”five” and “hive” come up a lot).
WEEK EIGHT: Halloween Party
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Weeks Five and Six…
WEEK FIVE: The Tiny Seed
OPENING ACTIVITY: Use waterpaint to discover “hidden” wax resist leaves and botanicals on “blank” sheets of paper.
PLAYTIME: Choosing stations
STORYTIME: The Tiny Seed
ACTIVITY: Children each receive a small “collecting” cup and stick together as we explore one square block of the Old Town neighborhood, looking for mosses, berries, seeds, leaves, and other nature treasures.
ILLINOIS LEARNING STANDARDS:
Science
State Goal 11: Understand the processes of scientific inquiry and technological design to investigate questions, conduct experiments and solve problems.
Learning Standard B: Know and apply the concepts, principles and processes of technological design.
Benchmark: 11.B.ECa Use scientific tools such as thermometers, balance scales and magnifying glasses for investigation.
Physical Development and Health
State Goal 19: Acquire movement skills and understand concepts needed to engage in health-enhancing physical activity.
Learning Standard C: Demonstrate knowledge of rules, safety and strategies during physical activity.
19.C.EC Follow simple safety rules while participating in activities.
Even in the midst of the city, a nature walk around the block can be made into quite the event.
I give the students tiny little dixie cups to collect nature “treasures” and we talk about what we might find before we go outside collecting. We stick together and stay away from the street as we explore our block. My only collecting rules are that they have to be natural finds (no garbage or rubber bands, etc.) and that the item must fit in the cup. Seeds, leaves, rocks, mosses, twigs, bark, etc. are usually the order of the day–as always, we found lots of specimens–sweet peas in dried seed pods, tiny flowers still blooming, ginkgo leaves, and three different types of moss in the sidewalk cracks.
Children come in and dump out their haul, using hand lenses (magnifying glasses) to see more details. They get pretty excited about their finds and we do a lot of, “turn and tell your neighbor” things–most interesting, smallest, most colorful, etc.
Our art tie-in was a leaf-rubbing wax resist, painted with water paint.
Storytime was “The Tiny Seed” by Eric Carle, which is wonderful and apropos. It really helps students begin to consider the life cycle of seeds and is a wonderful illustration of the passage of time through the seasons.
WEEK SIX: Miss Nelson Is Missing
OPENING ACTIVITY: Using permanent markers, students will color a canvas pencil bag. Following safety instructions, students will manipulate eyedroppers and isopropyl alcohol to separate the colors by means of chromatography.
PLAYTIME: Choosing stations
STORYTIME: Miss Nelson Is Missing
ACTIVITY: Downstairs activity begins with students discussing fingerprints and then using a worksheet to preserve their OWN fingerprint, noting the four main styles. They then solved riddles as a group to find the missing teacher!
ILLINOIS LEARNING STANDARDS:
Science
State Goal 13: Understand the relationships among science, technology and society in historical and contemporary contexts.
Learning Standard A: Know and apply the accepted practices of science.
Benchmark: 13.A.EC Begin to understand basic safety practices.
Social Emotional Development
State Goal 32: Demonstrate a respect and a responsibility for self and others.
Learning Standard B: Perform effectively as a member of a group.
32.B.ECc Respect the rights of self and others.
I have loved this book since I was in grade school! It is so silly and clever…and teaches children an interesting, but not preachy, lesson.
I thought it would be fun to talk about being a “detective” this week–four and five year olds are just starting to become familiar with this word and what it means–Scooby Doo is a big help. Little ones love looking for clues and solving puzzles, so an intro to detective work and simple forensics fit in perfectly with this book.
We learned how to fingerprint ourselves and also that each fingerprint is different and unique, just as we all are. We looked at four common fingerprint patterns as well.
We also experimented with chromatography, or, as we put it, seeing what colors were hiding in our markers. Children are delighted to find yellow hidden amongst the green, purple hidden inside the black, etc. We teach them how to use eyedroppers with alcohol, explaining first about safety (keep away from eyes and mouth), and making sure our building is well-ventilated. We then color canvas pencil bags or canvas aprons with Sharpie permanent markers. The final step is to drip the rubbing alcohol onto the item–the alcohol immediately begins to separate and evaporate out different color pigments “hiding” in the student’s art, creating a beautiful, magical watercolor tie-died effect.
Items are left to dry for about 30 minutes and then taken home at the end of the day. This lesson really helps to get students to use their “detective eyes” when looking for things–how often do teachers (and parents) hear, “I can’t find my (insert item name here)!!!” Being a “detective” empowers children to use their eyes and look for clues, to stop and think about what makes sense, and to begin to make inferences–all higher level thinking skills and crucial for becoming critical thinkers.
Students solved riddles around the Clubhouse to find the missing teacher–who was “stuck” in the upstairs closet! I do believe Miss Nelson and Miss Viola Swamp will be paying us another visit later in the year!
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