Georgia's Pre-K Program teacher newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 4 (Nov. 2004)

November 2004

THANKSGIVING IDEAS

Here are some great books to introduce Thanksgiving to your class: The Story of The First Thanksgiving by Elaine Raphael and Don Bolognese, Friendship's First Thanksgiving by William Accorsi, The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh, If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1692 by Ann McGovern, Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in The Life of A Pilgrim Girl and Samuel Eaton's Day: A Day In The Life of A Pilgrim Boy both by Kate Waters and The Pilgrims' First Thanksgiving by Ann McGovern. Some of these books may be a little lengthy, but they have great pictures and you can adlib! Use the songs on page three of this newsletter, Who Is In The Longhouse or This Is

The Way We Stir The Pudding, to help children understand a typical day of Native Americans and pilgrims in the early 1600s. Encourage the children to come up with movements or actions for each verse. Be sure to introduce what a Native American, a Pilgrim, a longhouse and the Mayflower are to the children to help expand their vocabulary. Find as many pictures as you can to help the children understand any concepts you introduce. Compile the pictures in a notebook or mini photo album and place in one of your learning areas. You can find clip art pictures online or you if you have a computer program such as Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Publishing, Print Shop Deluxe, etc. You can also discuss the kinds

of foods they ate for the feast and talk about how it was gathered, prepared, etc. Then compare to modern day--they didn't have grocery stores or packaged food back then! Provide as many real experiences for the children as possible. Make and knead bread, pretend to fetch water and fire wood, husk the corn, hunt for food, etc. These real experiences you can provide make the learning exciting and memorable for the children!

Bright From The Start Georgia's Pre-K Program www.decal.state.ga.us Volume 1, Issue 4 November 2004
Special points of interest: Thanksgiving books and ideas Turkey ideas Family project Phonemic Awareness activity
Contact information:

National Children's Book Week

The third week in November could also invite special guests from

is National Children's Book

your community to come in and read to

Week. This would be a great the children. You can host a special

time to plan something for

day for the children such as: Cuddle

your families or a special day up and Read (wear PJ's and have a

for your children. You could "slumber" party), Hunt For A Good

host a workshop about how to Book (wear camouflage), and the list

read aloud to children. This goes on! This is also a great time to

is a great week to get parents invite parents to sign-up for a library

started in the habit of coming card at the local library. You can take

to the classroom and reading a field trip to the local library or your

aloud to the children. You

school library. You might want to do

Consultant of the Day

404-656-5957

an author study and focus on a famous author and read several selections from that one author.

888-4GA-PREK Suspension/Disenrollment Mary Rieck 404-656-4965

Then, let the children be- Mary.Rieck@.decal.state.ga.us

come authors and create a

class book! Whatever you

decide to do, just make

reading fun and exciting for

the children and their fami-

lies.

TURKEYS

This is a great time to talk turkey with your children. Introduce turkeys to your children by sharing facts. Draw a picture of a turkey or have a picture of a real turkey (or both) and then label the parts of the turkeys. Great new vocabulary will be introduced! Be sure to label these parts: beak, feathers, caruncles (fleshy growths of skin found on head and neck of turkey), snood (growth of skin above its beak), wattle (piece of skin hanging from a turkey's throat), beard, and spurs. Here are some other turkey facts: A male turkey is called a tom or a gobbler. A female turkey is called a hen. A newly hatched turkey is called a poult. Turkeys feed along the ground, pecking for acorns, berries, seeds, insects, nuts, and mushrooms.

Some books about turkeys:
Sometimes It's Turkey, Sometimes It's Feathers by Lorna Balian, A Turkey For Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting, `Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving by Day Pilkey, One Tough Turkey: A Thanksgiving Story by Steven Kroll, Farmer Goff And His Turkey Sam by Brian Schatell, Over The River and Through The Woods, Thanksgiving At The Tappletons' by Eileen Spinelli, Thanksgiving Treat by Catherine Stock, Albert's Thanksgiving by Leslie Tryon, Daisy's Crazy Thanksgiving by Margery Cuyler, Thanksgiving At Our House by Wendy Watson, and A Visit To Grandma's by Nancy Carlson.

Five Fat Turkeys Are We
Five fat turkeys are we. We slept all night in a tree. When the cook came around, We couldn't be found and, That's why we're here you see!
Oh five fat turkeys are we. We spent the night in a tree. It sure does pay on Thanksgiving Day, To sleep in the tallest tree. Five fat turkeys are we.

Record this poem on chart paper and post in your room. You can add pictures of turkeys and a tree.

TURKEY TREATS
For each child you will need: 1 vanilla wafer 1 Rolo candy (unwrapped) 5 candy corn pieces 1 malted milk ball 1 red hot candy Chocolate frosting

Spread a layer of frosting on top of the vanilla wafer cookie. Place a Rolo in the frosting on the middle to bottom area of the cookie. Then turn the cookie on it's side. Arrange candy corn pieces (as feathers) in a semi-circle around the Rolo. Use a bit of frosting to attach the malted milk ball to the Rolo (for the head) and the red hot to the malted milk ball (for the wattle).

It's such a wonderful feeling to watch a child discover that reading is a marvelous adventure rather than a chore. Zilpha Keatley Snyder

SONGS AND FINGER PLAYS

Mr. Turkey (Tune: "Frere Jacques")
Mr. Turkey, Mr. Turkey, Round and fat. Round and fat. Carving time is coming. Carving time is coming. Yum, yum, yum. That is that!

Gobble, Gobble Song (tune: Pop Goes the Weasel)
A turkey is a funny bird, His head goes wobble, wobble. He knows just one funny word --
It's gobble, gobble, gobble!

Volume 1, Issue 4

Mr. Turkey (tune: If You're Happy and You Know It)
Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you? (snap, snap) Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you? (snap, snap) With a gobble, gobble, gobble And a wobble, wobble, wobble, Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you?
Page 2

THANKSGIVING SONGS
Who Is In The Longhouse? (tune: "Mary Wore A Red Dress")
Who is (in the longhouse, longhouse, longhouse)? Who is (in the longhouse), (Sweeping the floor)?

In the longhouse.....building a fire, eating corn By the warm fire...cooking beans, sewing clothes In the village...playing ball, weaving baskets In the big field....planting seeds, gathering squash At the river...catching fish, taking a bath In the forest...chopping wood, gathering nuts

(Child's name) is (in the longhouse, longhouse, longhouse). (Child's name) is (in the longhouse), (Sweeping the floor)!

This Is The Way to Stir The Pudding (tune: "Mulberry Bush")

Replace the underlined phrases with another underlined choice and then choose an action (italics) to follow for each verse. Replace a different child's name for each verse.

This is the way we (stir the pudding, stir the pudding, stir the pudding). This is the way we (stir the pudding) All in a Pilgrim's day!

Repeat replacing with these phrases:
Knead the bread Feed the hens Milk the goats Fetch the water Gather the wood Hoe the garden Pull the corn Husk the corn Catch a fish Pick up nuts Hunt for deer

HOW MANY TURKEY'S TALL?

How Many Turkey's Tall Are You? This is a way of using nonstandard measurement in your classroom. You can pre-cut some turkey shapes using the die-cut machine or a pattern. Have the
children stand against a wall or door in you classroom and then measure how many turkey's tall

by placing (taping) the turkey cut-outs one on top of the other until the correct height of the child is reached. You can then write the name of the child on the top turkey. You can continue to do this until you have done all of your children. Now, stand back and make comparisons. Who is the tallest? Who is the shortest? Was anyone the same? You can do this as a small group activity and then leave some in your science or math area and see if the children can come up with some other things in your classroom to measure using
the turkeys during your work time.

You can show other examples to the children. You might get them to build a block tower and see how many turkey's tall it is. You may want to measure and see how many turkey's long the table is? The possibilities are endless. Have fun and take some pictures for the portfolios!

FAMILY PROJECT

Mount the body of a large turkey onto a wall ble them on your turkey body you have previously see the creativity of

or bulletin board. Cut out large, brightly

mounted on a board or wall. This makes an awe- your children and their

colored feathers from poster board or tag some display! Be sure to invite all your families families as each feather

board. Send one home with each child along in to view your class turkey once all the feathers arrives! Another idea

with a note encouraging family members to are collected. Remember, some families may not would be to use old neck

embellish the feather as desired. You may want to participate and this is okay. I would rec- ties as the feathers you

want to include a list of things they could use ommend sending home the project over a week- ask your parents to em-

that they might already have at home to em- end so busy families will have time to gather ma- bellish. Use the large

bellish the feather such as: buttons, scrap terials and complete the project. If you have a pointed end as the end

material and ribbon, aluminum foil, glitter,

family that you know will need supplies and would of the feather and then

markers, wallpaper or wrapping paper, stick- like to participate, why not send home a bottle cut to desired length.

ers, pictures of the family, etc. Be sure to of glue and a few extra collage materials for

encourage whole family participation. As the them to use. Otherwise, you will be excited to

families return the feathers, begin to assem-

Curiosity needs food as much as any of us, and dies soon if denied it.
Stella Benson

Volume 1, Issue 4

Page 3

CLASSROOM IDEAS

Read the book, Tops and Bottoms
by Janet Stevens. Discuss with the children what they learned about vegetables from the book. Bring in, or have the children bring in, a variety of vegetables. Weigh, measure and explore the vegetables. Let the children help cut up the vegetables and using a chicken broth as a base, simmer vegetables for children to taste their own vegetable soup.
Nut Hunt: Buy a big bag of large assorted nuts or a bag of each of the following: almonds, walnuts, peanuts, Brazil nuts, or others readily available. Have one teacher hide the nuts all over the room while the children are outside. Invite the children in for a nut hunt! Afterwards have the children combine all the nuts. Sort them by type. County them and identify which is the most or the least? Which is the biggest? Smallest? Bumpiest? Smoothest?

Have the children practice fine motor skills using tongs or tweezers to transfer the nuts into egg cartons or sorting trays. You can also add to your sensory table for further exploration.

Provide other opportunities to vote. Display three records, tapes or CD's. Give each child a small post it note and have them write their name or symbol on it. Have the children vote for their choice by placing their post it note on their choice. The choice with the greatest number of votes wins. You can do this for naptime choice or music and movement choice.

Read the book, The Day Gogo Went To Vote by Elinor Batezat Sisulu. During a small group activity, discuss elections and what a popular vote means. Discuss elections in your community. Discuss our president and the upcoming election. Have an election in the group where children can elect their classmates for classroom duties for the week. Find other books about this topic at www.education-world.com

Punch Me Out: Provide children with small paper designs cut from white paper. Let children punch holes in the cutouts with hole punchers. Punched shapes can then be pasted on a colored background paper for better viewing of the holes they punched. Plus--you just tricked them into working on their fine motor skills which is what they need to develop to be ready to write!!

PHONEMIC AWARENESS ACTIVITY

Recognizing letters should be encouraged in the Pre-K classroom, but only in appropriate ways. These are some activities that might help you as children begin to learn the names and sounds of letters they are manipulating, forming and writing. (1) At work time provide daily access to drawing and writing materials. Maybe you can hang a marker from your art easel or write and wipe board so children can write their names. This is important because children can draw and write wherever and whenever they desire and for whatever reason. Be sure to encourage their interest in writing and make it meaningful and purposeful for the children. Model appropriate writing for the children. You may be in the house area and simply say aloud, "I think I am going to write down the groceries I need to buy today" and then see if certain children follow your lead. (2) Make sure you have many and varied writing materials accessible to the children.

You can provide clipboards, markers, pencils, pens, paper, cardboard, notebooks, scratch pads, tablets, envelopes, planners, calendars, receipt books, menus, shopping lists, prescriptions, appointment notes, tickets, orders pads, phone message pads, letterhead, cards, invitations, etc. Support their writing. If you see a child pretending to be a doctor say "Doctor, please write me a prescription for my headache". (3) You can encourage writing during your recall times or planning times by having children write or draw their experiences from work time or write or draw their plan for the day. (4) Encourage children to write as often as possible and again, make it meaningful and purposeful for the children. (5) Have them sign-in the mornings, (6) signup for their lunch choice, (7) write their name for a class graph, (8) draw and write about an experience, field trip or special visitor or create a story. (9) You can also encourage letter identification by having materials accessible to the children such as letters made

of plastic, wood, etc. You might have letter beads for stringing, magnetic letters, 3-D foam letters, alphabet puzzles, letter flash cards, letter tiles, alphabet books, alphabet songs and finger plays, environmental print, etc. (10) You can play games to make it interesting. Try this for small group. Place about ten or twelve letters in a basket for each child in the group. Say something like, "I'm wondering who can find the letter ___ in their basket?" or "Who can find the first letter of their name?" Don't get frustrated with children who aren't ready or don't identify correctly. You may want to create smaller groups during work time of your children who are ready. Good luck and send your ideas that work!