Georgia's Pre-K Program teacher newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 8 (Apr. 2005)

April 2005

Transition Ideas

Sometimes it is really obvious your children might have some extra wiggles or you might have a block of time you need to fill. Try this idea: Say the verse below and after the last line, indicate a child to be the leader for the next verse and to select the movement. Continue until each child has had a turn or your block of time is up. Soon, the children will know this and will follow right along.
This is what I can do. (Demonstrate action such as patting head.) Everybody do it too! This is what I can do. Now I'll pass it on to you! (Point to someone who will lead the next verse.)
Try these other tips: Create a prop box you can use for

transitions. Keep it in a spot where you can pull something out and use when you have free time.
Play games like "I Spy" or "Rhyme Time".
Have activities ready for children who finish activities early. Put quiet activities somewhere in the room and make sure the children know they are to go to get one of those activities if they finish early. You might include a portable writing center, favorite books, magna doodle or etch-a-sketch, puzzles, etc.
Establish a non-verbal clue that your children will quickly recognize when you need their immediate attention.

Give a warning before changing activities.
Fill in time gaps with music and movement activities. Add in props for even more fun.

Volume 1, Issue 8 April 2005

Be willing to stop what you are doing if you see children are not interested or are losing interest. It is okay to give up a planned activity and move on to something else.
Be sure to state expectations clearly and often. Be sure to focus on the desired behavior.

Special points of interest: Transition Ideas Phonemic Awareness Activity Kindergarten Readiness Miss Bindergarten Small Group Ideas Camping Center

Try placing children who are not ready or who are extra wiggly near an adult.

Contact information:

Phonemic Awareness Activities

Onset and Rime: Onset and rime occur in single syllable words. An onset is all the sounds in a word that come before the first vowel. A rime is the first vowel in a word and all the sounds that follow. Example: "splash" - "spl" is the onset and "ash" is the rime. Use some of these activities to help children begin to hear onset and rime.

Mystery Word: Teacher holds a picture of a one-syllable animal (dog, pig, cat, etc.) He/she tells the children, "I have a mystery word. Listen carefully and see if you can guess it." Teacher says the onset and rime (/d/ /og/) and children guess. Then say the word together--dog!
My ____at Book: Create simple flip books for word families. Place multiple pictures, along with the onset on one part of the book. The rime goes on the

other half of the book and does not change. Turn the onset pages to make new words. Sesame Street Chant: I say /buh/ and you say /at/ /buh/ /at/ /buh/ /at/ What did we say? We said "BAT!"

Consultant of the Day 404-656-5957 888-4GA-PREK Suspension/Disenrollment Mary Rieck 404-651-7420 Mary.Rieck@decal.state.ga.us
Visit our new website
www.decal.state.ga.us

KINDGERGARTEN READINESS

Try some of these ideas to help with the transition to Kindergarten.
Practice morning routines such as "moment of silence" or pledge to the flag.
Practice raising hands to answer questions.
Practice carrying cafeteria trays. You can implement this during center time as well as during meals and snacks. If trays aren't available, you can use cookie sheets or serving trays instead.
Learn to open individual milk and juice cartons and condiment packages.
Practice walking as a group from the classroom to other locations in the school/center as they will have to at "the big school".
Arrange to visit "special" classrooms such as P.E. , Music, or Art.
Answer roll call.
Practice getting on and off a bus and go over bus safety rules. Invite a bus to your center

if you aren't at a school.
Visit the school library and practice checking out books.
Learn to sharpen a pencil.
Meet with a kindergarten teacher and discuss anything in the schedule or routine that you might can put to practice in your own classroom to help the children transition. Is there a special sign for "quiet" in Kindergarten classrooms? Or a special way to walk down the hall?
Make changes to your daily routine to allow for longer sitting times at small and large groups. Allow a shorter rest period so you can include more instruction in the afternoons of your daily routine.
Arrange a trip to visit the local school and meet important school personnel and see important places.
Arrange for your children to meet some former Pre-K students to talk with your chil-

dren about Kindergarten and what it will be like. Add in a writing center stocked full of writing materials like the ones they use in your local school system. (lined paper, fat pencils, skinny pencils, a pencil sharpener, name cards, worksheets (as a choice), etc.) Read books aloud about Kindergarten. See the suggested list below.
"Limited expectations yield only limited results."
Susan Laurson Willing

SUGGESTED BOOKS FOR KINDERGARTEN TRANSITION

Froggy Goes to School--Paulette Bourgeois

Annabelle Swift, Kindergarten--Amy Schwartz I Want To Go To School Too: A Story About Kinder-

Boomer Goes to School--Constance W. McGeorge garten--Liza Alexander

Countdown to Kindergarten--Alison McGhee

If You Take A Mouse To School--Laura Numeroff

Curious George Goes To School--Margret Ray

Little Cliff's First Day of School--Clifton L. Taulbert

David Goes To School--David Shannon

Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come--Nancy L. Carlson

Elizabeti's School--Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen First Day--Dandi Daley Mackell & Tiphanie Beeke First Day Jitters--Julie Danneberg

Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten--Joseph Slate
Mouse's First Day of School--Lauren Thompson

"Learning is not a RACE for information--it is WALK of
DISCOVERY."

First Day, Hooray--Nancy Poydar

Unknown

Franklin Goes To School--Jonathan London

ACTIVITIES FOR Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten

This book by Joseph Slate lets you travel through the alphabet as Miss Bindergarten and her students get ready to start a brandnew year. You can use the following song sung to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It" to get your children ready for the story. If your name starts with A, come sit down! If your name starts with B, come sit down! If your name starts with C,D,E,F,G,H,I, If your name starts this way, come sit down! If your name starts with J, come sit down! If your name starts with K, come sit down!

If your name starts with L, M, N, O or P, Q, page of the book, which pictures Miss Binder-

If your name starts with way, come sit down! garten's new class in alphabetical order. Then If your name starts with R, come sit down! select one child to pick an object from the

If your name starts with S, come sit down! bag and determine which of Miss Bindergar-

If your name starts with T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, ten's children it must belong to (ex: an apple

If your name starts this way, come sit down! belongs to Adam Alligator). After each stu-

dent has drawn an object from the bag, have After reading the story, do some of these him/her illustrate the item and its matching

activities:

book character on a sheet of paper. Bind the

Beginning Sound Bag:

finished pages to create a cool new alphabet

In a large paper bag, place an object, photo, book for your class.

or picture card to match each letter of the

alphabet. With the class, examine the last Continued on page 3....

Volume 1, Issue 8

Page 2

Miss Bindergarten activities, continued....

ABC Bag: Try this for a small or large group activity. You will need an old bookbag or some type of bag in advance. Start the activity by repeating this chant: Let's pack a bag to go to school Because we know that school is cool! We'll start this game with A, you see, And name new things all the way to Z!
Then, starting with A, say, "In my bag I'll pack {an apple}." Encourage the first child in the circle to repeat the phrase, filling in the blank with something that starts with a B. Continue around the circle until you've covered the entire alphabet. This also makes a great class book for the children to illustrate what they will pack in their bag!
Letter Creations: Ahead of time, trace and cut out a letter from heavy tag board for each student. Provide a variety of art materials

such as crayons, markers, glue, paper scraps, collage materials, foil, glitter, wiggly eyes, material scraps, etc. Encourage each child to use the materials to transform his/her letter cutout into an animal or other object that begins with that letter. Show the children they can turn the letters anyway they need to. (Ex.: A-alligator, D-dog, Q-quail).
These activities are intended for end of year. Please do not get discouraged if you still have children who are not ready for these activities, but I bet you have many who are! Have fun!
This is a great time to pull out other alphabet books and use with your children. You can also pull out your Chicka Chicka Boom Boom activities and use these. Add alphabet supplies and materials to all your learning areas in your room. If you did not get a copy of this unit, please refer to our Teacher section our website or contact your consultant.

"No one should teach who is not in love with teaching." Margaret E. Sangster

FROGS AND PONDS

Share the book In The Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming with your class. Ask the children to name the animals that use the pond as their home. Other books about ponds include: Lily Pad Pond by Bianca Laives, Jump, Frog Jump! By Robert Kalan, Splash! By Ann Jonas, Do Not Disturb by Nancy Tufuri, The Wide Mouthed Frog by Keith Faulkner and Jonathan Lambert and In The Pond by Ermanno Cristini. Be sure to add these to your science area after you read them to the

class. Now is time to find a place to put your tadpoles and let your children observe them turning into frogs. Introduce the frogs lifecycle to the children. You can share this by reading aloud Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni. Be sure to draw the lifecycle of a frog on chart paper or find some cards or a poster with the lifecycle pictures to put up in the science area for your children. Place out writing materials and other books about metamorphosis of frogs. Encourage children to observe the tadpoles daily and notice the changes. Be sure to visit allaboutfrogs.org for additional ideas and information.

If possible arrange a field trip to a pond to observe. If this isn't possible, consider recreating the pond habitat by using a small wading pool and adding pond plants. If you get to go on a field trip, be sure to take pictures to put in the science area when you get back. Also, be sure to create a class story about the trip to the pond and the things they saw. For finger plays and rhymes about frogs and other pond animals (ducks, fish, turtles, etc.) visit www.preschoolrainbow. org/animal-rhymes.htm

Small Group Time

Small group is a very important time of each day. Here are some tips that might help you in future planning. Small groups provide an opportunity for children to solve problems and make choices, to be exposed to new materials and experiences and to have regular peer contact and interactions. Small group time for teachers provides an opportunity to build on children's strengths and interests, to observe and interact daily with the children, and to practice introduce new materials and experiences. There are many sources for small groups. You can go with children's interests, content standards or curriculum objectives, materials (new

and under-used) and local traditions and community events. We also suggest using books and language extension activities for small groups. One of the key things to remember: You must always be prepared. Have materials ready ahead of time and think of back-up materials you might need. Start your small group by making a brief introductory statement and then let the children begin work immediately. You might try just passing out the materials or play a game to introduce the materials. You might tell a story or just use a current interest or topic as a starting point. Adults should remain on the children's physical level and listen to what the children are saying. Make sure you move from child to child and converse with the children following their leads.

Encourage children to do things for themselves and refer children to each other for help. Realize that children finish at different times and be prepared for the ones who finish early. Give children a warning near the end of small group and always make the same materials available during work time/center time. Be sure to ask for the children's help in cleaning up and putting materials away. Another key point to remember for the PQA: over the course of a week, you should have planned activities for all 7 learning domains. Small group time is an excellent time to make sure you are spreading the learning across all of the domains. Don't forget outside this time of year. It is an excellent place to host a small group activity!

Volume 1, Issue 8

Page 3

CAMPING CENTER...What Fun!!

What a great time of year to turn one of your areas in your room into a camping center. Introduce the center by showing camping equipment that you have collected. You can also ask children to share their experiences they might have had camping. You can ask parents for donations or to borrow items. Some of the props to collect before setting up this center: flashlights, lanterns, knapsack, tent, bundle of wood, sleeping bag, cooler, hiking boots, camp cookware, rope, binoculars, canteen, picnic basket, maps, small stove or grill, fishing pole, ponchos, first aid kit, walking canes, etc. To set-up the area, pitch the tent. If you don't have a tent, create one from an old sheet and some chairs. Create a mural of a forest to hang on the wall in the camping area. Create a stream by laying blue butcher paper on the floor and creating rocks from gray construction paper. Set up a campfire near the tent. Surround the bundle of wood with a circle of rocks to resemble a campfire. Campfire can also be made from paper towel tubes and yellow, red and orange tissue paper.

Create a canopy area (use the one you created from the greenhouse last month) to put a food area. You can add a small picnic table or other table you might have had in your house area. Setup "camping food" in this area. Add the picnic basket, tablecloths and a cooler. Add your camping dressup clothes and other camping supplies on a shelf in the area. Be sure to add books about camping, outdoors, insects, etc. Here are some titles you might want to checkout: The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle, In the Woods by Ermanno Cristini, Come to the Meadow by Anna Hines, Jump, Frog, Jump! By Robert Kalan, The Teddy Bear's Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy, Picnic by Emily McCully and We're Going on A Bear Hunt by Micheal Rosen.
You can make trail mix to keep in the area as well or just for an fun activity one day. You can set up the activity

in the cooking area you created. Place out dried fruits, nuts, cereal, etc. and place spoons in each bowl along with some zippered baggies. Let the children add what they want to their trail mix. What a great idea to have some trail mix while sitting around the campfire listening to a story. You can also try s'mores one day. That is always a camping favorite!!
Have fun camping! Add some nature music playing quietly in the area for additional added effect.

MORE CAMPING FUN

Camping Song (tune: "Where is Thumbkin")
Let's go camping Let's go camping Pack the tent Pack the tent We will all go hiking We will all go swimming We will have fun! We will have fun!
Did You Ever Go Camping? (tune: "Did You Ever See A Lassie?")
Did you ever go a camping, A-camping, a-camping? Did you ever go a-camping And sleep in a tent?

2. ...and see a raccoon? 3. ...and hike in the woods? 4. ....and fish in a boat? 5. ....and have a campfire? 6. ....and roast a marshmallow?
You make up some more verses!!
Flashlight Day for Nap Time Have each child bring a flashlight (have some extras on hand). Turn off the lights and close the blinds. Lay on the floor on your sleeping bags (real or pretend). Have the children cast their flashlight beams onto the ceiling. Pretend they are stars under which to sleep. Play some quiet nature sounds for your rest time music. What a great change to our ordinary routine!!

Encourage creative thinking by asking these questions:
Where did you sleep when you went camping? Where did you eat? What did you eat? How did your prepare your food? Where was the bathroom? Did you see any animals? What kind?
These would make great stories! Record their dictation and ask the children to illustrate a book about their camping adventures!!