Georgia's Pre-K Program teacher newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 5 (Jan. 2005)

January 2005

I HAVE A DREAM....

Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be celebrated this year on January 17th. The biggest message you can give to your children is that we can join hands and wish for peace on this earth. Make sure children understand that even though we all look different, we are all the same and we all live together! Have your children join hands and sing a song to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Begin by reading the book, Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King by Jean Marzollo and showing pictures of Martin Luther King to the class. After you in-

troduce Martin Luther King, Jr. ther King, Jr. by David A. to the class you can then give Adler and Martin Luther the children the message you King Day by Linda Lowery. want them to receive. End the lesson by holding a group discussion about how we can be (Tune: "Jingle Bells") good friends at school and Friends hold hands. home. Record the responses Friends hold hands. on chart paper and remind the Friends hold hands and children of what each other smile. said and practice being good All our classmates are our friends. Be sure to point out friends. over the next few weeks when Let's sing with them awhile. you see someone being a good friend. Encourage the children to spot someone being a friend as well. You can end the lesson by singing happy birthday to Martin Luther King, Jr. Some other titles you might try: A Picture Book of Martin Lu-

Bright From The Start
Volume 1, Issue 5 January 2005
Special points of interest: Martin Luther King, Jr. ideas Phonemic Awareness Activity Evaluating your centers Creating readers and writers Mitten ideas Winter Theme Ideas
Contact information:

Phonemic Awareness Activity

Here is an easy song to help children learn the sounds let-

Sung to the tune of "The Muffin Man"

Oh yes, I see the letter [M]

ters make. Use this daily as a

And it says [/m/, /m/, /m/].

transition activity or part of a Oh, do you see the letter [M ],

large group routine. The chil- The letter [M], the letter [M]? dren will catch on fast! Try using flash cards of the al- Oh, do you see the letter [M], phabet to see if the children For it says [/m/, /m/, /m/].

Idea taken from The Mailbox, February/March 2004.

recognize the letter and then

help you sing each verse. You will most likely only choose a Oh yes, I see the letter [M],

few letters daily.

The letter [M], the letter [M].

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

LEARNING CENTERS IN A PRE-K CLASSROOM

Young children are active learners who touch, feel, experiment and create. The effective center is designed to relate to the world of the active learners and planned to encourage their involvement. Young children are interested in the world in which they live; centers should be a symbolic representation of their world. Children should be able to try out many ideas and rearrange happenings to fit their level of understanding. They can build their confidence and begin to believe that they are capable learners. Your center areas should change as often as your

current topic or interest changes in your room. Do remember though, not every center has to change every time. There are usually three categories of activities in a learning center: (1) Activities/materials which are introduced and then left in the center for the remainder of the year. (2) Activities /materials which are rotated to keep interest or build skill level. (3) Activities/ materials which amplify a particular study, topic or interest and are left out for the duration of that study or as long as the interest holds. When planning your

centers, try to focus on activities/materials that children can do or use themselves, needing very little supervision once the activities are set-up, introduced or demonstrated. This frees you up to interact with the children, ask open-ended questions to extend learning and to collect assessment. Be sure you document changes you make to your learning areas.

EVALUATION OF A CENTER--Questions to ask yourself?

Look at each center/learning area in your classroom and ask yourself these questions:
(1) Is the area attractive and appealing to the children in my classroom? Will it invite young children to play?
(2) Is the center based on the experiences and the current interests/studies of these children?
(3) Are there enough materials and

options available so four or five children can use the center effectively?
(4) Is the center organized and labeled so materials are easy for the children to locate and return when play is complete?
(5) Are the activities and materials flexible and open-ended to allow children to work at different levels and with diverse ideas?

(6) Are there children's books, writing materials and other literacy opportunities integrated into the center?

Creating Readers/Writers In Your Classroom!

It is so important that you read aloud to your children in your classroom every day. You should strive to read aloud to your children at least 3 times daily. It is a good idea to record these attempts on your daily lesson plans along with the title of the book. Your children should also see you modeling writing daily. If you don't have chart paper and an easel in your classroom you need to put it at the top of your list to purchase for next year. You should be writing daily during your large

group times so children can begin to see the spoken word recorded as the written word. You should then have the children become involved with the writing as much as possible. Maybe they record their own daily news? Maybe they write their name to record a vote after an activity? Maybe they sign-in daily? Record your finger plays and songs on chart paper so the children can see them in print and follow them with a pointer or finger. The more you model, the more they will follow!

Volume 1, Issue 5

"From the very beginning of his education, the child should experience the joy of discovery." Alfred North Whitehead
Page 2

MITTEN MAGIC

Mitten Match
Make or collect 15 to 20 pairs of mittens or gloves. You can make them from poster board and add a design and then laminate for durability. You can also use wallpaper scraps to cut your mittens from. Place the mitten pairs in your math area along with a clothesline and clothespins and let the children match the pairs and then hang them on the clothesline.
Mitten Lacing
Cut mitten shapes from laminated poster board. Punch holes around the edge of the mittens. Add yarn and a lacing needle and let the children "sew" their mittens.
The Mitten, by Jan Brett
Read aloud the story to your children. After reading aloud the story, have the students take turns reenacting the story using a blanket, pup tent, quilt, etc. as the mitten. Do this several times and then add the props to your large group or house area.
Dramatic Play
Add mittens, gloves, scarves, boots, muffs, etc.

Why Mittens?
Discuss with children why people wear mittens. Gather a few pair of real mittens. Working with a few children at the time, have each child hold an ice cube with their bare hands, then with a pair of mittens. Ask them to describe the difference in the way their hands felt with and without mittens.
Sensory Table
Add several pairs of mittens, polyfil, plastic snowflakes, styrofoam balls to your sensory table. Have children pretend to build in the snow. Add mini snowmen and have children "hunt" for snowmen in the snow.
Mitten Song
Tune: ("Row, Row, Row Your Boat")
Warm, warm, warm and snug-
Mittens feel so nice!
So grab a pair in chilly air
Or in snow and ice!

Mitten Weather Thumbs in thumb place, Fingers all together This is the song we sing During mitten weather.

WINTER WONDERLAND

Winter time is here! This is definitely a topic or study you might consider soon. You can access other winter ideas on our website under the teacher sections. You will find a unit for Winter.
Snowflake Flurry Whirling, twirling, soft and white, Snowflakes flurry day and night. Whirling, twirling, high then low. Whirling, twirling, fast then slow. Whirling, twirling, soft and white, Snowflakes flurry day and night.

Teach the children this rhyme and record on chart paper. Add some pictures of snowflakes. Play soft music and let children pretend to swirl and twirl like a soft snowflake.
Add a container of white pom poms along with some tweezers or an olive picker to your math area to promote fine motor skills. Children can pretend the pom poms are snow balls.

Blowing Snowballs
Pretend ping pong balls are snowballs. Give each child one. Play a recording of winter music such as "Frosty the Snowman". When the music starts, have the children blow their "snowballs" around the floor like the wind. When the music stops, the wind has died down and the children should pick up their snowballs and hold them quietly until the wind blows again.

LESSON PLANS AND DOCUMENTATION

It seems that there may have been some confusion lately about "required" lesson plans and documentation. Bright From the Start, as an agency, wants to make sure that our requirements are clear. If you should have any further questions, please contact your consultant to clarify the issue.
Lesson plans are required by Bright From the Start and should be kept on site and current. This is found on C5 of the PQA. The format that you use is up to you. There is no required format by

our agency. Your consultant will be checking your lesson plans for indicators found throughout the PQA.
There was also some miscommunication about the "What I Want My Consultant to Know" idea. This is not something that is required. It was only suggested that teachers keep things they want his/her consultant to know for his/her consultant to see while on-site. Again, this is not required by our agency. It was only a suggestion for teachers to "brag" about all the wonderful things they do in their classrooms that the consultants don't always get to see.

Volume 1, Issue 5

"If we succeed in giving the love of learning, the learning
itself is sure to follow." John Lubbock
Page 3

CHANGES TO YOUR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

These are some changes you might want to consider making to your learning environment this month if it goes along with your current topic which might be winter.
*Add snowflakes and snowmen all around your room. You can hang them from the ceiling.
*Add books about winter, snow, snowmen to your classroom.
*Add blankets and sleeping bags to your book area.
*Add snowmen, snow or winter flannel board stories.
*Add winter clothing (hats, scarves, gloves, mittens, etc.) to your house area. Set up a hat shop or winter clothing store. Add shopping bags, a cash register, play money and notepads and pencils. Make a sign that says the name of your shop.
*Add a thermometer to your science area along with pictures of winter (snow, ice, etc.)

*Put out a big sign that says, "Welcome Winter". You can get your children to help you make this.
*Keep a bag of cut up tissue paper and throughout the day sprinkle a handful of flurries down on the children.
*Add lots of cotton balls and other white and silver and shiny collage materials to your art area. Add twigs, buttons and scrap material for your children to create snowmen with.
*Bring in a sled and let children sit on it.
*Cut large pieces of styrofoam to resemble blocks of ice and add them to your block area. Now would be a good time to place out your artic animals and other winter props.
*Add white paint and some light shades of blue to your paint easel. Try adding some glitter in the paint for some extra sparkle.

FUN WITH SCIENCE

When water freezes you can't always see the crystalline structure that forms as it solidifies. Add some other substances and the observable characteristics change. When fruit juice is added to water and frozen, the structure of the ice changes and noticeable crystal structures are observable. It is the "impurities" that cause the change. Try this experiment!
Have the children mix water with one can of frozen juice. Pour the mixture into small paper cups (3 oz.). Place the filled cups on a tray, then put them into the freezer. Also freeze a cup of water. Look at the mixture about every 15 minutes. Talk with the children. Encourage them to describe what they see. When the mixture starts to

harden, remove the cups from the freezer and have the children place a popsicle stick handle into each cup. Put the cups back into the freezer. Be sure to let the children see the crystals that are starting to form. Continue to check on the progress, talking about the changes that are occurring. When the juice has frozen, remove the cups and give one to each child. Have the children peel the paper cup away. Observe the frozen crystals. Talk about the designs you see. Have a bite. As the children enjoy the frozen treat, show them the water popsicle and talk about the differences and similarities. How did the water change when the juice was added? What do you think will happen to the crystal popsicle if you don't eat it? If you want to do more, try freezing other edible liquids. Compare the different crystal patterns. Freeze bananas and grapes. Talk about similarities and differences.

What happens when popsicles or fruit thaw? Are they the same or have they changed?
Encourage the children to think in their own words and tell what is happening. Introduce new vocabulary: freeze, frozen, crystals, popsicle, liquid, solid, handle, melt, dissolve, cold, colder, hard.
Be sure to have you pen and pencil and camera ready. You are sure to collect some great assessment!
From the book More Mudpies to Magnets