Georgia's Pre-K Program teacher newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 7 (Mar. 2005)

March 2005

READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY

Bright From The Start:

This event started in 1998 as a *The Footbook is one that can way to get children excited be used in pre-k. After you have

you can use is My Many Colored Days. This is a great

Georgia Pre-K Program

about reading. It has now be - read the story, create your own way to begin discussions come the nation's largest read- foot book using your kid's feet. feelings, emotions and of

Volume 1, Issue 7

ing event. Each year on Dr. You can also introduce the conSeuss's birthday (March 2) the cept of pairs. You can complete

course reinforce colors. You can create your own class

March 2005

event is kicked off. This year a graph of shoes in your class- book or chart about how col -

is Dr. Seuss's 101th birthday! room (types, colors, etc.) and You can visit www.nea.org/ pattern with shoes. *Dr. Seuss's

ors make your class feel. *You can also use, The Shape

Special points of interest:

readacross/ for more information and ideas and how your class can participate. Here are

ABC book is also another book that is appropriate for pre-k. I t is just another way to reinforce

of Me and Other Stuff. You can use silhouettes and teach children how to create

Dr. Seuss Phonemic Awareness Activity

some other ideas! Have fun! *Get to your school or public library now to get some Dr. Seuss titles you might not have

ABC's in the classroom. Afterwards, create your own class ABC book. *Of course a favorite to use in the classroom is Green

silhouettes in your classroom. Of course you can also lead into a discussion of shapes. *Hop on Pop is kind

Planting Ideas Spring Finger plays Bean House

in your classroom. Remember, Eggs and Ham. You can use this of long, but a great way to

some of Dr. Seuss's books are book to reinforce the color introduce rhyming words in

not appropriate for pre-k due green and brainstorm other t h e p r e -k c l a s s r o o m .

to length and complexity. The green foods. You can taste *Another favorite for pre -k

good news is though, there are green eggs and ham in the class- is, Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can

several that are appropriate. room and it is a great way to You? Be sure to end your

*Many of Dr. Seuss' s books are start a study about eggs and study by graphing the chil-

an excellent way to introduce where they come from and then dren's favorite book, or by

or reinforce rhyming words. end by hatching your own eggs in drawing a picture to repre -

your classroom. *Another book sent their favorite book. Contact information:

PHONEMIC AWARENESS ACTIVITY

Vocabulary development is very important in pre -k. Re member to introduce new vocabulary to children in your classroom. There should be no isolated instruction of vocabulary and no testing of vocabulary in pre -k. It is only our job to expose children to new terms and give them meaningful connections. You can do this by writing the words on a

board, chart paper, sentence strips, etc. Remember, in pre -k, it is important to address the needs of your readers as well as your non-readers. Be sure to print the word and include a picture. This can be a photo, clipping from magazine, clip-art, or a drawing.

It is really easy to point out new words while you are reading. Ask your children do they know what that word means and then tell them. As you reread the book, ask them again and reinforce the ideas.

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

PLANTING IDEAS

Planting is a wonderful experience to provide for your children in your classroom. Not all of us have a green thumb, but these di eas can be done by anyone with success. Try these ideas! Be ready to record your children's observations, click pictures and provide writing materials so children can make predictions and record observations. Your science area should never be dull this time of year! Yeah Spring!
Collect some aluminum pie pans or try this outside. (You can find pie pans at dollar store for 4/$1.00 on baking goods aisle.) Be sure to punch some holes in the bottom for drainage. Fill the pan with soil. Have the children form the first letter of their name or draw something in the soil. A finger works fine, but your indentions should be about 1/2 inch deep. Have the children plant grass seeds in the indentions. Cover with a fine layer of soil. Water with a spray mister or bottle and in about 10 days, the children should begin to see the letter or picture they formed!
Another idea. Cut off some carrot tops and put each one in a dish with some pebbles. Add just

enough water to cover the bottom of the carrot. Hide the dishes in a place where there is not too much sun. In a few days, the carrot tops will begin sprouting and turn into plants. It would be great to put dishes into several different lighting situations and let the children predict what they think will happen, or which one they think will sprout first and then record the differences! That is pre-k science!
Another cool one. Scoop out some of a baking potato before you give it to the children. Let the children make a face with pipe cleaners, yarn, eyes, collage materials, etc. When they have finished add soil and grass seed to the scooped out portion at the top of the potato. When the grass grows, your potato will have hair! Let your children name their new friend and then write stories about them! Be sure to save those stori es for your portfolios and click a picture of their new friend they are writing about.
Planting station! Turn your sensory table into a planting station. Add potting soil to your table and add small garden tools and gardening gloves along

with small pots. Add in some artificial flowers and empty seed packets you have laminated. Let the children plant and plant some more!
Try this! Trim any sprouting greenery from the top of a carrot. Cut off and discard the bottom po rtion (pointed end). Scoop out the inside with a potato peeler to hollow. Push two toothpicks through the carrot. Tie a length of string around each toothpick end. Knot the loose ends of the string. Fill the carrot with water, then suspend it in a sunny spot. Keep the carrot filled with water and have your children observe what happens each day.
Beautify your campus! Now is time to ask what your class can do to add beauty to your campus and learn at the same time! Ask for a small spot to plant some marigold seeds. Be sure to go out and check the progress every few days! Ask if there is a place where your children can pla nt flowers, a small garden or a tree in honor of your class as a present to the school!

FINGER PLAYS

Growing Seeds

Five Pretty Flowers

Seeds are buried deep, deep, deep.

Five pretty flowers,

(crouch down)

Standing in a row.

In the ground they sleep, sleep, sleep.

(Spread fingers)

.

(Pretend to sleep)

Each with its head.

Yellow sun shines bright, bright, bright.

Hanging so low.

(Circle arms overhead)

(Let hand go limp)

Raindrops fall so light, light, light.

I sprinkled them with water

(Flutter fingers downward) Gentle breezes blow, blow, blow. (Sweep arms from side to side)
Little plants begin to grow. (Rise slowly)

As gentle as the rain. (Wiggle fingers over "wilted flowers")
One, two, three four, five-- Up they popped again!
(Lift fingers and spread apart)

BEANSTALK HOUSE

This is a great idea found on -line at www. atozteacherstuff.com Make a teepee-like frame out of six to eight 5 -foot long bamboo or wood stakes. Draw a circle about four feet in diameter in the dirt. Evenly space the stakes around the circle and push the bo ttoms into the ground, leaving a door. Tie three to four strings between each of the stakes from the top to each of the crossstakes. Purchase pole bean seeds, such as "Kentucky Wonder," and plant three seeds

below each string and stake. As the seedlings grown, gently help them get over to the nearest string. Eventually, the beans will "learn" to grow on the strings by themselves. In about a month (depending on the variety of your seeds and growing season), the entire bean house will be covered with green stems, flowers and eventually...beans! The reason for leaving a door on one side is to allow children to enjoy sitting in their very own bean house. Be sure to include your children in the

Challenge of the day: "Find something good in everyone."
Unknown
building, planting and watching process! What fun!

Volume 1, Issue 7

Page 2

SPRING IS ON THE WAY--IDEAS TO ENHANCE YOUR CLASSROOM

Now is the time to spruce up and clean your learning areas in your classroom. Invite your children to help you. Out with old and in with the new. Many of us forget our learning areas are supposed to change as often as our current topic or interest changes (Item B1--Meets on the PQA). Look around your room and remove any items you might have added for fall or winter and replace those with new spring or other current topic items. Changing your learning areas to reflect your current topics or intersts help children to relate and connect what they are learning about to the "real world" and also keeps their excitement level high and their interests peaked. Here are some ideas that might help get you started. SPRING on them!!
Spring is a really great time to really beef-up your science area. The first step you need to take is to inventory your science area. Make sure you leave out all of your basic science equi pment to meet the requirements of the PQA

(Item B8). You will need to have magnifiers, prisms, magnets, color paddles, sensory table, 2 collections of items, a science toy or game, books and writing materials. You can certainly add to and enhance your science area by adding to your basic materials. This will get your credit for exceeds indicators on the PQA. You can add books related to spring. Some topics may include birds, frogs, butterflies, rain, spring, gardening, flowers, etc. Also, look for pictures related to spring you can add. Change your collections of natural items. You certainly don't want to still have your acorns and other fall items out with spring peeping around the corner. Include budding branches, early flowers blooming in your area, new green leaves, azalea blooms, etc. Try growing grass seed or forcing daffodil bulbs to add an extra activity for your children to observe. See the earlier ideas for planting on page 2 for your sensory table. You could also add "easter" grass or shredded green paper and bugs.

Don't forget to enhance your book area. Add pots of planted spring flowers (real or fake), books about Spring, stuffed rabbits and brightly colored pillows or rugs. Put some books in a picnic basket.
Your writing area can be enhanced with new spring colored paper, spring pencils you might find a dollar store, new word cards about spring, etc.
Your art area can benefit from adding newly mixed spring colored paint for the easel, spring scented play dough, spring collage materials, etc.
For more ideas visit our website under teacher/PQA resources/ Planni ng/Spring Ideas.

SPRING SCENTED PLAY DOUGH

You will need:
3 cups flour 3/4 cup salt 3 TBS. Cream of tarter 1/8 cup powdered tempera paint* 2 cups water 3 TBS oil Approximately 10 drops of potpourri oil (any floral fragrance such as rose, gardenia, lavender, etc.)

In a large pot, mix together all of the dry ingredients. Stir in the water and oils until the mixture is smooth. Stir the ingredients over medium heat until the mixture forms into a ball. While the dough is warm, knead it on a floured board until it is silky smooth. When the mixture has cooled, store it in an airtight container.
*Add the paint color of your choice

CLASSROOM DISPLAY

Try this idea for a grand spring time entrance to your classroom. Idea taken from www.theeducationcenter.com
Hang varying lengths and colors of crepe paper streamers from the top of your classroom door frame. Mount a sun cutout above the door and then add a large, cloud-shaped cutout atop the streamers' ends to complete the display. What a beautiful entrance as your children walk right under a rainbow!!
PQA Review: Item B2 on the PQA refers to items in your classroom display.

Remember to check your display often and ask yourself these questions: Do I have individual children's work in the display? Is it current? Is it throughout my room? Are there at least three types of media in the displayed materials? If someone walked into my room, is it evident what we have been studying? Do I have chart stories of current activities? Do I have pictures of the children? Can the children select where to hang work?

Volume 1, Issue 7

"The secret of teaching is to appear to have known all your
life what you learned this afternoon." Anonymous
Page 3

JELLY-BEAN MATH

Jelly Beans? It's a fun way to teach math! Math skills are much easier for students to grasp using hands-on activities and real and found objects. Before you begin--introduce this rhyme by Margaret L. Thompson.
Jelly Beans Jelly beans, jelly beans, nice and sweet.
Jelly beans, jelly beans, yummy to eat!
Jelly beans, jelly beans, colors so bright.
Jelly beans, jelly beans, except black and white.
Jelly beans, jelly beans, oval-shaped and chewy.

shaped paper you've pre-cut by the jar for children to record their responses on. After everyone has made their guess, plan a small group to count the jelly beans. Let children use small cups to place sets of 10 jelly beans into the cups. Now, practice counting by 10's to see who had the closest estimate. You can now reuse the small cups to allow chi ldren to sort the jelly beans by colors! This is a great time to reinforce color recognition. Another extension--allow children to pattern with jelly beans--yet another extension-- measure objects with jelly beans and pra ctice more estimation! How many jelly beans long is the ______________?

Jelly beans, jelly beans, but hardly ever gooey.

Jelly--Bean Graph

Jelly-Bean Estimation
Display a quart jar filled with jelly beans for a couple of days. Encourage children to study the jar and estimate (guess) how many jelly beans are in the jar. Place jelly bean

How could you use jelly beans and not eat some? Pass out enough jelly beans so that children have a chance to taste each of the different colors. Discuss what each color tastes like. Then have children choose their favorite. Have a graph you have al-

ready started by placing the colors of the jelly beans at the bottom and squares for children to vote. Have children write their name on a sticky note and then stick above the color of the jelly bean on the graph to denote their favorite flavor of jelly bean! You can let them draw their favorite color jelly bean on their sticky note as well. Now, talk about which had the most votes, the least votes and other comparisons you can make!

CREATE A GARDENING CENTER IN YOUR ROOM

This could be really fun! Try changing your dramatic play area into a gardening center or maybe you have an ideal place in another part of your room. Things to collect before you begin: gardening tools (real or plastic) such as small shovel, hand spade, rake, etc., watering cans and misters, small plastic pots and trays, potting soil, aprons, gloves, hats, knee pads, real and plastic flowers, plant markers, seed packets, books and magazines with pictures of flowers, seed catalogs, cash register, play money, ticket pads, price tickets and stickers, etc. You can ask your parents ahead of time of they might have some of these items they can donate or let you borrow. You can change your learning area to look like a small greenhouse or plant stand. Set aside a table or shelf to place all of these items you have collected. Over the table, hang a canopy. You can make a canopy from material pieces, butcher paper, etc. This will help the transformation. Add signs that say "Plants For Sale" or that have the name of your plant shop. (This will help you on item B5--Exceeds on the PQA.) Hang up aprons, gloves, and gardening tools near the table or shelf. Add in real plants and pi c-

tures of flowers, greenhouses, etc. You can use the area for some real planting experiences while you have it set-up. If you are concerned about the potting soil, you can place it in a deep tub to help prevent spills or move your sensory table with a spill cloth underneath near this area of your room. If soil is not something you want to do, find something to resemble soil that children can use. With all of these additions--your children will be planting like crazy. It would be great if you could visit a greenhouse or nursery prior to this experience. You could even ask them for some donations to enhance the learning experiences in your classroom. Here are some book titles you might want to check out as well: Flower Garden by Eve Bunting, The Reason For A Flower by Ruth Heller, How a Seed Grows by Helene Jordan, A Flower Grows by Ken Robbins and A Tree is Nice by Janice Udry. In addition you might want to try some of these activities: Decorating Flower Pots--let children decorate small inexpensive flower pots. You can save these for mother's day gifts! Create a Terrarium: Use 2 liter drink bottles that have been emptied and cleaned. Cut off the top three inches. Remove the

plastic rim from the bottom. Place a layer of small stones in the bottom of the drink bottle. Cover the stone layer with about two inches of potting soil. Let chi ldren select plants to put in their aquarium (ferns, grass, vines, violets are low cost and easiest). Mist the plants lightly. Cover with the plastic rim removed earlier. Place the terrarium in a lighted area but away from direct sun. This creates a mini greenhouse for children to observe! Grow a potato vine: Insert toothpicks around the center of a white or sweet potato and set in top of a clear plastic jar. Be sure the water covers the bottom of the potato. A pinch of plant food will speed up the growing process. Be sure to have the children observe, measure the length of the growths and graph the process. Baggie Plants: Beans are easy to sprout. Try placing a damp paper towel inside a closed plastic bag. Add beans on the paper towel before sealing. Place near a light source. The children can watch the bean break apart and produce a sprout. Transplant the sprout into a pot or cup to watch more growth.