Georgia's Pre-K Program teacher newsletter, Apr. 2007

April 2007

"A good teacher affects eternity, he can never tell where his influence ends."--Henry B. Adams

Georgia's Pre-K Program Teacher Newsletter
www.decal.state.ga.us

April brings many exciting days to discuss with the children in your classes.
Keep America Beautiful Month
Mathematics Education Month
National Youth Sports Month
National Frog Month
National Humor Month

Important Days
April 1--April Fools' Day
April 2--International Children's Book Day
April 6--First Modern Olympics (1896)
April 11--Dandelion Day
April 12--First Human in Space (1961)
April 20--National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day
April 22--Earth Day
April 23-29--TV Turnoff Week (www.tvturnoff.org)
April 26--Hug a Friend Day
April 27--Tell a Story Day
April 30--National Honesty Day
Have fun with these by planning your own celebration or finding activities in your community!!!

April is Month of the Young Child--visit www. naeyc.org or www.gayconline. org for information and children's activities.
GA Reads Aloud Day will be April 24th. Please visit our website and click on the link on our home page that day to record the number of books read to your children. Help us set a new record!
REGISTER NOW for our annual conference, which is April 26-28th. Our website has registration information. We will plan to see you there!

Classroom Tip of the Month

What do I do with my old crayons???
Recycle old broken crayons by breaking them into small pieces and placing them in paper cups in the sun until they melt (usually takes a couple of days). After they have melted, carefully press into cup to eliminate holes and air

pockets and place in the fridge overnight. Tear cups off and have fun with large rainbow crayons. (You can also use muffin tins in the oven, but don't forget to spray with non-stick oil.)

What can I do with my old markers that have dried up and we are no longer able to use?
Caps from the markers would be wonderful real and found materials for the math/ manipulative area. Children can count and sort the caps according to color and size.

An Inside Look....
2 Phonological Awareness
2 Parent Involvement
2 Yummy Treats
3 Changing Your Environment
4 Creating a Classroom Community
4 THANK YOU Mentor Teachers!
If you have any ideas or activities you would like to share, please contact one of the newsletter staff.
Contact information:
Pre-K Consultant of the Day 404-656-5957 888-4GA-PREK Suspension/Disenrollment Dana Evans 404-463-0009
Dana.Evans@decal.state.ga.us
RC Program Lori Smith 478-471-5311
Lori.Smith@decal.state.ga.us
Newsletter Staff Nicole Cook
nicole.cook@decal.state.ga.us
Diane Griffin
diane.griffin@decal.state.ga.us
Meghan McNail
meghan.mcnail@decal.state.ga.us
Pam Bojo
Pam.bojo@decal.state.ga.us

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS

PQA indicator C4 states that teachers should provide various phonological awareness activities daily. These activities should be documented in lesson plans and show variation over a period of time. Refer to the clarifications and definitions for examples of phonological awareness activities.
The Frog A little green frog once lived in a pool The sun was hot and the water cool, He sat in the pool the whole day long, And sung a neat little, sweet little song, "Juaggery do, Quaggery dee, No one was ever so happy as me."
A Green Frog Said the little green frog as he sat on a
log

Nobody really likes me A duck came along And said, "You are wrong." And gobbled him up for tea.
Five Little Froggies A preschool body movement activity Five little froggies sitting on a well One looked up, and down he fell. Froggies jumped high, Froggies jumped low. Four little froggies sitting on a well One looked up, and down he fell. Froggies jumped high. Froggies jumped low.
continue with two and three froggies then..... One little froggy sitting on a well He looked up and down he fell.

Frogs A finger play This little froggy broke his toe This little froggy said, "Oh, oh, oh!" This little froggy laughed and was glad. This little froggy cried and was sad, This little froggy did just what he should He ran for the Doctor as fast as he could.
Don't forget to include this concept on your lesson plans!

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

Kite Day Take advantage of the nice sunny weather and invite parents to the school for an afternoon of fun and fresh air. Give parents and children the opportunity to build and fly a kite together.
Provide many different types of materials like paper, plastic bags, straws,

string, tissue paper and other materials that you have available. Let parents and children build and decorate a kite any way that they would like.
Then take the children and parents outside to experiment with their new kites. Encourage the children to make predictions about which kite will fly the highest or longest.
Discuss with the children which materi-

als made the best kites and why. Take lots of pictures and make a class book for the children to enjoy.
"Children make you want to start life over." Muhammad Ali

EDIBLE POND BOWL 1 package of either blue or green Jell-O Gummy fish, frogs or worms Individual bowls or large bowl
You will need to make the Jell-O according to the package and add in the gummy items after Jell-O has set-up partially. After adding in gummies, return to refrigerator until set.
Serve to the children, once it has set.

YUMMY TREATS

DIRT CUPS 1 package of instant chocolate pudding 2 cups of milk Cool whip Chocolate sandwich cookies (like Oreos) Gummy worms or insects
Prepare pudding as directed. Fill bowl about 3/4 full with pudding then add crushed chocolate cookie and gummy items. Mix together and then top with whip cream.

Page 2

CHANGING YOUR ENVIRONMENT (for National Frog Month and Earth Day)

DRAMATIC PLAY:
Create a swamp/rainforest--add lily pads on the floor, create trees that will hang over the dramatic play area, add frogs and snakes to the floor. Children can wear fishing vests and safari hats while wading through the swamp. You could also play a CD with sounds of nature and water.
SCIENCE:
Add mud to the sensory table along with pretend frogs, snakes and worms.
Download photos by googling "frog photos" and display them in the science area.
Make a life cycle game using photos and Velcro pieces. Add water, dirt, plastic frogs and foam pieces cut to look like lily pads to the sensory table.
Place vegetable seeds (beans) into small zip lock bags with a wet paper towel. Place children's names on the bags and hang from the window. Engage children in discussions about the changes that they see. You may need to add water every few days to keep the seeds moist.
Add a small aquarium filled with rocks, water, moss and river plants to show a frog's environment. If possible, add tadpoles so that children can track the changes as they evolve into frogs.
ART:
Add frog stamps, shades of green paint, frog sponges, pictures of frogs.
Recycle collage--make some 3D art out of recycled materials (paper towel rolls, water bottles, used newspapers, etc.)
Texture paint--add sand or dirt to paint to give texture for creations, or paint with mud.
MATH/MANIPULATIVES:
Frog math--Have plastic frogs and a muffin tin. Place green paper in the bottom of the muffin holes with a number. Have students place the correct number of frogs on the lily pads. This could also be done as a folder game with lily pads.

area with cards labeled "bumpy" and "smooth" so that children can sort them. You could also use these rocks to predict which is heavier with your scales.
WRITNG AREA:
Words to rhyme and count syllables and add to the writing center. Frog, tadpole, log, April, green, hop, hopping, speckled, pond, lake, Spring, rainbow, flowers, earth.
SHARING MORE ABOUT EARTH DAY
April 22 is Earth Day. Teachers can share the following information with children and then host as Spring Clean Up Day. Students could also help recycle items within their classroom.
"Everyone in the country tries to pitch in and do something that could help our planet. It is like a big, Spring Clean Up Day! Earth Day was started by Gaylord Nelson, who said there were a lot of problems with the environment. In a nutshell, smokestacks spewed dirty black smoke into the air; rivers contained many chemicals that contaminated the water; and, garbage dumps were full. Our Earth was getting very dirty. Ask students if they know what an ENVIRONMENT is? Then share that an ENVIORNMENT is our natural world: where people, animals, and plants live. Mr. Nelson had this neat idea of having one day in which people everywhere would get together to clean things up, making the environment and the Earth a little better. Because of all the attention Earth Day received, a lot of laws (rules) were passed that helped to clean up the air, land and water. "
BOOKS
Frog and the Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
Froggy Gets Dressed by Johnathan London
Jump Frog Jump by Robert Kalan
Red Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley
Down By the Cool of the Pool by Tony Mitton

B E
C R E A T I V E
"You can learn many things from children. How much patience
you have, for instance."
Franklin P. Jones

Rock sort--place a box of rocks of varying textures (smooth and bumpy) in the math

Page 3

CREATING A SUCCESSFUL CLASSROOM COMMUNITY

WHAT TO DO WHEN A CHILD IS PHYSICALLY ACTING OUT
1) Stay a safe distance away from the child both for the child's sake and yours, but remain close enough to show you are attending to him.
2) Distance yourself psychologically breathe and relax. If you are upset the child will identify with that, ask another teacher to help if you are getting stressed.
3) Do not try to move the child the behavior will probably escalate if you try. Only move the child if she is hurting someone else or if the child is in danger (e.g., running away from school, climbing on objects).
4) Be aware of your eye contact eye contact can ignite the situation, intensify a power struggle or reinforce

a child whose goal is to get your attention.
5) Wait until the child is calm to talk with him or her.
6) Do not try to reason with the child that is acting out.
7) Do not insist that the child apologize or give a reason for the behavior asking a child to apologize gives him attention, encourages him to say words he might not mean, and suggests that it is all right to hurt someone as long as he apologize afterwards.
8) Create a safe place in your classroom that is designated for children who are upset. This is not a place of punishment; it is a place for a child to go when she recognizes she is getting upset. This area could include quiet music, a favorite stuffed animal or

blanket, pictures of family members, books, etc. The children will have to be shown how to use the space, and you will have to help them in the beginning. If you do not have space in your classroom, you can create a safe place back pack or a stop sign a child can take to an area so she can be alone.
When a child is calm, spend some private time with her. Each child needs something different, but you could help her to name her feelings and to distinguish between feelings and actions. Talk about behaviors that might be more appropriate, and let her know that you still care about her. Try to work on a plan with the child, family and other teachers. The goal is to reduce the behaviors occurring in the classroom.

THANK YOU PRE-K MENTOR TEACHERS!

Bright from the Start recognizes and thanks all of the current mentor teachers for the wonderful job they have done this school year. Our 2006-2007 mentors are:

Michele Allen

Joanne Baker

Mitzi Barcus

Jo Bradford

Monique Brown Sherry Burden Sandie Burkett

Mandy Carter

Rachel Colon

Renee Cooper

Cecille Cooper LeTonda Corker Gina Dannelly

LeQuanda Dedmond

Carla Denny

Carol Denton

Andrea Dieringer Cynthia Dowling Shawna Flanders Jan Floyd

Angela Fuller

Pam Gooch

Diana Grandison Debbie Grove

Gabby Guerrero Michelle Hallman Kathy Hambright Jennifer Harpe

Marcella Harper Laverne Harrison Nancy Hill

Jennifer Hilling Constantine Humphries

Debora Hunt

Sheryl Hunton Pat Johnson

Cheryl Johnson Kim Johnson

Tracey Kinard Mandi King

Lori McGowan

Denyse McGrath Barbara Minor Dennise Minshew Michelle Moffett Donna Nelson

Linda Perry

Kay Pollard

Jane Rhoades

Kim Reid

Lisa Seawright Wanda Shyrock Terry Sibley

Janice Smith

Cindy Smith

Julie Spence

Barbara Stidwell Becky Thoma

Paige Tiller

Brenda Tilley

Rachel Turnquest Tory Updyke

LeAnn Wachtel Vicky Watson

Mary White

Ashley Williams Patricia Wilson

Interested in becoming a Pre-K mentor teacher? Please speak with your project director.