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

March 2007

"If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way that they learn".--Ignacio Estrada

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

March brings many exciting days to discuss with the children in your classes.
American Red Cross Month National Nutrition Month Poison Prevention Awareness Month Women's History Month March 1st--National Pig Day

March 1st--Share a Smile Day
March 2nd--Dr. Suess' Birthday
March 11th--Johnny Apple seed Day
March 17th--St. Patrick's Day
March 18th--First Space Walk
March 20th--Big Bird's Birthday
March 21st--First Day of Spring
March 23rd--Toast Day
March 26th--Make Up Your Own Holiday Day

Bright from the Start welcomes new staff to the Pre-K program:
Susan Adams--Program Manager for Metro Atlanta Amy Browder--Pre-K Consultant for the Middle South Georgia area. Marian Brown--Pre-K Consultant for the Augusta area.

An Inside Look....
2 Phonological Awareness
2 Parent Involvement
2 Yummy Treats
3 Changing Your Environment
4 Creating a Classroom Community
4 FAQ regarding WSS
If you have any ideas/ activities you would like to share, please contact one of the newsletter staff.

Have fun with these by planning your own celebration or finding activities in your community!!!

Classroom Tip of the Month

PREPARING CHILDREN FOR KINDERGARTEN
PQA Item D2 in the exceeds column--Plans are made to contact former students during the beginning of their kindergarten year.

Ideas:

of the next school year.

1) Send out postcards at 3) Invite one of your former

the end of the summer

children to come back and talk

wishing your former stu-

to your current Pre-K class.

dents good luck in kinder-

garten.

4) Have former students be

pen pals with the current stu-

2) Gather all of the email dents in your class.

address of the parents and

send out various emails to 5) If they are at the same

those students over the

school, offer to sit in on their

summer and at the beginning first kindergarten conference.

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

Bean Bag Toss: (You might want to use St. Patrick's Day or food vocabulary for this activity.) Teacher provides the student with 5-7 small bean bags. (Plastic gold coins could be used) Teacher says a 5-7 word sentence aloud. Student tosses a bean bag in a container for each word in the sentence. (A black plastic pot could be used.) String the Beads: Any beads will do but if you can find green, gold or shamrock beads it would add interest. (You can use any words but St. Patrick's Day or food vocabulary would be fun.) Give each student a string with a knot in one end and some beads. Teacher says a 1,2,3 or 4 syllable word. Student strings one bead for each syllable and repeats the word.
Place pictures of the following on green shamrocks or index cards and have children pull them out of a leprechaun hat. One ac-

tivity is to clap the syllables in each word.

Another activity is to have children generate

a word that rhymes with the picture. Also

you could have children listen for the first

sound (not letter) and make the sound aloud.

green

Patrick

pot

jig

clover

rainbow

Leprechaun shamrock

gold

parade

Sentence Imitation: Teacher reads a sentence or question aloud. All students repeat the sentence. (Be creative and make up your own sentences.) Who sold the gold? I ate the green bean. Show me the rainbow. Where did the rainbow go? The clover is under the cover. He's a lucky ducky. Then the teacher gives the students a starter sentence and the children give a . Word that rhymes.

Where did the rainbow ______ ? I ate a green _______.
Don't forget to include this concept on your lesson plans!

PARENT INVOLVEMENT

A Slumber Party
A slumber party at school can be a fun way to encourage parents to read to their children. Let children wear their pajamas to school and bring their favorite stuffed animal or blanket. Invite parents to come in and read a story to a small group

of children. Discuss with parents the importance of reading to children everyday. Remind parents that reading to children is the best way to prepare them for Kindergarten.

"The beginning is the most important part of the work"
- Plato

Leprechaun Pudding
One 1-ounce box of sugar free instant pistachio pudding for every five children
1/2 cup of milk per child 1 small, resealable plastic bag per child
1/2 cup measuring cup 1 spoon per child.
Put a tablespoon of pudding mix in sandwich bag and milk, then close the baggy and have
kids shake and squeeze, then eat.

YUMMY TREATS

Rainbow Toast
Ingredients: bread, milk, food coloring, water color brushes, toaster, margarine Pour a tablespoon or two of milk into a small dish and add a couple of drops of food coloring. The more drops, the more intense the color. You will want to have three or four colors. Wash brand new brushes and put two into each container of colored milk. Have the children daub the colors onto their bread. They should be careful not to put too much milk in one area of the bread. Once their design is done, lightly toast the bread. You or the children can spread the margarine onto the bread.
Page 2

CHANGING YOUR ENVIRONMENT for St. Patrick's Day and Nutrition Month

DRAMATIC PLAY:
Create a leprechaun's house with rainbows, pots of gold, four leaf clovers.
Create a Farmer's Market by adding baskets of plastic fruits and vegetables. You can also add brown bags, cash register, straw hats, overalls. Let the children create a sign listing the food prices.
SCIENCE:
Sensory Table--add green plastic grass or rice/noodles dyed green, then add gold and silver coins.
Predict the number of seeds you might find in an orange, apple, slice of watermelon.
Plant a small vegetable garden.
Create rainbows with prisms.
If you do not have a prism, you can make rainbows in your classroom by filling a clear glass with water and setting it on a sunny windowsill. Place a small rectangular mirror in the glass, positioning it so the sun shines on it and reflects a rainbow on the wall. ART:
Add shamrock shaped sponges, green and gold glitter, have children create green paint by mixing blue and yellow paint.
Rainbow Writer:-Select 3 or 4 markers in rainbow colors. Hold them so their writing tips are even and tape them together. Let children use the Rainbow Writer to draw rainbows on large sheets of paper. They can also write their names using the rainbow writers. Additional rainbow writers can be made using colored pencils or crayons taped together.
MATH/MANIPULATIVES:
Use dried up seeds from the apples, oranges, watermelon and let children sort and count.
Cut paper shamrocks in half with the # written on one half and corresponding dots on the other half.
WRITNG AREA:
Add words with pictures of healthy foods.
OTHER IDEAS:
LEPRECHAUN MISCHIEF
While the children are out playing or before they arrive make some silly changes in the room like putting things out of place, hiding things, leaving gold chocolate coins, etc. Leave green footprints Blame it on the leprechaun

LEPRECHAUN FINGERPLAY
Leprechaun, leprechaun, Hiding in the hay. (Hide pointer finger under opposite hand.) Leprechaun, leprechaun, Don't you run away. (Hop pointer finger around.) Leprechaun, leprechaun, Let's go out and play. (Hop both pointer fingers together.) Leprechaun, leprechaun, It's St. Patrick's Day! (Dance pointer fingers up and down.)
FIVE GREEN SHAMROCKS
Five green shamrocks growing outdoors (Child's name) picked one, and that left four. Four little shamrocks, green as they can be. (Child's name) picked one and that left three. Three little shamrocks playing peek-a-boo (Child's name) picked one and that left two. Two little shamrocks nodding in the sun, (Child's name) picked one, and that left one. One little shamrock for St. Patrick's Day fun. (Child's name) picked it, and that left none. Cut 5 flannel board shamrocks and let the children make shamrocks on a stick and place the numbers on the shamrocks for a math skill.
LUCKY LEPRECHAUN TO THE TUNE OF
JINGLE BELLS Leprechaun, Leprechaun, Oh, where can you be? Come a little closer now, Don't be afraid of me. Leprechaun, Leprechaun, You bring luck my way. I'd really like to see you On this St. Patrick's Day!
BOOK IDEAS
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? By Jane Yolan
Eating Right by Helen Frost
I Eat Vegetables by Hannah Tofts
The Meat and Protein Group by Helen Frost
Ten Apples Up on Top by Theodore Le Sieg
The Vegetable Group by Helen Frost
Fluffy's Lucky Day by Kate Mcmullan Hooray for St. Patrick's Day by Joan Holub St. Patrick's Day in the Morning by Jan Brett St. Patrick's Day by Gail Gibbons St. Patrick's Day Alphabet by Beverly Barras Vidrine A Leprechaun's St. Patrick's Day by Sarah Kirwan

B E C R E A T I V E
"To teach is to learn twice"
- Joseph Joubert

Page 3

CREATING A SUCCESSFUL CLASSROOM COMMUNITY

IDENTIFYING BEHAVIORS We can prevent challenging behaviors by catching it in the earliest phase, anxiety. The signs vary with the child. By knowing them well and watching closely, you can identify these and other signs that indicate what children are feeling. Here are some possible signs that a child may become upset:
Tears Clenched teeth Rigidity Rapid breathing Sweating Fidgeting Withdrawing Hair twirling Thumb sucking Putting clothes or hair in
mouth Clinging Biting fingernails Whining Noisy Screaming Smirking Giggling

All of the mentioned identifiers could indicate that a child is becoming upset and by implementing the following strategies, you may be able to calm a child down and avoid further problems. Planned ignoring some behavior will stop if left alone (swearing, yelling, whining, etc) Signal interference a signal from an adult, such as catching a child's eye or waving a finger can help a child gain control. Proximity and touch control sitting close to someone, standing by them, moving towards them, placing a hand on their shoulder can help raise a child's sense of security and provide support to them. Involvement in interest relationships becoming involved in what the child is doing and showing genuine interest can be very effective in helping them accomplish a task. Infusion with affection Showing care, appreciation, support and communicating that you like the child can help them to care about the task at hand and accomplish it easier.

Humor A careful attempt at kidding can stop behavior, put the situation into perspective and allow the child to save face as well as laugh at himself. Hurdle help Giving a boost to a child about to lose control is very helpful. Getting them over the hard spot in the activity or situation may avoid a behavior. Positive reinforcement Once the limits for behavior have been established, it is important to reinforce desired behaviors. Give a clear and direct response after the occurrence of the desired behaviors. Give a clear and direct response after the occurrence of the desired behavior. With more difficult children, reinforcement may be more material like small toys, stickers, points or special privileges. Rewards should not be tied to food or candy. Removing from the group When all other techniques have not worked, it may be best to remove the child from the situation.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT WSS
Work Sampling System is the new assessment process that Georgia's Pre-K program is implementing statewide this school year. All teachers will be trained this year and are expected to be implementing WSS after the lead teacher attends training. Each month we will answer questions related to WSS. Please email WSS questions to the Newsletter Staff.
1) What do I do if the teacher that was trained earlier in the year on WSS does not work here any longer and the new teacher I have hired can't get into any training?
The new teacher can be shown how to set up the files/portfolios correctly and how to take observational notes and keep work samples. Other Pre-K teachers in the building or the Pre-K project director should be responsible for showing them this. The new teacher should not be using the WSS progress reports or checklists until they have been trained, which might be the next school year. They can write up a short summary regarding the child and share this with families at parent/teacher conferences. The PreK Consultant can also be contacted for technical assistance around WSS with new teachers.