Pre-K teaching times, Vol. 5, Issue 9 (May 2009)

BRIGHT FROM THE START
Pre-K Teaching Times GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CARE AND LEARNING

VOLUME 5 ISSUE 9

MAY 2009

It's a Jungle Out There!

SPOTLIGHT ON:
Research Review--School Readiness

As spring turns into summer and temperatures rise in the south, our thoughts turn to other hot places on the planet. This month we're taking a walk on the wild side and becoming jungle explorers. Can you hear the animals roaring? Do you see all of the plants growing here? Can you feel the temperature rising? Grab a water bottle, some comfortable walking shoes, your camera, and come with us as we take a "walk on the wild side."

Jungle Classroom Changes

Ask Pat!

Jungle Science

Welcome to the rain forest, an enchanting environment filled with opportunities to engage children in many science activities. Begin by transforming your classroom (or science area) into a jungle fantasy. Cover the area with crepe paper streamers representing vines. Hang jungle animal posters, animal print paper, and animal fabric on the walls. Set out stuffed jungle animals. Post pictures of colorful tropical flowers in bloom around the room. Provide safari hats and binoculars, real and a few made from toilet paper tubes. Rain forest music also helps set the stage for children when they visit this area of the classroom.
The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry is a great book for intro-

ducing children to the jungle. After reading this book, show children their very own great kapok tree. A kapok tree can be easily made by covering a carpet roll or other large cardboard tube with brown paper; add big green paper leaves, and twist brown butcher paper into vines. Under and around the tree, hang pictures of plant and animal life found in the jungle.
Discuss with the children the different parts of the rain forest.
Emergents The tallest trees in the jungle reaching heights of up to 270 ft.
Canopy The busiest part of the rainforest where flowers and fruit grow.

Understory The layer just under the canopy with dim light that is moist and cool. The trees are smaller with thin trunks. Vines, shrubs, and small ferns are plentiful. Leaf-eating animals and insect-eating birds live here.
Forest floor Few flowering plants exist on the floor. Less than 1% of the sun's light reaches the forest floor. Ferns, herbs, mosses, fungi, and broad -leafed plants grow on the floor. Sunlight shines through a few small gaps and supports shrubs and grasses. Much fungi, termites, bacteria and insects live off fallen trees.
A great website to find pictures
(Continued on page 5)

PAGE 2

Research Review: School Readiness and Kindergarten Transition

...children who have higher social skills tend to have
higher reading and math skills.

The article "Integrative Views of the Domains of Child Function: Unifying School Readiness" from the book School Readiness & the Transition to Kindergarten in the Era of Accountability focuses on the correlation between different components studies have shown pertain to school readiness. The authors point out that there are no coherent theories concerning how these components of school readiness fit together, so they are studied independently of one another. However, two features have emerged from diverse stakeholder and researcher definitions: 1) school readiness comprises multiple skill sets and capacities, which vary within the population, and 2) these skills and capacities are both independent and interrelated.
One of the prominent sections of the article discusses what is deemed bivariate relationships, attempts to corre-

late child competence in one area with competence in another area. For instance, in the direct child assessment from the ECLS-K kindergarten-year data, reading and mathematics scores are highly correlated. Another major part of the authors' argument concerns mediating relationships, which brings in a separate "third" component that can cause a correlation between two other components. For example, they use two areas of competence (executive function and attention control) along with approaches to learning. Executive functioning reflects a child's ability to mobilize and control his or her cognitive resources, which is seen as permeating many different areas of child competency. Results show that sustained attention and inhibition of impulsive responding predicted language, academic achievement, and social outcomes during transition to

school.
The next two sections concern cluster analysis and developmental relationships among school readiness domains. Cluster analysis examines a complex set of variables among a sample of children to determine the degree to which subsamples can be identified with common attributes that are homogenous within one group, while also creating heterogeneous groups. The final part of the article deals with developmental relationships among school readiness domains. It discusses developmental convergence, which considers that the range of child competencies have developmental trajectories that may or may not intersect. For instance, the authors look at social skills, analyzing the various ways in which peer and teacher-child relationships affect cognitive ability. They found that children who have higher social skills tend to have higher reading and math skills.

PRE-K TEACHING TIMES

VOLUME 5 ISSUE 9

PAGE 3

It's a Jungle Out There--Changes for Your Classroom

Reading Area:
Close Your Eyes by Kate Banks
Face to Face with Lions by Dereck Joubert
Giraffes by Jill Anderson
Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae
Jazzy in the Jungle by Lucy Cousins
Lisa in the Jungle by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben
Mommy Hugs by Anne Gutman
Nature's Green Umbrella by Gail Gibbons
Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme by Marianne Berkes
Rainforest Animals by Paul Hess
Roar! A Noisy Counting Book by Pamela Duncan Edwards
"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth by Eric Carle
Tallest, Shortest, Longest, Greenest, Brownest Animal in the Jungle! by Keith Faulkner
The Bird, the Monkey, and the Snake in the Jungle by Kate Banks and Tomek Bogacki
The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights by David A. Ufer
The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry
The Umbrella by Jan Brett
Tropical Rain Forest by Donald M. Silver
Diversity Books:
El Pajaro el Mono y la Serpiente en la Selva / The Bird, the Monkey

and the Snake in the Jungle by Kate Banks Lisa dans la jungle/ Lisa in the Jungle by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben The Shaman's Apprentice: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry Writing Area:
Add materials like brown paper bags for the children to make their own safari map
Math/Manipulatives:
Add animal counters
Dramatic Play Area:
Add camouflaged clothing, binoculars, boots, maps, and stuffed animals for a safari
Block Area:
Include jungle animal figures
Science: Rain in a Bag
Materials:
Zippered sandwich bag
Half cup of potting soil
Plant mister
Tape
What to Do:
Spoon the dirt into the sandwich bag.
Mist the dirt inside the bag; you want it moist, not muddy.
Zip the bag.
Tape the bag in a sunny window.
Observe- the bag will become

cloudy as the moisture evaporates and forms a "cloud" inside the bag. Explain to the children that once the cloud can no longer hold moisture, the rain will come down the inside walls of the bag. What happens when more moisture is misted into the bag?
Music and Movement
Help the children make their own rain stick.
Allow the children to decorate a cardboard tube. When they are finished, pierce different parts of the tube with nails (be careful not to pierce straight through). Wrap clear tape around the tube to hold the nails in place. Seal one end of the tube shut. Pour a handful of rice or beans into the open end. Add more rice or beans to adjust the sound. When finished, seal off the other end of the tube.

PAGE 4
Ask Pat

Dear Pat,
Several other teachers and I were recently talking about scheduling our parent teacher conferences. This led to a discussion about whether it is okay to send home the children's portfolio work and what we need to do with the developmental checklist and progress reports. Please clarify. Almost Finished for the Year
Dear Almost Finished,
You can send home the children's portfolio work at the

end of the year, but make sure that your consultant has done the final visit for the year before you send anything home. It is imperative that these documents remain on site for their review. Sending the portfolio work home before he/she comes will result in a "Not Met" score for C6.
The Developmental Checklist and a copy of the Pre-K Progress Report must be kept on site for three years. Key points about these two forms are:
The final ratings on the Developmental Checklist

should be marked in ink at the end of the fall and spring reporting periods before completing the PreK Progress Report.
Any family who cannot attend a family conference must have the Pre-K Progress Report mailed to them, followed up with a telephone conference.
Families should take a copy of the Pre-K Progress Report to their child's Kindergarten teacher.

Assessment Corner
Can you believe it is already time to start writing progress reports and planning family conferences? Your students have done so many wonderful things over the past school year we want to be sure to share this information with their families. When scheduling conferences, give parents plenty of time to arrange their schedules for the appointment. If your consultant has not conducted your final PQA visit, do not give the portfolio documentation to the families. If your family conferences are held before your consultant makes her/his final visit, keep the documentation and give it to parents at the end of the school year.
When writing the progress reports, make certain the top portion of the form is complete. This information covers EED, immunizations, tardies, absences, and early checkouts. Review the tips provided earlier in the year on how to write appropriate narrative notes on the progress report. Every domain needs a narrative. Also, remember: Because these reports remain in the child's permanent record, be sure to use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and professionalism.

PRE-K TEACHING TIMES

VOLUME 5 ISSUE 9
Jungle Science (continued)

PAGE 5

(Continued from page 1)
to display on your kapok tree is http:// www.sdmf.k12.wi.us/bf/resources/ rainforestweb/canopy/canopy.html
Independent activities to support exploring the jungle could include:
1. Provide a collection of jungle animal beanie babies or larger stuffed jungle animals.
2. Coffee, a product of the rain forest, makes a wonderful material for the sensory table. Fill your large sensory table with coffee grounds donated by Starbucks. If you do not have access to large amounts of coffee grounds, place a small tub of coffee grounds out for the children to explore. (Be sure to allow grounds to dry in the sun before use.) You could hide metal items in the coffee grounds for children to find with magnets.
3. Allspice, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, and paprika are a few of the spices grown in jungle environments. Make playdough with children using a variety of these spices to create special scented playdough. Provide a collection of jungle animal cookie cutters for use with the playdough.
4. Trace jungle animal cookie cutters on a piece of poster board. Ask children to match each cookie cutter to its outline on the paper; or cut out shapes of cookie cutter animals from construction paper to place on top of the outline.
5. Add plastic ants to your sand or water table.
6. Go outside and observe ants. Place an ant farm in the classroom for children to observe with magnifiers. Remember to write chart stories with children about their ant discoveries!

7. Find tropical bird stickers. Place two identical stickers, one on the left and another on the right side of an index card. Cut the index in half and laminate. Allow children to use these cards to play memory games.
8. Avocado, banana, grapefruit, guava, lemon, lime, mango, orange, papaya, pineapple, and plantain are fruits found in tropical forest environments. Have a collection of these fruits for children to explore. What fun to discover the various skin textures of these fruits with magnifiers!
9. African violets, begonias, bromeliads, Christmas cactuses, orchids, and birds nest ferns are plants originating inthe rain forest. Place several of these plants in the science area for children to take care of and observe.
10. Print and laminate fact cards about animals and plants found in the rain forest. Place these in the science area. Encourage children to make their own Rain Forest Discovery Books, copying words and drawing pictures from these fact cards. Visit www.abcteach.com/ free/f/facts_rainforestanimals.pdf
Small Group Activities:
1. Chocolate: Who does not love chocolate? This wonderful treat comes from the rain forest. Conduct a taste test of various types of chocolate: white, dark, semisweet, bitter-sweet, and unsweetened. Graph results.
2. Make Necktie Snakes by opening up the backing on the wide end of the tie. You don't need a big opening, so there's no need to open up

the main seam of the tie. Put a little stuffing into this end to form the head of the snake. Then push stuffing in the other direction all the way down the length of your snake. (A long dowel rod will aid in stuffing the snake.) With some neckties, you may be able to insert stuffing from the narrow end of the tie. Next, cut a little notched piece of red felt and glue it into place to give your snake a forked tongue. Then glue googly eyes on either side of the snake's head.
3. Fill a clear plastic cup full with potting soil. Plant any nonpoisonous plant cuttings in the soil. Make sure to cover the roots well. Water lightly. Tape a second cup on top of the first so that the mouths of the cup touch each other. Place in an area where the cups can easily be seen by the children and also get sunlight. As the water in the terrarium evaporates, it condenses on top and then rains back down to the plant. If you leave it, adding water occasionally you can grow small plants in this "jungle." These small terrariums help illustrate the rain cycle.