Today in class we read my favorite story by Dr Seuss, Sneetches. During story, each of the children had a silver star they could choose to wear and we had a guest appearance by "Sylvester McMonkey McBean". In the story, the Sneetches have marshmallow toasts on the beaches, so we had s'more bites for snack. They look so tasty! In the afternoon, they were still excited about the zoo they built yesterday, so they built another one. When block play and building are encouraged in different ways and areas of the room, children who usually don't engage in block play will become excited about it. Block play helps children build their own understanding of mathematical concepts like measurement, balance, and spatial skills.
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Yesterday, in small group, we read One Fish, Two Fish. Then we did some fish-y math activities. We did some addition problems with goldfish crackers. And we graphed. We LOVE graphs in preschool! Here's why: Graphs are compound activities. We can use this one activity to cover many mathematical standards. When we graph we are classifying, counting and comparing. Since preschool attention spans can be short, this is a great way to cover a lot of ground! We had "One Fish, Two Fish jello" for snack. We also read If I ran the Zoo by Dr Seuss; during art the children were given materials to create a picture of their zoo. It was pretty messy. Later in the afternoon the children made a "Zoo Fair". During dramatic play children are building their imagination and social skills. They are learning to work together by sharing limited resources and space. They develop language skills by explaining what they are doing. They were encouraged to build cages and choose what kind of animals would be in their zoo. They made signs for the cages. Yet another successful day in Pre-K.
Today in small group we read There's a Wocket in my Pocket by Dr Seuss. Rhyming is a fun way for children to play with words, but it also increases their phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is a better predictor of a child's future success in reading than IQ or perceptual ability. We talked about how Dr Seuss used nonsense words in the story, and how that means that a "wocket" can look however we imagine it. Then we practiced making wockets out of clay. The children did an excellent job of describing their wockets. "Mine has big ears and a long body." "Mine has fluffy hair and a stubby tail." "Mine has one leg and four hands." "Mine has two eyes, a nose, and a smile." "Mine has hair, two arms, two legs, and a skinny tail." Next, they drew and colored their wockets. Finally, they were able to put them in their "pockets" to take home.
We have good news! Our first teacherspayteachers freebie is up! This is a great resource for parents, homeschoolers, and experienced educators because some of the research regarding the importance of auditory memory is provided within the document. Auditory memory is an important skill to practice at a young age to ensure your children become fluent readers, but it's never too late! We've played it many times in our preschool classroom, and the children love it! All of the materials and instructions needed to play are contained within the document. Check it out!
To download this game, click on the button below. This will take you to our teacherspayteachers store where the game is available. www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/joy-in-learning Don't forget to give us a rating! We'd love to hear your thoughts! Lynn created these bugs for this preschool game. This is a strategy game. The goal is to smash the last bug in the game. There is one row each of seven, five, three and one bugs. When it is his turn, a child may choose to smash one, two or three bugs, but they MUST be in the SAME row. The child who smashes the last bug wins. In order to encourage the children to slow down and think, they are required to call out how many bugs they will smash before they begin smashing. Some children will call out “three!” when there are only one or two bugs left in each row. When this happens, I advise them to look at the board and add, “Are there three bugs left in any of the rows?” This game is meant for two players, and that is how we will play it now that the children can remember the rules. Some children will begin to naturally form strategies on their own. Others can be encouraged to think ahead with questioning. What will happen if you smash two bugs? What do you think Michael (the opponent) will do next if you smash THREE bugs? After we finished playing the game, each child was rewarded with a creepy-crawly. I can not overstate how important it is to expose these children to as many areas of mathematical thought and problem solving as possible. Some children will just enjoy playing the game, and that’s fine, too. They will develop strategies in their own time.
In 1989 NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) developed a set of standards for mathematics as a framework to guide each state in developing mathematical standards. We use these standards as part of the framework in creating our preschool math curriculum because these standards are established, research-based and designed by professionals “dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of mathematics” and “to ensure the highest quality mathematics education to all students”. We had a very successful day solving word problems. The chocolate chip cookie cereal we used might have something to do with that! Today we were solving with manipulatives (the cereal), but soon we will begin to increase the children’s repertoire of problem solving techniques. I can't wait! Notice that each child has her own visible workspace. This is an often overlooked necessity when working with young children. Studies have shown that high expectations produce higher accomplishment in the classroom, but we can not have high expectations without providing the materials the children need to meet our expectations.
Example: If I had given everyone the chocolate chip cookie cereal without the "workspace", one child would have the cereal under her legs, one would have his behind him, one would have hers beside her, one would have his cereal in front of three other students, and two might have their cereal in front of them. By the time we got organized and found everyone's cereal, I would have lost their attention and there would be very little math problem solving. By using a visible workspace we have freed up our time and our minds for higher level thinking. We practice letter sounds A LOT. Here, the children are stamping the letter that makes the beginning sound from the picture (spider, list, lion fence).An individual activity like this works as an assessment, so that the teacher can keep a running list of what the child needs help with. Our goal is to practice these letter sounds until they are committed to the child's long term memory. As these activities get easier and easier, the begin to turn into 'rote' learning. Once they become 'rote', the children can commit more of their brain to higher level thinking and problem solving. Mastery Learning: You don't practice until you get it right. You practice until you can't get it wrong.
Our preschoolers working on the short ‘a’ sound. These children are cutting out "aaaa" pictures and gluing them to a lowercase "a". We try to add a fine motor component, like cutting, to our activities every day. We use the lowercase letter ‘a’ because the lowercase letters are more frequently used and therefore more important for children to be able to recognize and write. I always refer to it as ‘the aaaaa letter’ (drawing out the short ‘a’ sound, as in ‘alligator’) to prevent confusion.
More ways to practice counting! Sometimes in Small Group, we open a “store”. These children are rolling a die to earn money. At the end of the round, they can exchange pennies for a nickel, and go ‘shopping’. This is one way that we practice counting and one-to-one correspondence. It also helps us learn (and remember) that a nickel is worth five pennies.
Figure-Ground discrimination is a component of visual discrimination. It is the ability to distinguish a shape, letter, or a number from its background. Children who have difficulties with Figure-Ground discrimination may have trouble finding their place on a page, reading graphs/charts, and finding details in a picture. In this game, each child receives two cards with overlapping numbers on them. We take turns spinning the spinner, and every child with that number on his card traces it with his finger.
Yes - we managed to sneak “numeral recognition” into this game, too! |
AuthorWendy Joy Yohman Archives
December 2017
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