Preschool outline: Rockets, Letter Mm

Monthly Theme: Space
Weekly Topic: Shuttles/rockets
Letter Mm

Tuesday

Gathering activity: Memory matching game.

Rug time: calendar, weather, Pledge of Allegiance. Discuss how the weather this week is very different from last week. Now we have snow. What sorts of things do we wear to play in the snow? Encourage children to think of one that begins with the letter M.

Read The Mitten by Jan Brett. Do coloring and cutting activity to retell the story. Source: http://www.janbrett.com/put_the_animals_in_the_mitten.htm

Workbook practice writing uppercase M.

I did not hold preschool on my last planned day due to our area's big windstorm. So I am including the science lesson of making ice cream here -- plus it goes well with the following story. Gather children in kitchen to help mix milk, cream and sugar. Talk about the order of seasons. What season was it when we started preschool? What season is it now? It is colder in winter. What happens to water outside in winter?

While ice cream maker runs, read Mooncake by Frank Asch. This story is about a bear who builds a rocket because he wants to visit the moon and see what it tastes like. He falls asleep during take-off. When he wakes up he thinks the snowy landscape is actually the moon; he's never seen snow before. It tastes delicious!

I hope children will arrive dressed for the weather so we can play outside and mimic the story.  If not, we'll play "Mother, May I?" inside.

Talk about how the story of the bear was make-believe, but that scientists have actually created spacecraft to visit the moon.

Storytime:
This Rocket by Paul Collicutt -- uses the concept of opposites to explain spacecraft. Realistic pictures.
Space at Your Fingertips, written by Judy Nayer and illustrated by Terri Chicko, uses illustrations based on photographs.

Singing time:
Use the book There was a Bold Lady who Wanted a Star by Charise Mericle Harper, sung to the tune "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly."
"The Mitten Song" -- Thumbs in the thumb place, Fingers all together! This is the song We sing in mitten weather.

Check ice cream mixture. How has it changed? Do you think the moon would taste as good? :)

Thursday


Gathering activity: Examine rocket page in Look Alikes Jr. by Joan Steiner. She creates scenes made up of everyday objects. Encourage the children to identify what they see.

Rug time: calendar, weather, Pledge of Allegiance. Introduce lower-case m. We've learned half the alphabet now.

"Magic sounds" game to review letters A to M: Ahead of time write capital and lower case letters on index cards. Drop cards into a magician-type hat. Tell the children that we're going to "turn" these pictures into sounds. Encourage children to call out the letter sound as I pull out several cards, one at a time. Then ask children to match the capital letter with lower case letter. (Save cards for matching game as a future gathering activity.)

Workbook practice on lower-case m and numbers.

Outside activity: Build a small snowman together to save in the freezer. Read The Summer Snowman by Gene Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham. Identify how the letter m is in important sound inside words, too.

Social studies: Teach about Martin Luther King Jr. Read My Brother Martin by Christine King Farris, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet

Decorate milk jug space helmets with crayons and stickers. (I will cut these out ahead of time, provided I gather enough cartons. Drink up, kids.)

Other stories:
The Berenstain Bears on the Moon by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Curious George and the Rocket by H. A. Rey
If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond

Singing time;
"I am Like a Star Shining Brightly"
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
"Once there was a Snowman"
and these silly lyrics to "I'm a Little Teapot" (although I can hardly sing this song without lapsing into the Jeopardy "time's done" music, hee hee):

I'm a speedy rocket, watch me pop! (hold hands in fists that burst fingers open)
Here are my boosters (point to feet), here is my top (point arms upward).
When you do the countdown, point me high.
5-4-3-2-1, Watch me fly! (jump up)

Natural light

We visited Midway's annual Creche Display at the precise moment the sun streamed in through the window and lit this stunning crystal nativity. December 3.

As a general rule I don't like to use a flash when I take pictures. Sure, it can be helpful, especially in low-light or back-lit scenes, such as making the difference between the two photos of James.

Most of the time, though, I like the challenge of using ambient light to capture images. And I really like taking pictures at Temple Square.

We went there on Wednesday, Dec. 28, our 18th wedding anniversary. Jeff, having already seen the lit square at the start and finish of each work day for a month, could have justifiably balked when he came home and I suggested we go right back. Especially with the kids in tow. I think a quiet restaurant meal was more what Jeff had in mind. But I found a sweet significance in sharing the day and the site of our wedding with our children. 

Here's the obligatory group shot, taken with a flash. Red eyes and everything.

Aside from cropping out a random little girl in James' shots above, all the pictures here are straight out of the camera. All those that follow were taken without flash. 

Samuel took the second photo of the Christus. And if you've seen the size of our camera, you appreciate the effort it took for him to point it upwards. I dig the composition!

I show you all these pictures exactly as the camera recorded them for a reason. Today in Sunday School the teacher used a lesson on gold-mining to introduce this year's focus of study, the Book of Mormon. With a quiet power the teacher stated that if our goal was merely to read the book by year's end -- just to say we'd done so -- we would fail. 

A higher goal, he said, is to study the scriptures more painstakingly, more deliberately, more prayerfully -- more slowly -- than ever before so we don't miss the treasures within.

I return to my pictures. I had not looked through them until after church today, which experiences provided a new lens. 

I took two looking up at the Angel Moroni through a tree. According to my camera's specs my shutter speed was 1/60th of a second for the first.

But look at the brilliance of the second one in the exact same spot, all because I opened the shutter longer (1/10th of a second).

I look forward to a year of committed scripture study, the kind where I can be still long enough to soak up more of God's light. 

FDA warning

Beware the now-functional, but still-being-remodeled kitchen that houses these similarly packaged items at once:

(marshmallow creme and vinyl spackling)

Fudge, anyone?

Preschool outline: Trains, Letter Ii

Here is my latest preschool recap and outline. Recap, because I'm posting this after Tuesday's class -- these days, that's how I roll. I did have it all in my head, of course. We had a lot of fun!

Monthly theme: Transportation
Weekly topic: Trains
Letter Ii, number 11

Tuesday

Gathering activity: words printed on an envelope, with corresponding letters printed on individual cards inside. Encourage each child to arrange the cards and spell the word on her envelope.

Calendar/weather report. Sing days of week song (to "Clementine").

Introduce letter I and its sounds.
Our preschool uses a big flip chart of song lyrics, one song for each letter of the alphabet. Before singing the song, pretend index finger is an inch worm (curve up, then down). Finger-walk the text of the song, asking children to shout "stop!" when I get to a word that begins with I or i.

Read R. M. Schneider's Add it, Dip it, Fix it, an alphabetical exploration of the many things you can do to the word "it."

Workbook practice writing I.

Display a toy train and discuss trains, their different uses and parts. Read books about trains. Encourage children to share their experiences seeing or riding trains. Ask: can trains go anywhere they want? Could they arrive in your driveway? Talk about the significance of the track.

Use prepared worksheet of a train with sections of the track missing. Hmm, what shape could make the tracks? Ah-hah! The letter I. (It probably took me longer to write about this worksheet than it did to draw all the copies, it's that basic.)

Tell children that the cars of a train are connected in a chain, just like paper loops can be connected. Practice writing numbers 1-12 on paper strips for a advent chain we'll complete Thursday.

Gross motor activity: outside, walk across two 2x4s placed side by side, like a railroad track. Encourage children to do this while connected to each other.

Singing time with alphabet song and "Wheels on the Train" variation.
Story time: My Little Train by Satomi Ichikawa, with animal sounds for children to mimic; If ... by Sarah Perry, a family fave. Encourage children to come up with their own "if" scenarios.

Social studies lesson: introduce the culture of the Inuit people through Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joosse and Barbara Lavallee.

Finish by building "igloos" of half an apple spread with peanut butter and topped with marshmallows.

Thursday


Gathering activity: Continue working on numbers 13-25 for advent chain.

Calendar/weather. It's a new month! Who has a birthday this month?

Have children help pour ingredients into ice cream maker. Make a show of bringing out ice cube from freezer and leaving it in bowl in room (for science lesson below).

Fine motor activity: Use small round stickers to dot the lower case "i"s in a simple sentence I'll type out.

Finish advent chains. Possibly make picture ornament. (I took everyone's pictures Tuesday but haven't come up with anything other than a canning ring presentation. Anyone?)

Outside play.

Science lesson: What has happened to ice cube? Talk briefly how temperature affects physical state. Eat ice cream!

Read The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper and Imogene's Antlers by David Small. Afterwards decorate paper antler crown (made of what else? Two upper case "I"s). Encourage children to imagine how they would use antlers if they had them.  (Thanks, Katrina, for reminding me of this book.)

All dressed up

Andie and Katie, this one's for you ...

The other day I went to the Deseret Industries thrift store, that treasure trove of do-it-yourself Halloween expression.

Reliably, right at the front, was a long rack of costumes and accessories. I filed through it. I found cowboy gear and bears and bats and Frankenstein's monster (not to be confused with simply Frankenstein, who as Emma likes to remind us, was the name of the scientist who created the monster -- a distinction I didn't know until a college lit. class.)

Anyway, between a toga and a Christmas angel I found this green dress.

Never mind the poor cell phone quality, it will suffice. I can see the doorstep scene now:

DING DONG!

"Trick or treat! Trick or treat!" in chorus.

"Well, lookey here. We've got a ghost, {plop of candy bar in bag}, Harry Potter {plop}, and ... er ... what are you, dear?"

"I'm the sister of the groom in an early 1990s wedding!"

"Oh. Of course. {plop} That deserves two. {plop} Have a great night!"

Photo: Really, my dress wasn't that short, the slush was just that high.

Photo: Jeff's sisters Andie and Katie with my brother, Jeff at our reception. December 28, 1993.

HALLOWEEN BONUS:

Apparently I was either in disguise on my wedding day or have mutated greatly since. I used to have this photo framed in my living room but removed it because on two separate occasions a visitor asked, "Who's that a picture of?" 

Can you believe that?! And that it happened more than once?! And that it was within only seven years of my wedding? Now it's been 17 years. Don't you dare ask, too.

One questioner was my visiting teacher. The fact that she didn't know me well enough to recognize me in the picture (it IS me, people!) should have prepared me to know she also wouldn't recognize my humor when I said, "It's Jeff's first wife." 

Forever, I'm glad to say.

Happy Halloween!

Superpowers

You know, superpowers are relative.

If everyone in Metropolis could fly and had X-ray vision, Superman might only be special for his tights. Meh.

It's all in the company you keep. Which is why MY superpower is ... (drum roll, please) ...

seeing that the dishwasher is full of dirty dishes and ... (wait for it) ...




STARTING THE DISHWASHER! (last night's newly discovered dishes are humming right now)



That, and lowering my expectations.

What's your superpower?

Preschool outline: Dinosaurs, B, more

Samuel, April 2011

I'm doing a co-op preschool group with five friends this year. This is my week to teach, two hours each on Tuesday and Thursday.

I'm posting this outline 1)To actually create it! and 2)To encourage your ideas. Hello, Katrina!

All the topics were assigned.

Monthly theme: Dinosaurs

Weekly topic: Fossils (good thing my dad's a geologist, eh?)

Letter B; Number 2; Color: blue; Shape: triangle

Tuesday

After greeting/rug time (which includes calendar, weather, pledge of allegiance), review circle shape from last week. Display capital B and help children identify how circles help form it. Show color blue. Introduce B sound with Berenstains' B Book by Stan and Jan Berenstain. 

Move to work table for pre-writing worksheets (tracing lines, mazes, etc.) Use pans with a thin layer of salt for finger tracing as well (can lightly shake and draw again like a cheap Etch-a-Sketch). Teach about the triangle shape; have children practice in salt pans.

Move back to rug to read Color Farm by Lois Ehlert, which uses die-cut basic shapes to form animal faces. Shape by Shape by Suse MacDonald uses the same concept for more advanced shapes as the story unveils a dinosaur.  Talk about how shapes are everywhere! 

Make and decorate "binoculars" out of cardboard tubes. (I will do the taping.) Go on a shape hunt in the front yard. 

Back inside, show pictures of 3-4 dinosaurs, especially those whose names begin with B. Ask children to find the Bs on the page. Teach that dinosaurs hatched from eggs. 

Go on an egg hunt in the backyard. The plastic eggs will be filled with pictures of objects that begin with B (ball, baby, etc.). Have each child share what she found.

Talk about how some dinosaurs were fast, some slow, and have children romp through the yard accordingly. Open play, then snack. (peaches)

Move back to rug for story and singing time. Books may include:

The Blue Balloon by Mick Inkpen

The Baby Beebee Bird by Diane Redfield Massie (great repetition of B sound)

Dinosaur Roar by Paul and Henrietta Strickland (opposites for children to act out) 

How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague
ABC T-Rex by Bernard Most

Songs:

ABC
Wheels on the Bus 

and this twinkling little ditty I just made up:

Small and giant dinosaurs (crouch then jump up)

Roamed the earth so long ago. (swing arms, march in place)

Some of them had plants to eat, (hold arm and hand up like a tree)

Others liked to chew their meat. (put arm in front of mouth)

Small and giant dinosaurs

Roamed the earth so long ago.


Coloring activity: dinosaur poster

Thursday


Gathering activity: Provide popsicle sticks (some cut to different lengths). Encourage children to take three and form into a triangle.

Greeting/rug time followed by review of B and introduction of lower case b. Can the children see how it is different? Explain that it makes the same sound, even though it looks smaller and different. Read/paraphrase Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. Did Sal do the same things as her mom even though she is smaller? How about Sal and the bear cub?

Move to table for counting activity. Repeating the "kuplink" from the story, ask children to listen for how many pebbles I drop into a metal bowl. Teach how to draw the number 2. Do worksheets.

Maybe have snack of blueberries and bananas, maybe not.

Go outside to play freeze the dinosaur -- like freeze tag, only since this age group doesn't really grasp the concept of holding themselves still, I will be the dinosaur. Assign children to freeze me, others to release me, all the while chasing each other. After a couple of rounds, pretend to fall asleep and have the children do the same. Explain briefly that layers and layers of mud covered the dinosaurs. Explain that dinosaurs don't live on the earth anymore. 

Back indoors, elaborate on fossils through first pages of book Fossils Tell of Long Ago by Aliki. 

Use sea shells and leaves to form impressions in salt dough, thus making fossil models. (Great idea with the shells, Dad!)

Set fossils aside and do name-spelling activity. Provide each child with an envelope that has her name printed on it. Inside are the individual letters. Encourage her to put them in order. Can she do it without referring to the envelope? (Thanks for this one, Katrina!)

Coloring activity: dinosaur poster

Story and singing time, with some of these books:

Zoo Farm by Lois Ehlert

Chicka Chicka 123 by Bill Martin Jr.

Curious George's Dinosaur Discovery by Catherine Hapka
Chalk by Bill Thomson -- I love this book! It's a wordless tale of children's chalk drawings coming to life.

Songs may include:
ABC

Five Little Speckled Frogs

Five Little Ducks

The dinosaur ditty 

The last book will be Chalk, so we can then go outside and recreate the story.  Send home printout with Curious George finger puppets for children to cut out at home, if I ended up reading that book.  

###

So there it is. I'm planning to adapt as we go. I planned lots of activities but won't rush the children just to do them all. Peeking in on the group last week I noticed that the girls could sit for an hour with their workbooks -- but Samuel, the only boy, could not. This level of variety is definitely with him in mind.

Send me your ideas -- and wish me luck!

P.S. My next topic is trains. Any fun activities for that one?