Twins!

Look how two of my students arrived, today.  Twins!

Parent Helpers and Journal Entries

Thank you to the parents who came to help today.   We made "Touch and Feel" books to take home.  They required a lot of adult assistance to make and your help was greatly appreciated!

I showed the class yesterday's Blog post and we listened to Miss K reading her Journal entry.  This sparked a lot of interest in making Journal Entries, today.  

The students were very interested in making audio clips to read their journal entries too.  Here are two audio clips.

Journal

Pre K students have been "writing" in their Journals a little more, lately.  This requires the children to find the next clean page, get the date stamped on the page and draw.  Some students are able to print their name, letters or numbers.  Some print "Mom", "Dad" or other names of people they know.  Teachers help by discussing the drawings with the students and writing what the students dictate.  Often the children want pictures labeled, or they dictate a brief sentence.  Today, Miss K decided she wanted to "write" her own story.  She drew a series of wavy lines across the page.  When she was done, she asked me if I wanted her to "read" her story.  Then she read it to me. She tracked the wavy lines with her finger as she read.  This is an excellent example of what reading and writing look like in Pre K!

 Following is an audio clip of Miss K reading her journal entry to me.

Snowflakes in the Classroom

We have been making snowflakes to hang from the ceiling.

First, we cut Q-tips in half.  This is the hardest part of the project.  It takes a lot of pressure to cut through.

Then, we dip the Q-tips in glue and glitter and let it dry.

When the glue and glitter is dry, we are ready to stick 6 of the Q-tips into plasticine.  Counting just the right amount of tips is a challenge for some students.  Then, Voila!  Snowflakes! 

It is snowing in our classroom!

Finger Painting over Letters of the Alphabet

We painted with fingerpaint.  Mrs. W placed painter's tape in the shape of letters on paper and then we fingerpainted over it.  In the morning class we used the three primary colors to mix together.  In the afternoon class, students chose only two of the three primary colors to mix together.  It was a great sensory experience.  Students learned about mixing Colors. It was also a literacy experience as the children painted over the initial letter of their first name.  Learning to recognize their name in print is one of the goals of Pre K.

In the afternoon, one of the Dad's came to help.  The kids really enjoyed playing with him during this activity and the rest of the afternoon.

Climbing and Swinging

Mr. Risling, one of the gym teachers for the older grades, left the traverse wall and the climbing ropes out for the morning Pre K class to play with.  What fun!  And, what a great way to improve gross motor skills!  We hope that he does this again!  

Christmas Holidays are Over

It was the first day back after Christmas Holidays.  Very few students attended school, today, but those who did come had fun!

We played with making shadows.

We played with some new Playdough that Mrs. W made.

We started a new Activity on the Smartboard called "Rainbow Lazy 8”.  Drawing "Lazy 8's" helps children cross the midline of their body.  The midline is an imaginary line running down  the center  of your child's body.  Children who cannot cross over this imaginary line need practice reaching across.  They need to keep their body stationary and reach across the midline.  As adults, we do this without even thinking about it.  Children who have problems crossing midline will often want to switch hands or move their body rather than reaching across. Crossing the midline developes the brain so that both the right and left brain work together.  Children who have difficulties crossing midline may have reading and writing difficulties when they are older.