Letter T

Hello, All, long time, no write!

 

Well, I’ve been very busy with teaching. Starting to be a teacher again after two years off has proven quite a challenge and feels like starting all over again. Next year will be better, I won’t feel like I am reinventing everything every week! This year, I am struggling to keep my head above water. I am developing lots of new things, I just don’t have much time to post them! Here is one example of what I have been up to!

 

We are covering a letter a week. We are not going in alphabetical order, we are going in handwriting order. So we are finished the first few, which I will have to post letter. This week, we will be doing the letter T. Along with all of the other fun things we are doing, making an animal that starts with T (turkey) and a food that starts with t (tater tots), we also do a practice page. I am saving these pages and compiling into an alphabet book for each child to have at the end of the school year.

 

Each page is double sided. On the first side, there are large letters to color and trace, both capital and lowercase. The other side, I have divided into 3 sections, beginning, middle and end. They all have pictures next to them and the key letters are in a trace font. I have one last page that I cut apart. It has lots of pictures of things that start with that letter. They glue these things around the large letters on the first side. This is always lots of fun for the kids. I try to include concrete, every day objects that the kids can relate to. I also include some multicultural objects. This one has a picture of the Taj Majal in India.
On the copy for my school, I also include pictures of the children who have that letter in their name, to make it more personal.

 

So here is the PDF! educators desktop letter t

 

More letter pages to follow soon! I am also working on take home reading books! Hopefully, I will be able to write every weekend now! Thanks for reading!

Speak, Read, and Write Tuesday — July 3, 2012 — American Independence Day!

Books to Read:

The Story Of The Star-Spangled Banner by Patricia A. Pingry

F Is For Flag by Wendy Cheyette Lewiston

Ideas:

Firework is a compound word. Use the matching game here, Compound Word,  to match other compound words.

Reading Corner — Put lawn chairs and flags in your reading area for a parade feeling.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for craft ideas on We Get Messy On Wednesday.

For more ideas and the whole American Independence Day  Unit, including Language Arts, Math , Science, Social Studies, Recipes, Party Ideas, Games, Songs and Finger Plays, Crafts, Letter to Parents, Patterns and Worksheets, visit my shop on Teacher’s Notebook!

http://www.teachersnotebook.com/product/educatorsdesktop/pre-k-independence-day-unit

Talk, Read and Write Tuesday, June 26, 2012 — Summer!

Sun Up, Sun Down by Gail Gibbons
After reading the book, have a recall session and write down some sun facts on yellow sentence strips.
Afterward, attach the strips to a yellow circle to make a sun symbol, full of facts!

Get a picnic basket.

Print out the  picnic cards here. Cut them apart. Place them in the basket. One by one, name what it is and ask the children if we would bring this on a picnic.

On another day, program large paper plates with capital letters and small ones with lower case letters. Mix them up and place them in the picnic basket. Use them as a letter sorting and matching activity.

For more Summer Language Arts Ideas and the whole Summer Unit, including Language Arts, Math , Science, Social Studies, Recipes, Party Ideas, Games, Songs and Finger Plays, Crafts, Letters to Parents, Patterns and Worksheets, visit my shop on Teacher’s Notebook!

http: //www.teachersnotebook.com/product/educatorsdesktop/pre-k-summer-unit

Talk, Read and Write Tuesday, June 12, 2012 — Pond Life

Read

Some more books to peruse during the Pond Life theme:

In The Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming

Lily Pad Pond by Bianca Lavies

Jump, Frog, Jump! by Robert Kalan

Splash! by Ann Jonas

Do Not Disturb by Nancy Tafuri

In The Pond by Ermanno Cristini and Luigi Puricelli

Busy Beavers by Lydia Dabcovich

Beaver At Long Pond by William George and Lindsay George

After reading the last two, you may want to add pebbles, twigs, sticks and leaves to your sand/water table and challenge the children to try to build a dam, just like the beavers.

Talk

— Brainstorm animals and plants that live in a pond.

— Act out the animals actions. Don’t forget to clap and give encouragement for each action!

— Read Leaping Frogs, by Melvin Berger. Print out the frog life cycle, laminate or coat with clear contact paper. Allow the students to retell the stages in the lifecycle of a frog.

Write

Print out the following PDFs, laminate or cover in clear contact paper, if wished.

cattail tracing dragonfly tracing duck tracing fish tracing frog tracing mosquito tracing snail tracing water strider tracing

Cover with a piece of tracing paper, using paper clips to hold in place. Let the children trace the drawing and the word. They can then take the tracing paper off and color the picture. This is great for fine motor control. It is reusable and the children get a feeling of accomplishment that they traced the picture and the word and now have their very own copy!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for some messy fun!

Talk, Write, and Read Tuesday — Pond Life

Today, I will show you Language Arts ideas to go along with the theme, Pond Life.

Letter Recognition:

Print out 24 lily pads. lily pad Program each with a capital letter.

Print out 5 frog pages. frog Cut out and program with lower case letters.

Let the children match the frog to the correct lily pad.

Fine Motor Control:

Print out the following worksheet and allow the children to trace the path each frog takes to the lily pad.

frog fine motor

Books to Read:

The following are books that I own that I use every year:

Life As A Frog By Victoria Parker

Be sure to check back tomorrow for some arts and crafts ideas!

New Theme and International Holidays Sunday — Pond Life

I have a surprise for everyone! This week our theme will be Pond Life. The surprise is that I have so many ideas. I will be doing this theme for 2 weeks. Each subject will be repeated twice!

We will learn about frogs and their life cycles. We will do projects for snakes, snails, turtles, and even a quick review of last week’s theme, insects.

We may even take a field trip and see what we find at the local pond!

So join me as we leap right in!

This week, there are many international holidays:

June 3 is the start of Reconciliation Week in Australia, Canadian Environment Week

June 5 is Father’s Day in Denmark and World Environment Day

June 6 is Child Health Day and the Anniversary of D-Day in America, Memorial Day in South Korea, National Day in Sweden, Clean Air Day in Canada

June 7 is Corpus Christi,  a Roman Catholic holiday

June 8 is World Ocean’s Day

Speak, Read and Write Tuesday — Insects!

The picture above shows the books that I use for Pre-K Insect Units.

They are:

The Icky Bug Counting Book by Jerry Pallotta

Eyewitness explorers: Insects from DK

From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heiligman

The Icky Bug Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta

Are You A Butterfly by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries

Bugs and Slugs by Judy Tatchell

Are You an Ant by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries

The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

Caterpillar’s Wish by Mary Murphy

The Butterfly Alphabet by Kjell B. Sandved

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Eric Carle has many, many insect books beyond what I included.

Here are some other books that I don’t own, but I wish I did. They are available from the library or Amazon!

bug words This link is to a PDF of insect words with pictures. They are good for practicing writing and spelling the words. You can cut out and/or laminate them. You can use them with magnetic letters, chalkboard, or dry erase boards. You can put these in your writing center to use with making books. You can cover them with tracing paper and paperclip the tracing paper on, allowing the children to trace the words.

Scavenger Hunt — Go on a nature walk with clipboards or digital camera. Capture the insects that you see with words, pictures, and photos. Use these to compile a class bug book, to be sent home and used in the classroom. When the children can see the insects in person it is more real to them than talking about them or seeing a picture. Being able to talk about them, to parents or in a book, is an important skill. It will give them confidence, in their abilities and knowledge.

Insect Journal — Invite some creepy crawlies to come and visit your classroom. Order some online or catch some in the great outdoors, just be sure to research their care beforehand. Place a notebook by the insect and let the children record what they see with writings and drawings.

Check back tomorrow for insect crafts!!

My Summer Plans — Weekly Fun Guide

Hello, my fellow teachers and parents! I want to do a fun-filled, learning packed summer blog for the kiddies and I have been thinking about how to break it up into digestible chunks for me, the writer and for you, the reader! I plan that each week I will unveil a new theme, revealing a piece of it each day. This is how it will work:

Super Sunday — I will write about the new theme for the week, as well as, any holidays or special days coming up in the week.

Mad Math Monday — I will share a fun math practice activity that goes along with the weekly theme.

Talk, Write and Read Tuesday — I will share writing opportunities, books, videos, websites, etc… to go along with the theme.

We Get Messy On Wednesday — Art and Craft, hands on, fine motor, messy fun!

There’s a Song For That Thursday — Songs and fingerplays that relate to the theme.

Fun Food and Games Friday — If you haven’t gotten them with anything else, you can always get them through their stomach! Recipes, games and fun round out the week.

Science and Social Studies Saturday — I will cover one or both areas as related to the theme.

I look forward to sharing and planning with all of you! Let the summer begin!