Dental Health

February is Dental Health Month. Through out the week we talked about importance of brushing and take care of your teeth and mouth. Following are some of the activities we did.

Teeth Counting Game:
(For small group)


This idea is from From the Hive

We made mouth using pink cardstock, cutting it in oval and folding it in half. We drew 10 circles on each half (Children have 20 teeth). The game was to roll the dice, read the number, put equivalent marshmallow teeths on their mouth mat.

Find the "T" words. 

(for Large groups)

This idea is also from From the Hive

 

We printed some words that begin with /T/ sound and some that did not. Students had to identify the picture and then tell if it begun with the /T/ sound or not. We glued those pictures on the Tooth, the others were discarded. Click HERE for the pictures we used.

Brush Brush Game:
(For small group)


This game is from Pre-K Pages

Brush Brush Game. Picture from Pre-K Pages

This game could be used to play with sight words, letters or numbers. We did alphabet recognition. We took a teeth clipart, expanded it to full page and printed off 5 copies to make 5 different bingo like mats and made copies of each of the mat. This way each child in the small group would have a different mat. I am sorry I do not have pic of it :(( I promise will become better about it :) We printed small teeth and hand wrote alphabets on them and Brush! Brush! on 3 cards. They sang Brush your teeth by Raffi if they picked that card.

Counting Cavities:

(For Small group-Independent, Math Center)

Idea from Sorting Sprinkles

Counting Cavities, Picture from Sorting Sprinkles

We took tooth clipart and printed 20 teeths. On each tooth, I made cavities (small black circles) and laminated them. Students had to count the cavities and write the number on it using Expo Marker. I also provided them with copies of number as they are still learning how to write them. 

Sorting Sprinkles also has a link to "Brushing Your Teeth" sequencing. This is another large group activity we did for students to understand sequencing, how activities happen in a certain order.

Good or Bad for my Teeth Sorting

( For Large Group or Small Group)

Idea from Creative Preschool Resources

The blog linked about has PDF file of food items which can be sorted into good or bad for teeth. We created 2 tooths-one happy, one sad. Then we looked at each food item and decided if it was good or bad for our teeth. When we came to citrus foods, we talked about how it has something called acid and it removes the enamel layer of our tooth. 

Whose smile is it Book.

 (for Phonological Awareness)

Again I am not sure where I saw this idea and apologies to the person who originally shared this for being unable to mention you here. But we do thank you for this awesome little book. Click students pictures, just their smile and teeth. I got them printed and glued them on sized construction paper. Put all the pictures together to make a book. I then wrote "This smile belongs to _________." During PA time, we looked at the pictures, and kids immediately guessed who smile it was. I then wrote the names. Then we choral read the book.

Ms. A. created a Smile Book too. For her book, she just cut out the mouth area and in cute lip shape :)) I forgot to click a picture of her book.... but it looked super cute!

For Phonological Awareness, we also did a poem, "Brush Brush Your Teeth" from Alaboon. It is sung to Row row your boat. It is a super cute song and Pre-K 4 enjoyed singing it and we sang it everyday twice a day ;)

Ms. S from Pre-K 3 happened to have a video on brushing your teeth, so that was something exciting to watch. The video was by Colagate and is for children. Students loved watching  Dr. Rabbit who showed the right steps for brushing teeth.

Dental Word Wall Words-Click HERE

This is all for this week.

Until next time,

Cheers!

The Mitten Reenactment

 In Pre-K, "Retelling a story" is an important standard. Retelling can be done by simply recalling scenes from the story, or drawing a picture or reenactment using props. We decided to reenact "The Mitten".

The Mitten by Jan Brett is a very good book to read and is perfect if your theme of the week is "Winter". It is a story about a little boy who looses a mitten in snow and some animals make that mitten their home until the mitten stretches and pops. It is a cute little story about winter animals trying to get ready for their long sleep! There are few versions of this title.... and most of them have similar animals. 

We got our masks from Jan Brett's website . All you have to do is print them, laminate for longevity and use them. Pre-K 4 kiddos enjoyed it..... We did not have Jan Brett's version. Our version had just 5 animals, so we had to do this reenactment several times in order to give everyone a chance. 

Our version book came with CD. So we listened to the story during large group time. At this time we retold story by sequencing the events in the story. 

Later in the day, we did reenactment. We sat in a circle, and the 5 masked animal friends waited while Ms. J read the story.

As the animals were called, they got into the mitten (Blanket for us).

 We insisted they hold their masks up.... just for fun!! and the picture too ;)

As the mitten popped.. all the animals jumped out of the blanket and went back to their spots.

Kiddos loved waiting for each animal to get under the blanket and then for all 5 to pop out.... for them that was the most exciting part. However, 5 rounds later...... all kiddos could retell the story :D

A simple thing like reenactment makes learning so much fun. Lucky for us it was super cold that day, so this was perfect activity to keep us busy during our outside play time. 

Besides masks, using puppets or pictures glued on popsicle sticks make retelling fun!!

Until next time,

Cheers =)

Instant Snow Experiment

The past week one of our small group activity was Instant Snow Experiment. The idea behind this experiment was to understand how adding water changed the powder into something new. Now ideally Insta Snow by Steve Spangler would be ideal...as the reaction is instant and the powder actually doubles very quickly. However, the brand I got was not Insta Snow...I bought mine from a local teacher supply store. Like I said, our key was for them to understand how adding water changed the original substance. 

For this experiment I had:
Instant Snow Powder
2 clear plastic cups ( 1 with water and 1 empty)
2 Bowls (1 lined with paper towel and the other empty)
Spoon
Measuring cup-1/4 cup
Recorder (optional)
Recording sheets - 1 per student. 

In the empty bowl we scooped out some powder for them to touch and see. I encouraged them to think about the color, what it looked like, how it felt. At this point I give them few seconds to draw out what the powder looked like before we added the water. After they drew, I asked them to describe what they drew. I wrote what they told me under the picture.

Next, I told them we were going to mix this powder with water. This snow powder required mixing 1/8 tsp of powder in 1/4 cup of water and stirring. I added a little more than 1/8 tsp so that the snow would form faster. (1/8tsp required for a longer stirring). 

As you start stirring, the water starts to slush up...

 
At this point, I ask them if they see any change.....most of them said they could see something floating in there.

As you keep stirring, this thing becomes thicker and thicker. However, this stuff did not turn into snow...it remained more like ice :(

So we scooped it out in the bowl... again I encouraged them to think about what happened to the powder, the color, and the texture. I asked them to draw how the powder looks after adding water and wrote what they told me under the picture. 

Some of the things they told me were:
Before: "It looks like salt", "It is crunchy", "It is white and soft", "It looks like soap powder."

After: Most of the students understood "the powder has become big", "It looks like Ice", "It is still white", "It looks like frost that we scrap from the car in the morning" 

Overall, the students could observe the change and see how adding water changed the powder. So I thought it was a pretty good experiment. However Insta Snow would have been more fun! (will be more proactive next year :D)

Our recording sheet was a simple sheet that Ms. A made and we made copies. We did this activity in small groups. So I used a recorder to record the whole conversation/experiment so I could go back and make notes to see who understood the concept.

Recording sheet:

Successful week for us :))

Until next time,

Cheers :)

Hershey Kisses 100 day Counting

Today was 100th day of school for us :)) It was exciting....

If you teach Pre-K in Georgia, you know that technically students are not required to know numbers beyond 20... however as a substitute I have seen teachers try and teach students numbers beyond 20 and students understanding the concept. Well so since this is my first year teaching Pre-K or celebrating 100th day of being in school... I really did not plan much or think of it much. 

We read 100th Day of School 

 

Next we talked about how what 100 looks like and that it is a big number. I pulled out my Hundreds Chart to show them how we start at one and count until 100. We talked about how long it would take to say all those numbers. 

Our Large group activity was Hershey Kisses Hundred's chart -idea from Kindergarten Happenings  I was going to make the hundreds chart, could not get to it. Instead bought hundreds chart from teacher supply store ($2.99) I had some colored circle stickers, wrote numbers on them and stuck them on the Kisses. 

 

We sat in a circle on the carpet and I called 2 students at one time to come to the carpet. Each one picked a candy and told us what numbers they had.... since my friends are still learning to recognize numbers 1-20, it was hard for them to tell what number it is, however they can recognize individual numbers- like 6 and 4 in 64 ( at this point I tell them this is number "64").

 

 Some of my friends could find the numbers easily and some needed the extra help. However, trying to get 21 Pre-K kiddos to sit is not an easy task. Infact after each one took turn, one of my friends asked "are we going to fill in all the numbers?" (my kiddos crack me up all the time). So we decided to stop. 

 After 24 turns, we were done. It was fun for them.... BUT there is a reason Pre-K kids sit at the carpet for only 15-20 mins a stretch!! Overall, the idea of Kisses with numbers was exciting for them, 100's chart however, too big for them. 

Happy 100th Day if you had yours today :))

Cheers =)

Fake Snow In Sensory Table

This is Winter themed Sensory Table idea.... super easy... not to hard on pocket.... Absolutely doable... whether 22 kids are playing with it...or just 1.... It is a wonderful idea. 

So I got the idea from Modern Parents Messy Kids via Pinterest!

All you need is:

2 boxes of cornstarch
1 can of foaming shaving cream

if making at home then a container or box that will hold it. 

 

Just dump the cornstarch in the container (sensory table in my case) and spray the shaving cream over it. Mix it (if you are doing this with your child at home, letting them mix would be fun. I just couldn't have 22 kiddos wanting to mix).

 While I was doing this Ms. S could not just watch.... so she started to help me (she was as excited about it) :D As you start mixing, it might feel it is not mixing, but keep working... it feels soft and crumbly. 

When I told my piglets about the fake snow....they were sooo excited. My sensory table can only have 2 friends at a time playing in it. We are on day 3 of using it and they love it. 

They have been scooping and trying to make sand castles out of it :))

Yes it holds its shapes pretty well.. just like Snow :))

SUCCESS!!! 

It is the best indoor snow experience to provide in a classroom or home I think. I hope it last for all my 22 piglets to play with it. I have another box of cornstarch and shaving cream to mix in, just in case ;) 

Until Next time,

Cheers =)

Alphabet Pops

I got this idea from Pinterest (was there any doubt I would find it anywhere else :P)... originally the idea is from Kinderdi where they have shared pictures of the letter pops and some activities you can do with it. Here is how I made mine:

The materials I used were: Foam, Popsicle sticks, uppercase foam letters and lower case sticker letters (bought it from Michael's scrapbook section-they are chipboard letters) and hot glue gun. 

I cut out appropriate size circles and glued the letters using hot glue. Although both the foam letters and chipboard letters had sticky back, they would not stick on the foam, so I used hot glue. Then stick the foam on the popsicle sticks. 

The colorful letters make it look interesting and inviting. I did the vowel in one color. Although we are not really supposed to teach kids about vowels in Pre-K... I have some higher ability students who could understand this concept. So I thought no harm trying. 

We have broken these out in our classroom...right now we use them as a ticket to get off the carpet and get ready for lunch... I pull out random letter, point to a kid and he/she has to tell me what letter/sound. Kinderdi suggests using them in different ways-letter identification, putting them in order, sorting by colors. I made lower case...so they could play matching uppercase-lowercase! 

My next intention of using these are to put in alphabetical order- give each child a letter pop, then ask what letter come first (they should say "A")...ask child with A to come up, then ask what comes after B....and so on.Can't wait to try this game. 

Until next time,

Enjoy!!

Snowman Alphabet Matching

I was first introduced to File Folder Games when I was teaching the 2's. I made simple ones then...color match and shape match. I would make them according the theme we were working on. File folders I think are cheaper version of games that one can buy from stores for kids to play with. They can be played anywhere...at home, in school, in car, with someone or by self.... and they are super easy to make too.

Pre-K is all about playing and learning while playing. File Folder games serve that purpose.....Kiddos are playing but also learning ABC's or Numbers or Colors or Shapes!!! These become perfect for the extra practice a child might need.

As we go back to school, our theme next week is Winter....so while searching for ideas on Pinterest, I came across snowman themed games, but all cost to download :(  But within minutes my light bulb went off... "I can me a file folder game with snowman....Only need to find a snowman clipart :))" And so I created the Snowman Alphabet Match and Snowman Number Match ( post on this later).

 I took simple tab file folders, matched the edges and cut out the tabs to make a straight edged folders. After printing the pages I cut out the snowman and glued them on the folders.

 

Yes I might have gone overboard by laying construction paper (Blue, green) on the manila folders... I did not like the pretty bright pictured being glued on manila color ;) YESSS Im all about making things look cutesy :P 

The green construction paper is a pocket I created to store the Alphabet pieces...it is simple to make... glue down the construction paper on 3 sides (2 short edges and bottom long edge). I got the folder laminated at local school supply store (can be done at any office store as well) Once they got laminated, I put velcro stickers to the folder and the pieces. 

When not playing, the pieces can be easily stored in the pocket

This game does not have to be made in file folder.... You can just print 2 copies for the Alphabet Snowman and let your child match the 2 snowman with same alphabets. I create these into File Folders just to make them last longer.

Here is the PDF version of the Game on

Google Doc: SNOWMAN ALPHABET MATCHING
Scribd: SNOWMAN ALPHABET MATCHING

Until Next time,