A for Acorn

I read a story called "Dot and Jabber and the Great Acorn Mystery" to the kids today~ It's a very funny book! It talks about how acorns travel from one place to another, and then get planted to become an oak tree. After reading and discussing the story, we sang this song together. They really loved it when we had to "swish our bushy tail"~ =P

Grey Squirrel

Grey squirrel, grey squirrel, swish your bushy tail!
Grey squirrel, grey squirrel, swish your bushy tail!
Wrinkle up your funny nose, put a nut between your toes~
Grey squirrel, grey squirrel, swish your bushy tail!

I prepared a couple of activities to do with the kids today -- an acorn art & craft, letter "A" tracing page, and "count the acorns" number tracing page. I started with the art. I asked them what colours are acorns, and they said brown and orangey. So I said that they may use those 2 colours to colour the page. Some of them started grabbing other colours, and I told them that I know they love to be colourful, and there are times when we can do that. But this time, I really want them to colour the acorn in the colour that it is in real life.

When a student was done, I'd send him/her to another table to do the letter tracing. And then when they were finished with that, they had to do the number tracing for 1-5~ They were very productive today, and I'm so proud of them! =)

Sophie's acorn:


Jonah's:


Phillip's:

The Ants Go Marching

After reviewing that A is for Apple, I showed the students the book that I was going to read them and asked them what's on the cover -- Ants. We made the "A" sound together, and then I told them that the word "Ant", like "Apple", also begins with the letter "A". Then we sang this song together~ Some visitors came while we were having a lesson, so the kids were a little bit distracted. So when we sang the song, I didn't ask them to do the movements. Instead, we just clapped our hands and sang. When we sing the song again tomorrow, we'll move with the music!

The Ants Go Marching

The ants go marching 1 by 1, Hoorah! Hoorah!
The ants go marching 1 by 1, Hoorah! Hoorah!
The ants go marching 1 by 1, the little one stopped to suck his thumb,
And they all go marching down, around, and underground!

The ants go marching 2 by 2, Hoorah! Hoorah!
The ants go marching 2 by 2, Hoorah! Hoorah!
The ants go marching 2 by 2, the little one stopped to tie his shoes,
And they all go marching down, around, and underground!

The ants go marching 3 by 3, Hoorah! Hoorah!
The ants go marching 3 by 3, Hoorah! Hoorah!
The ants go marching 3 by 3, the little one stopped to climb the tree,
And they all go marching down, around, and underground!

The ants go marching 4 by 4, Hoorah! Hoorah!
The ants go marching 4 by 4, Hoorah! Hoorah!
The ants go marching 4 by 4, the little one stopped to shut the door,
And they all go marching down, around, and underground!

The ants go marching 5 by 5, Hoorah! Hoorah!
The ants go marching 5 by 5, Hoorah! Hoorah!
The ants go marching 5 by 5, the little one stopped to jump and dive,
And they all go marching down, around, and underground!

After singing, I read them a book about ants, telling them information like ants are very tiny but strong, they have 3 body parts, 6 legs and 2 antennae, etc. After reading and discussing, I showed them the craft that I prepared for today -- fingerpaint ants marching by the hill of "A"~ Before I asked them to go to the table to do their work, I let each of them come up to the board to write the upper case A, so that I know who knows how to write it and who still needs more help.

When they sat at the table, I held their fingers to show them how to make the 3 body parts with 3 fingerprints, and I helped them draw the 6 little legs afterwards. When we were waiting for the paint to dry, I gave them a tracing page to work on. I think they're really getting familiar with the letter "A" now~~

Giada's ants:


Sophie's ants:


Shriyans' ants:

A for Apple

I just started our "letter A" theme today~ I asked the kids what's the first letter of the alphabet and what does it sound like. They're all familiar with it. Some of them already know that apple starts with A! I taught them this little song about an apple seed~

A Little Apple Seed

Once a little apple seed was planted in the ground
Down came the raindrops, falling all around.
Out came the big sun, bright as bright could be
And that little apple seed grew to be an apple tree!

After singing it once, I asked them what do seeds need to grow, and what an apple seed would grow to be. After talking about it and doing the song movements, I found it easier for them to remember the words.

Then I did guided reading with them, reading the story of "Johnny Appleseed". I showed them the sample apple tree art, with apples on the tree. Then I showed them colouring page that I printed out, and told them that they need to colour the tree, the dog, the basket, and "Johnny"~ Riley asked me where are the apples, so I asked them to guess what I used to put the apples on the tree. Some of them said "red" haha~ So I guided them by asking if it's crayons or paint, and they said paint. I asked them if they think I used a paintbrush, and some said yes. So I told them that I didn't, and asked them to tell me what other ways can I put paint on the page. Then they got it~ Yes, I used my fingers!

Learning from the messiness of fingerpainting from the last couple of times, I didn't leave the plate of paint on the table this time. Instead, I went around to let the students dip their thumbs in the paint, and then asked them to put their thumb on the page together. I told them to do it gently and then lift up the thumb. During today's lesson, nobody put paint on their whole palm or had paint on their face! =)

After fingerpainting, I gave each of the kids a tracing page with the letter A in both upper case and lower case. I told them to trace the letters, and I helped the ones who had trouble using the pencil. Before I gave them crayons to colour, I emphasized that we're only colouring the big letters and the apple, but NOT the letter tracing. Because some of them coloured on top of the letters, their work was all covered up. I made sure that everybody understood by asking each student individually before letting them colour. It's good to make things clear to avoid problems!

Reya's apple tree:


Reya's letter A tracing:


Sophie's apple tree:


Cooper's apple tree:

Our 5 Senses -- Touching

I Have Skin

On my body I have skin,
Feeling cold and heat.
It stretches from atop my head
Way down to my feet.
With a touch, touch here,
And a touch, touch there,
Here a touch, there a touch,
Everywhere a touch, touch.
On my body I have skin,
Feeling cold and heat!

We talked about touching and texture today~ I asked them to describe what different things feel like (e.g. hair, cheek, table, etc.)~ I emphasized on hardness and softness, because they seem to be the most easily differentiated textures. I showed the students cloth, pompoms, tongue depressor, etc., that I found in school. I gave each of them a small sheet of construction paper, and then asked them to glue all the soft things on it. After they were done, I gave them another sheet of paper to glue all the hard things. I helped them put the white glue on the papers this time to avoid messiness, so we could focus on our main learning~ It worked out very well!

Sophie's:


Reya's:


Phillip's:

Our 5 Senses -- Smelling & Tasting

After reviewing seeing and hearing, I taught both smelling and tasting today. I really like the 5 senses lyrics that I found, because they're all sung to the tune of "Old Macdonald had a Farm", so it's easy for kids to pick up.

I Have a Nose

On my face I have a nose,
Use it all the time.
When I sniff it I can tell
Vinegar from lime.
With a sniff, sniff here,
And a sniff, sniff there,
Here a sniff, there a sniff,
Everywhere a sniff, sniff.
On my face I have a nose;
Use it all the time!

I Have a Tongue

In my mouth I have a tongue,
Use it when I eat.
Tasting with it I can tell
Sour from the sweet.
With a lick, lick here,
And a lick, lick there,
Here a lick, there a lick,
Everywhere a lick, lick.
In my mouth I have a tongue;
Use it when I eat!

After reading to them about smelling and tasting, I asked them to squeeze their little nose with their fingers and try to smell. Then I asked them to let go and sniff~ When I asked, "What do you smell?" They said "diapers!" and "poo!" hahaha, because I have to watch the babies in the room today, and one of them poopoo-ed! I felt so bad for making all the kids sniff! I brought in shampoo, strawberry scent perfume, and ketchup. I let each of them smell the different smells and describe them. They all said the shampoo smells like "powder", and they mean baby powder haha~ Then we talked about the smells that we smell on the way to school. A lot of them were bothered by the smell of trucks and garbage!

I wish to talk more about tasting, but the babies started to cry and it got a bit too noisy for discussion. So I told the kids that they're going to make a bowl of alphabet soup today~ I gave each of them a bowl, and wrote their name inside the bowl. I put the alphabet stickers on the table, and asked them to find the letters of their name. Some of them did great, but some were a bit confused. It would be easier if I picked out the letters in their name and just let them stick them on the bowl to match. I was going to let them glue pasta in their bowl as well, but we didn't have enough time. I think it would be cute though! =P

Reya's:


Sophie's:


Jonah's actually look like alphabet soup because it's all over the place~

Our 5 Senses -- Hearing

I'm very happy that today, I was able to do the "sight" read-aloud and discussion that I planned for yesterday!

I taught the students this song to introduce our "hearing" lesson~

I Have 2 Ears

On my head I have two ears,
Listening all day long.
And if I didn't have them there,
I couldn't hear this song!
With a listen here,
And a listen there,
Here a listen, there a listen,
Everywhere a listen.
On my head I have two ears;
Listening all day long!

After singing, I read to them about how we use our ears and brain to hear, and tried covering our ears to compare the difference between the sounds that we hear with our ears covered and uncovered. Then we used our bodies to make different sounds~ After that, I showed them the plate shaker that I made, let each of them shake it, and asked them to guess what's inside~ They all said "balls" haha, so I showed them the redbeans that I put inside. I gave each of them a plate, and then gave them markers to decorate. I gave them syrofoam plates because that's what we have in school, but I think paper plates would work better, at least the markers won't smudge! Next time, if I use syrofoam plates again, it would be less messy to give them stickers to decorate~

I helped them staple the plates together after they finished decorating. Then I handed out worksheets for word tracing. One is "E for Eyes" and the other one is "E for Ears". I showed them how to write both the upper case "E" and lower case "e" before they start tracing. Some of them were done quickly, so I gave them a #1-5 tracing sheet for them to work on. I'm really proud of their work, and very glad that they sat and paid attention for so long, having so much done!

My sample:


Jonah's:


Sophie's:

Our 5 Senses -- Sight

Today's lesson wasn't carried out as planned, but I'm going to write it all out anyway! I didn't get to do everything as planned because one of the other teachers is on vacation, so I need to watch 3 toddlers during my preschoolers lesson today (and all lessons this week).

I didn't get to do calendar with the kids, so I went straight to read-aloud. I borrowed a book from the library called "You Can't Taste a Pickle with Your Ear", and it has an interesting chapter about each of the 5 senses, and a poem that goes with each chapter. But it ended up that the toddlers were playing too loudly in the room, so I couldn't even teach the lesson properly. I didn't really explain the 5 senses, I just told the students what they are. And we didn't have a discussion on what we see with our eyes, and didn't play the game of "I spy something that is..." I'm thinking of extending this theme for 2 weeks, so we could do the singing and arts and craft this week, and the more informational content next week. I taught them this song today, and they love it!! =)

I Have 2 Eyes

On my face I have two eyes;
Use them every day.
They are used to help me see
When I work and play.
With a look, look here,
And a look, look there,
Here a look, there a look,
Everywhere a look, look.
On my face I have two eyes;
Use them every day!

After singing, I showed them the binocular that I made with toilet paper rolls~


I gave two pieces of patterned papers to each student and asked them to colour with crayons. I printed out this pattern because even though the kids are colouring all over the place, it'd still look good! =P After they coloured the papers, I went around to help them tape it on the toilet paper rolls. I'm using tape because they're too messy with glue, so I want to avoid that if I can. After taping, I hole punched the sides and tied a string there. Then ta-dah, it's done! The kids really love their binoculars!

Reya's:


Sophie's:

My Book of Feelings (Part 2)

After doing the calendar and singing the songs that I taught the class this week, I sang "If You're Happy and You Know It" with them, adding the verses "if you're sad/silly/angry/excited". As I sang with them, I held the pictures of the different feelings in my hands, to remind them what each feeling looks like in their feeling booklet.

I explained that I've organized a folder for each of them, and that they will bring it home every Friday. The folder contains the work that they've done with me, their sticker page, and some homework for the weekend. They were all so excited about it! I think it's because they feel that they're big, and they have something that belongs to them~

I showed them the photos that I printed for their booklets. I used one of the students' booklet as an example, and showed them that on the happy face page, they'll pick out their own happy face photo and glue it on there, for the "sad" page, they'll find their sad face photo, etc.

Some of them were able to identify their own feelings in the photos, some had problems differenciating happy and excited. One of them, Riley, just glued the photos on randomly, so I had to guide him through it. I think that maybe he doesn't look in the mirror often, and maybe he hasn't seen too many of his own photos, because when I gave him his photos, he asked, "Is this me?"

Other than the mess that they made, it went great! They were very proud of their own work, and loved their own photos! When I showed their books to the parents, they all seemed impressed~

Some of them were done early, so I asked them to go on another table and gave them their folders. I told them to start doing their homework, which is tracing their names and a pattern sheet. I told them that they could flip through their folders to look at their own work, and they were so happy because they're always so proud of what they've done! They always want to take those home, and now it's finally organized and ready to be brought home~

The booklets are very cute, but I can't post the pictures up because of safety issues. =P

My Book of Feelings

We did our new routines for the afternoon -- calendar (for counting), and then singing the "Stand Up and Turn Around" song to let every child have the chance to move around before sitting down. I'm happy today because Sophie and Phillip said pass for their turns yesterday, but both of them were willing to participate today! Hurray~

Then we sang "If You're Happy and You Know It", because I'm teaching them about feelings today. I read them the book "The Very Bad Day", and we discussed the feelings of happiness and sadness. I showed them the different faces that represent different emotions, and then asked them to make those faces -- happy, sad, silly, angry, excited, afraid. I think "afraid" is a difficult one, so I decided to take it out of the booklet. It was funny when the kids were making noises with their faces. For example, when they made the silly faces, they made silly noises. When they made the angry faces, they made grumpy noise! They got pretty noisy, but I couldn't be mad at them 'cause it's so natural for them! I reminded them to make the face without the sound effects, and they quietened just a tiny bit. =P

Faces:


I started a sticker page for each of the students. I gave each of them a sticker yesterday because they were sitting so nicely during lesson time, but I knew that they'd lose it by the time they go home. So I decided to make a page for everyone to keep track of their stickers. For example, this one is Reya's. The first sticker is the first letter of her name. She was good today too, so I gave her an "E". I'm unsure about the award system, because I know that some educators are against it, believing that good behaviours should come from intrinsic motivation. But I hope that this would encourage them to pay more attention in class, and I'll try to do something education with the stickers that I give them, so it's not "just a treat".


I gave each child the pages of the "book of feelings", and asked them to trace the words. I put the faces on each page so that they would know what word they're tracing. It got a bit confusing when I was handing out the pages, because I didn't have time to sort it beforehand. With all the questions that the kids have and all the "can you help me?", I was a bit frustrated, and I let them know that. I told them how I felt, and that I needed time and quietness to sort through it, and it'd be helpful if they could be patient for a while. I guess it helped a bit, but I understand that they must be frustrated too, when they wanted help but had to wait for so long!

As they were working, I asked them to make different faces so I could take pictures of them. I explained that the pictures will be printed for tomorrow, so they can glue them onto the pages to make the booklet. Some of them are more expressive than others in terms of their facial expressions, but some made similar faces for "sad" and "angry", or "happy" and "excited"~ But they're all very cute, and it's funny when they couldn't hold their angry face for the pictures because they wanted to laugh!

Riley's bookcover:


Riley's "happy" page without photo:


Reya's "silly" page:

Special Me

I started doing calendar with the kids, so we can practice counting. =) I'm going to teach them the days of the week song next week, so they'll start learning the concept too!


I did the "Stand Up and Turn Around" song with them again, and it's interesting how encouraging them to move actually helps settling down too~ I'm going to do it again tomorrow!

Then we sang this song:


I was surprised that Shriyans initiated the conversation of who they want to be when they grow up after singing the song! He said that he wants to be a spaceman! Cooper wants to be a motorcycle rider haha~ Jada wants to be Cinderella!! And Sophie wants to be a mom, that's sooo sweet! =P

After our discussion, I told them that today, I'm going to measure how tall they are with strings, so each of them will end up holding one piece of string that is the same length as their height. Then we're going to use the string to make something. On the board, I put a square and a triangle side by side, and told them that I want to make a pattern. After the triangle, I put a square again, and then a triangle. Then I asked them to guess what comes next and let them take turns putting the paper squares/triangles on the board. I also asked them to say the pattern with me: square-triangle-square-triangle-square-triangle, etc. Then I showed the the hole-punched squares and triangles that I prepared. I also showed them the sample necklace that I made -- the point is to make the square-triangle pattern.


I think the kids should be ok with a little bit of help, because I saw that some of them were getting it. But I smelled that Shriyans poopoo-ed in his pants, so I had to go and change him, while the other teacher brought her class out in the open area. When I was done, other stations were already set up, and my students were doing something else already. I thought about continuing tomorrow, but I thought that they might get bored, so I'll find another way to teach them sorting later!

ME puppets

I used today's afternoon message to remind students how they should behave when we're having class -- watch the teacher with their eyes, listen with their ears, be quiet, sit with legs crossed, and keep their hands to themselves~


I taught the kids the rhyme "Stand Up and Turn Around". Each time, I picked one of them and put his/her name in the rhyme. When they heard their name, they had to stand up and follow all the movements as we read the rhyme. It went really well, each kid had fun when it was their turn, and after everybody had their turn, I asked all the children to stand up and do all the movements~


Then I played a game with them. I made a dice with a picture of a body part glued on each side of the dice. First, I showed the students each of the pictures -- hand, foot, eyes, nose, ears and mouth/lips. We pointed to those parts on our body together. Then I told them that I'm going to roll the dice, but before I do it, I wanted them to pick one body part and point at it. The point of the game is to see who guessed it right! But it didn't work out as planned, because the kids just decided to follow whatever the next kid is pointing at~ =P So I just rolled the dice and asked them to point to whatever part it landed on~


After the game, I showed them my sample "ME puppet". I explained that they had to cut out the eyes, nose and lips, and how the top lip and bottom lip need to be separated, so when we put our hands into the paperbag to manipulate the puppet, the lips will open and close just like how our lips move when we talk. I helped the kids cut out the eyes, nose and lips of the puppet, but most of them were good with the gluing. But I forgot to remind them to draw the hair!!

My sample:


Sophie's:


Phillip's:


Riley's:

The First Letter of My Name

Today's afternoon message:


Most of the kids didn't know what the first letter of their name is. After reading the afternoon message, I taught them this poem that I wrote for them:


I didn't know that Reya and Jeremy would join me today, but I added their names in as I taught the poem~

After this, I played a game with the students. I held out a brown paperbag, and asked them to guess what's inside. There are pieces of papers, each with a letter written on it. I let the kids take turns (I pick the ones who are ready -- sitting nicely, not talking, not moving around, not touching someone else) to pick one paper from the paperbag, tell me what the letter is, and then tell me whose name starts with that specific letter. It was pretty fun, and they remember pretty quickly! But what's funny is that Cooper thought Jeremy's name is Victor haha~ Riley didn't have a turn, and afterwards, I asked him why he thinks I didn't give him a turn. He told me that because he was talking and moving. So I told him that next time I'll give him a turn if he's sitting properly and listening.

After a game, I taught them this rhyme, because our theme for this week is "All About Me!":


Then, to review the letters, I showed each child how to write the first letter of their name, and then asked them to come up and write it out. For those who were having trouble, I held their hand and wrote it with them so they could feel the motion from the grip.

Then, I gave them a piece of paper with a person on it, where they have to draw in the eyes, nose, mouth, ears and hair, to personalize them. There's a letter on the shirt that they have to trace (I "customized" it for each student, so that they're tracing their own first letter).

Jonah's:


Reya's:


After they finished the portraits, I gave them a separate sheet to practice their tracing~ I learned that for little kids, using markers to trace is easier than using crayons, because they don't have to press as hard.

Jeremy's:


Shriyans':



I'm really proud of them!!! =)

Leaves on the Tree Fingerpainting

Today's afternoon message:


I will begin alphabet recognition and tracing with my kids, and I'm planning to teach them to write their names next week!

After reading the afternoon message, I read them the book "The Apple Pie Tree". Another proof that interesting picture books can grab the attention of the wiggly-est kid! I asked them a lot of questions throughout the story, and Cooper asked me a very random question in the middle of our discussion, "Do you like cheese?" It's times like this when I say to myself, "Who cares if he's waaaaaay off topic!" and then answers, "Yes, I love cheese~" =P

Then I taught them the song "The Leaves on the Tree":


Shriyans' mom told me that he goes home and sings the songs that he learns from me! Next week, I'll print out all the lyrics and put them in a folder for each kid, so they could bring it home and sing with their parents. =)

After singing, I showed the students how to make a fingerpainting tree. I already cut out the trunks for them. They have to glue the trunk onto the piece of white paper, then make fingerprints with fall colours paint so that they look like leaves~ This time, I asked them to hold up one of their palms, and then make a thumbs-up with the other hand. Then I told them to press their thumb onto their other palm repeatedly, to mimic the motion of pressing on paint and putting their fingerprints on paper. Some of them were still very messy when we got to work, but it was helpful for some! But I soon found out that the idea of making the shape of a tree with fingerprints is too abstract for the kids, so I went around and drew the top part for them.

Sample:


Juan's:


Jada's:

Sorting Leaves

First of all, I want to celebrate how Sophie sat still in class today!! *clap clap clap*~~

Today's afternoon message:


After reading the afternoon message to my students, I let them take turns sharing with me the kind of weather that they like the most. Snowing is a popular one, but some of them like hot weather too! I notice that they love answering questions, but they have to practice being patient because I won't talk to them or listen to them unless they raise their hand, be quiet, and wait for me to call their names.

We reviewed the songs that we learned this week, and then I taught them this new one:


After singing it through a couple of times, I asked the kids to stand up and sing again~ I told them that at the end of the song, I want some kids to pretend to fall down as if they are leaves, but some kids to remain standing -- they'll pick. And then together, we'll count the number of kids who're still standing. We played that for a couple of rounds, and they were sooooo excited! Which means that...things started to become a bit out of control. It took them a while to settle down and listen to me again. Maybe I need to find a calming song to sing after an activity like this, just to calm them down a little so we can continue with the lesson!

I showed them the sample leaves baskets that I made and showed them what to do. I asked them to colour one basket and the leaves first. The next step should be cutting out the leaves, but we encountered a problem because the other teacher took the scissors for her class! So I talked to each student and asked them to point to the leaves that look the same. Then I helped to cut them out and the kids glued them on the baskets. Some kids started their second basket, but some were still working on their first one. We'll continue tomorrow!


Sample:


Jonah's first basket of maple:


Phillip's first basket of locust:


Shriyans' coloured leaves: