Fingers, Toes and Homes around the World

Today I read this book to my class. I have done a previous post about this book, but here are some more details about how we used it in class.

First we did a small group that consisted of using these felt board fingers and toes to count to 10.

Then we took off our socks and shoes to count our toes. Yep, we all had 10 :)

We have also started learning about homes around the world. Here is our sensory table filled with materials for building a house. We got into questions such as what are houses made of, what are the parts of a house, how do you build a house, why are houses different around the world, what is the purpose of a roof? The children had some good answers and seemed like they were becoming interested.

He said this was an apartment :)

Hammering the pieces together.

I introduced a lot of new vocabulary such as carpenter, hinges, plaster, door frame, etc. I am beginning to see that there is so many directions this study could go. We had planned to go into weather around the world next week, but we may stretch out homes for another week. Can't wait to do some more of the activities we have planned for this week. Stay tuned!

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Storytime Sunday: Fingers and Toes

This week's book is:

If you missed the 20% off sale at Half Price Books, I'm sorry. But I didn't :) And I managed to pick up some books for my son as well as for the classroom. I found this list of must have books for your baby's first library conveniently just as we were driving to HPB and decided to see if they had any of the ones I don't already have. Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes is one of them.

Our class is so diverse that we are going to be starting a whole unit on cultures and countries around the world when we return from break. This book could be a great introduction to the unit. I am so excited and I think the kids will really get into it and begin to embrace their own various cultures and traditions. Hopefully it will last a while!

Anyways, I got this book for my baby's collection. It talks about different babies being born at the same time in lots of different places, but as everyone know, they all have 10 little fingers and 10 little toes. From the baby who was born in the town to the baby born in the hills and even the baby born on the ice, there is something for every child to relate to. I especially love the pictures of the babies which I know kids will love as well.

For an extension of this book, you could do any of the many many hand print and foot print activities found on Pinterest. Here is an example that my son made at school although it's a little late for this:

Also, it is a great way to talk about geography and the types of houses people live in in other parts of the world.

So if you haven't read this book, please add it to your collection ASAP!

Happy Reading!

Storytime Sunday: All About Me

So, the kiddos start back to Head Start this Wednesday! Our first study topic is going to be All About Me. Here are the books we will be reading (all big books):

Love Joy Cowley and all her leveled readers. Also, big books are great for talking about print concepts because it's easier for the children to see.

 This book talks about the differences and similarities of people from around the world. I like the page with the hands so the children can compare the shade and size of their hand with the ones in the book.

The illustrations in this book are great and I totally LOVE the mirror at the end, so children can look in and say something about themselves. This book focuses on the fact that everyone is unique and has some interesting feature about them. I like it because it encourages children to embrace the things about them that are different and be proud of it instead of embarrassed or self-conscious.

Classroom Setup Progress

Been back to work for 2 weeks already, but I feel like I've barely been in the classroom with all the trainings and meetings. But here are some of the things I have gotten done in the room:

So this is one of my big goals from last year upon realizing I did not have nearly as many diverse materials in the classroom as I did diverse children. This social studies center is actually new and it came about after being given a pile of atlases and realizing I had no good place to put the globe. In the middle of the table is a local map that I printed that shows the school, the zoo, and the library and some parks.

Music center. Working on my goal of more interactive classroom, I decided to post some questions that will lead to discussion about the types of sounds different instruments make.

One of my passions! The science/discovery area. It is not finished yet, but here are some of the ways I have tried to make it more interactive. I love the title Exploration Station. It is so descriptive and just makes you want to play with and experiment with what's on the table. Cutie, our class pet the hermit crab will soon be on the table. Since the beginning of last year I have had the dream of having so many plants around the window that it looks like a jungle. Not sure if that is ever going to happen, but I do at least want to get a couple plants in here for the kids to water and take care of. Some other ideas for this area are colored sand to mix, slime to play with, nature items such as pine cones, leaves, twigs, rocks,etc. We will be changing it out at least once a week and we also have trays on the shelf across from this table for kids to do individual sensory activities.

Although it's not something I made, I would like to take credit for the idea of the mirror in the middle so kids can see what their face looks like when talking about feelings. I love this idea!

The start of my circle time area. Word wall all in one place together as opposed to all around the classroom like last year. I want to be able to refer to it easier at circle time and it is very close to writing area. Also, you will see no numbers on our calendar. We decided that concept is too advanced for preschool age and that we will just use the pictures which are photo of the school, home, and other things we might be doing on a random day. And you will see some of my target finds.

Being the good little Head Start employee I am, I incorporated one of their buzz words for the year. This is my Kindergarten Readiness bag. Inside you will find small group activities that deal with letters, sight words, word families, letter tiles, etc. Inside the folder is the Kindergarten Readiness screening that the center coordinator will be doing for all the children who will be entering K next year.

So, those are some things I have gotten done. Can't wait to have a full list of names, so I can start on the name cards for writing area and labeling everything!