Nursery Rhyme Week!

Nursery rhymes and songs can be used anywhere at any time. As such, they are one of our most transportable forms of play. Here are some of the ways finger plays, rhymes, chants, and songs teach children concepts and skills and even provide emotional support.

1. Language Development. As children recite rhymes and sing songs, they are learning new vocabulary and how to articulate words, modulate their voices, and enunciate clearly. They learn to pronounce words easily by saying them over and over again and by practicing them without effort or the pressures of criticism.

2. Reading Skills. It teaches them the left-to-right directional motion, which is important for children to experience (When you read to your children, let them follow your finger or trace the words so they also absorb this concept). It also teaches them story sequence. What happened first, second, third, etc. Story sequence also helps with retelling the story or rhyme

3. Math Concepts. There is frequent use of counting in young children’s songs and rhymes, in both a forward and backward direction. Children learn to add as they count forward and subtract as they count backward. Other stories and songs explore words that describe size (“Billy Goats Gruff”) and weight (“The Three Bears”) and use math-related words to define concepts such as many, few, plenty, and so on. This contributes to the child’s basic math foundation.

4. Creativity. Rhymes and songs provide great building blocks for creativity. Children love to act out the rhymes as they say them. Sometimes they use their whole body or just use their hands and fingers. In our classroom children are encouraged to display their creativity, which helps to increases their self

This week we learned several different rhymes! Here are some that were our favorite, as well as activities that went along with them.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Manipulative

we looked a different star shapes and diamonds. 

Art

We made our own Twinkle Star

Hey Diddle Diddle

Large Muscle Activity

We pretended to be cows and we jumped over the moon

Manipulative

Nursery Rhyme Floor Puzzle

Art

We made cows jumping over the moon

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Large Muscle Activity

we crawled around like spiders.

Math

we counted to 8 using the legs of a spider

Blocks

we built a spout for the spider to climb.  I allowed the bugs from science center join blocks center this week for this activity!

Art

we made a large spider

Humpty Dumpty

Large Muscle Activity

Have each kid take turns rolling like a egg from one area of the rug to the next.  As they are rolling recite the Rhyme, Humpty Dumpty.

Blocks Center

We built Humpty Dumpty's wall and had horses and men to help retell the rhyme.

Art

we made a Humpty Dumpty

 By the end of the week we had one bulletin board filled with all our different rhymes.

Below is a link to more Nursery Rhyme Fun!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Nursery-Rhymes-Unit-1513726

My Family

This week we focused on our families! Throughout the week the children developed an understanding of various family patterns.  They also discovered what family members do for each other.

Books we read.....

Fingerplays

My Family

If you peek in my room at night (stand on toes as if peeking)

My family you will see (nod head)

They kiss my face and tuck me in tight (kiss into the air)

Why? Because the love ME! ( hug yourself)

This Is The Mother

This is the mother, kind and deear. (make a fist then point to the thumb)

This is the father sitting near (show each finger in turn)

this is the brother strong and tall

This is the sister, who plays with her ball

This is the baby, the littlest of all.

Se my whole family large and small? (wiggle all fingers)

I Love My Family

Some families are large (spread arms out wide)

Some familes are small. (bring arms close together)

But I live my family (cross arms over chest)

Best of All!

Art 

Family Trees

I had each child use thier hand print to make their tree.  Each apple represents who is in their family!

Family Portrait

Each child drew their OWN family portrait!

Science

Feely box

Place objects pertaining to a family into a box.  Include items such as a baby rattle, a toothbrush, a comb, baby bottle, etc.

The children feel the objects and try to identify them.

Housekeeping/Dramatic Play

Family Picnic

collect items to make a picnic basket. Include paper napkins, cups, plates, eating utensils, etc.

Baby Clothing

arrange the dramatic play area for washing baby dolls.  Include a tub with soapy water, washclothes, drying clothes, brushes, and combs.

Blocks

Bulid a community of houses and use different people to represnt the different families in your classroom.

Math

Families- BIGGEST to smallest

Cut out from magazines several members of a family.  the children can place the members from largest to smallest, and then smallest to largest.  They can also identify each family member as the biggest and the smallest.

Family Member Glyph

Each child got a house.  We made different color sqaures for each type of family members. If they only put the sqaures in their house that represented their family. For example: if they had a brother they put a red square in their house or two!

Social Studies

I had each student bring in a family picture(s) to share with the class.  We talked about who was in their family and counted how many were in their family.  I then posted them around the room so they could share them all week. The students really enjoy showing off thier family and see them around the room!

Next week Wheels on the Bus Preschool Learning will adventure through Nursery Rhymes!

All About Me

This week our theme was "All About Me". We learned that God created each of us in a very special way!  We read lots of stories. Some were silly and some were about different feelings we may have.  We discussed different eye and hair color and they were introduced to measurement by seeing how tall they were.

"All About Me" Books 

Songs/Finger Plays

I am Special

Some families are large

Some families are small

But I love my family

Best of ALL!

Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

Head, shoulders,

Knees and toes

Knees and toes

Head, shoulders

Knees and toes

Knees and toes

Eyes and ears and

mouth and nose

Head, shoulders

knees and toes

Knees and toes

I HAVE SO MANY PARTS TO ME
I have two hands to clap with (clap)
One nose with which to smell (sniff)
I have one head to think with (tap head)
Two lungs that work quite well (take a deep breath)
I have two eyes that let me see (point to eyes)
I have two legs that walk (walk in place)
I have two ears that help me hear (cup hands to ears)
A mouth with which to talk. (point to mouth)

Block Center

Since we are only in the second week of school, we are still exploring our centers.  During this week they learned how to build houses (their house) with the blocks.  One day we did wooden blocks, the next day we did cardboard brick blocks, and then we pulled out the foam blocks to explore. Not all stayed out at the same time!

Housekeeping/Dramatic Play center

This is an area where my students were able to explore with dress up. During this week I pulled out different dress up outfits so they could pretend "When I grow up" or pretend to be someone special to them, like mom or dad!

Manipulative Center

I introduced different puzzles and different connect toys this week, as we explored our different centers.

Our puzzles included different pictures of people, hand puzzles, and a house puzzle.

Book Center

In this center I allowed my students to explore the different books in the center: Board books, BIG books, and homemade books. I also pulled out the different people puppets for them to enjoy. We also explored with the listening center and read

Art Center

The students worked on several different projects this week.  

The first project was a self portrait! 

The body is just a sheet of construction paper.  I let each student pick their favorite color.  I then had them glue their hair color on their pre-cut head.  Then they drew their eyes, glued on their pom-pom nose and drew their mouth.  I traced their hands and cut them out as they were gluing. (Kindergarten students could trace each other hands and try to cut out their own hands)

Then each student completed the 'All About Me" sheet.  You can download that sheet for free in my TPT store.

We also drew our self.  We talked about the different shapes we could use and we discussed what we need in a self portrait: head, body, arms, legs, face, eyes, nose, mouth

We did hand prints to go along with our self portraits

We explored with measurement.  I used streamers to see how tall each student was.  They then created their face and I traced their feet.  We put them together to create this:

The kids enjoyed actually seeing how tall they were and comparing it to their friends.

This was a fun filled week! I hope you have enjoyed spending your time with Wheels on the Bus Preschool Learning.  Next week we will explore Families.  

If you enjoy my weekly themes/lessons please leave a comment.  You may also visit my TPT store to view a variety of resources that I have created to use in my own classroom!

Back to School

BACK TO SCHOOL

WOW!

First week down and many more to go.
Putting aside all the paperwork, back to school week is one of my favorite weeks!
I truly enjoy seeing all the new faces, all the excitement one little one can bring and the fear that comes with their excitement (knowing their year will get better).
What is your first week like?
Here is a glimpse of my first week.......

Day 1-5
Meet and greet all our new friends!
We discuss our classroom rules and routines.

Classroom Rules:

1. We use I care language

2. Hands are for helping, not hurting

3. We care about each other’s feelings

4. We are responsible for what we say and do

5. We listen to each other

We read books each day!

We sang songs during group time.

Here In The Classroom

(tune: Up On the Housetop)

Here in the classroom where we play, 

We work hard right here each day. 

Working together happily, 

Come and see us and you'll see. 

We have fun, we all play, 

Work and learn right here each day. 

Here in the classroom we all play, 

Working together every day. 

Time For School 

(tune: Sing a Song of Sixpence)

When the summer's over, 

It's time to come to school. 

I will sit right down 

And listen to the rules. 

I am happy being in my brand new class. 

With my teacher and my friends, 

it's time for school at last!

Happy Faces

Sung to: Jingle Bells

Smiling faces, happy faces, giggling all around.

Oh, what fun we’ll have this way

In a happy class today.

He-he-he, he-he-he,

He-he-he-he-he

Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha

In a happy class today!

Hello

Sung to: Frere Jacques

Hello, friends, hello, friends.

How are you? How are you?

We’re so glad to have you,

We’re so glad to have you.

Here at school, here at school.

Day 1 Activity

Painted School Bus

I used a bus stencil and traced it on a 12X18 sheet of white construction paper.  When each student came to me to paint their bus, we talked about different things about the bus. For example; what color is a school bus, where do you ride a bus, how many windows are on the bus, etc.

Day 2 Activity

Giant Pencil

Each student took each piece of the pencil and glued it together to make their GIANT pencil.  I had already cut each piece for them.  For Kindergarten, they should be able to attempt cutting each piece out themselves. They could also write their own name on their pencil.

Day 3 Activity

Silly School bus!

Again, all the pieces were pre-cut and i worked with each student on gluing their pieces together.  For girls, i added a hair bow :)

Day 4 Activity

School House

We created a school house using different shapes. Large and small square for the house, brown triangle for the top, blue rectangle for the door, and yellow rectangle for the windows.  As each student worked, we talked about the different shapes and the different colors. 

Day 5 Activity

Friday FUN Day!

We used this day to just enjoy our room! We had extra time in centers, special visit to the library, and we even did large gross motor skills activities using tunnels and music!

Greg and Steve: Listen and Move song

https://youtu.be/j24_xH5uvdA

Harry Kindergarten Music

If you are a Kid.. Dance Around (follow directions song)

https://youtu.be/Qr9ge4XGUYs

Classroom Planning

Classroom Planning in Preschool

Welcome to my classroom!

Here is a little bit about how I plan my year in my classroom. My preschool classroom is a full day program.  My day begins at 8:30 am!  My classroom hours are 7:30 am – 5:30 pm.  Here is a copy of my daily schedule.

Kids can come to school anytime between 7:30 am and 9 am.  Each morning all of my classroom centers are open (library, blocks, art, science, and housekeeping).  I ask my kids to find a center to play in and if they choose to go to another center, then all items must be cleaned up before they switch and I also ask that they invite friends to play as they arrive.

Each year I work on a yearly outlook and plan out all my themes, holidays, skills, and bible lessons. This helps me when doing my weekly lesson plans.  Below is a peek of my outlook.  You may also download it for free at my TPT store.

My Yearly Outlook is my PLAN for the year.  I took into account breaks and holidays when planning them out.  I reflected about how kids learn, what they need to learn first, learn again, and are interested in when making my year plan. Like any PLANS, it can change!

We have weekly themes in my classroom.  I LOVE the fact that we can learn about one thing throughout my WHOLE classroom. The kids enjoy moving around the room exploring different areas of one topic!  

I sometimes have kids two years in a row so I try to change up activities each year so they are not repeating what they did last year.

Below is a copy of my lesson plan template.  This is what I use each week when planning. You can download an example here. Click on my Logo!

Click Here to Download

Weather

So it’s been said…..

This week I introduced my class to the wacky weather of March by explaining the old saying, “in like a LION and out like a LAMB”.

On Monday we discussed the characteristics of a lion (wild and loud) and lambs (quiet and gentle). I explained that March’s weather can be wild and ferocious like a lion one day, then gentle and quiet like a lamb the next.

Each day in March we are tracking the weather and the students must decide if it is a “lion day” (cold and windy) or a “lamb day” (warm and sunny). At the end of March we will count up all the lion days and lamb days to see which one had the most.

Not only are we discussing wind, but we are also exploring clouds! We are learning that there are three different clouds: Cirrus, Stratus, and Cumulus.

We read the story Little Cloud by: Eric Carle

They enjoyed this book because it showed how clouds sometimes can look like different things, not just big and fluffy. After reading, Little Cloud, we all created our own cloud using paint and construction paper.  Once they opened up the folded sheet she student named what their little cloud looked like.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Hats Off to Dr. Seuss!

March 2 is the anniversary of Dr. Seuss's birthday! Try the ideas below to set the stage for Seuss-style fun, and use these engaging activities to commemorate his work of creating entertaining books for children.
Your kids will like them, you will see.  The focus is FUN, yes sirree!

Today we read “Cat in the Hat”

The Cat in the Hat and his friends have some unusual problem-solving strategies! Encourage your students to put their own problem-solving skills to use.

For example: How would you clean up spots in your room?

You can point out how the characters tried to clean the spots and how some of their strategies were unsafe.

We also made the following craft below.  I used this as a follow directions craft and we also reviewed patterns with the hat.

  

On Tuesday we will read “One Fish, Two Fish, Blue Fish, Red Fish”

Below is the craft we do with this book. 

I trace each students hands on each color (red, blue, green and yellow) and cut them out.  For older students, they can trace each others hands and cut out the hands.

On Wednesday, we will read “Wacky Wednesday” and dress wacky!

On Thursday we will read “Green Eggs and Ham”  Did you say, “Green Eggs and Ham?” Is there such a thing? My youngsters will brainstorm a list of places green eggs and ham could come from or ways it might be made.  We will then have a special snack “green eggs and ham”.

On Friday, we will review all books read during the week.  We will review the characters, talk about the rhyming words, and discuss the difference between real and not real events.

I hope you enjoy spending your time with Wheels on The Bus Preschool Learning, where there is always an adventure!

Weekly Preschool Funnies: we have been out due to snow ( we missed 4 days this past week). One of my students told me that I had been gone for ages.