Thoughtful Thursday

This will be the last post for April. I will return after spring break.

Growing Teachers

Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the Reggio approach to curriculum, held more faith in in-service training than pre-service training.  Here are some of his views on training teachers on-the-job from The Hundred Languages of Children (Norwood, New Jersey, 1993):

"Teachers — like children and everyone else — feel the need to grow in their competence; they want to transform experiences into thoughts, thoughts into reflections, an d reflections into new thoughts and new actions.  They also feel a need to make predictions, to try things out, and then interpret them.  The act of interpretation is most important.  Teachers must learn to interpret ongoing processes rather than wait to evaluate results.  In the same way, their role as educators must include understanding children as producers, not consumers.  They must learn to teach nothing to children except what they can learn by themselves.  And furthermore, they must be aware of the perceptions the children form of the adults and their actions.  In order to enter into relationships with the children that are at the same time productive, amiable, and exciting, teachers must be aware of the risk in expressing judgments too quickly.  They must enter the time frame of the children, whose interests emerge only in the course of activity or negotiations arising from that activity.  They must realize how listening to children is both necessary and expedient.  They must know that activities should be as numerous as the keys of a piano, and that all call forth infinite acts of intelligence when the children are allowed a wide range of options to choose from.  Furthermore, teachers must be aware that practice cannot be separated from objectives or values and that professional growth comes partly through individual effort, but a much richer way through discussion with colleagues, parents, and experts.  Finally, they need to know that it is possible to engage in the challenge of longitudinal observations and small research projects concerning the development or experiences of children.  Indeed, education without research or innovation is education without interest."

Workshop Wednesday

One more Easter activity. Have fun!

Hand Print Whiskers for Bunny
Materials:
1 large sheet of construction paper

brown or white, pink, off-white, black construction paper for bunny
scissors
paper punches (optional)
glue
sharpie
black paint
paint brush

Directions:
1. using your white or brown paper cut out a bunny face shape and glue it to your large cardstock.
2. using your pink paper, cut out a cute nose and some inner ears and glue on bunny.
3. using a small circle punch or scissors, punch 2 eyes out of your off-white paper and glue on bunny.
4. using a hole punch or scissors, punch 2 small circles out of your black paper and glue to middle of eyes.
5. using your sharpie, draw on a mouth.
6. paint your child's palms black and have them stamp them on the bunny to make whiskers. Allow to dry.



Idea taken from Jill Dubien



Transition Tuesday

Caterpillar Transition Game

When it is time to transition children away from group time to a different activity it is always good to have a transition game. This allows the children to move more slowly to the next activity with less confusion.

Make a large caterpillar with different color circles and black legs. Place the caterpillar on the whiteboard, flannelboard, or on the floor. On the back of each caterpillar body part (circle) is a different action movement for the children to do.

As the children are called to play the game they come up and roll a large cardboard box dice (the dice are made from a 6 x 6 mailing box) with color dots to match all of the colors on the caterpillar. Each child comes up, rolls the dice, identifies the color, and then finds that color on the caterpillar. Once the child finds the color, the teacher reads the movement that child needs to do before moving on to the next activity.

To make things run smoothly you could have 2 - 3 dice going at the same time. One adult runs the game and the other adult makes sure that the children are following the plan.

Taken from Teaching & Learning with Preschoolers

Make & Take Monday

Rainstick Discovery Bottle

Make your own rainsticks in a bottle! This is a fun and safe alternative for the youngest child.

Materials: water bottle; toothpicks; colored rice; glue & glue gun

Directions:
1. Dry the empty water bottle
2. Add toothpicks (1.5 boxes if small box, 1 box if it is the bigger box)
3. Add colored rice (rice, food coloring and rubbing alcohol) until you get the sound of rain falling as they float through the toothpick
4. Glue lid on with glue gun (do not use glue gun around children)

This is an easy activity the children can make. Then put them in your discovery area and music area.


Taken from Welcome to our Wonderland



Feature Friday

Books from A - Z

Animalia

Brown Bear , Brown Bear What Do You See ?

Corduroy

Dog’s Colorful Day

Edwardo The Most Horriblest Boy in the Whole Wide World

Freight Train

Ghosts in The House

How To Bake and Apple Pie and See The World

In The Town All Year Round

Jake Stays Awake

The Kissing Hand

Let Them Play

Museum Trip

Not Norman

Owen

The Paper Bag Princess

The Very Quiet Cricket

Road Builders

Something From Nothing

Trashy Town

Up Above , Down Below

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Whoever You Are

AleXander and Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

Yum Yum Dim Sum

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin

Taken from No Time for Flashcards

Thoughtful Thursday

THE BRAIN REMEMBERS BEST WHEN ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN LEARNING

Memory is enhanced when actively involved in learning. A recent study found that those who have some control over their learning environment are better at remembering what they learned than those who do not.

The brain learns best through exploration and  interaction with real objects and people. This research clearly demonstrates the difference active learning vs. passive learning makes in the memory area of the brain. We can use this information to add to what we already know to hopefully create more active learning experiences in our classrooms.

An article on this study states: 

"The new study showed that activity and interactivity increases between important brain regions in individuals who have more control over their learning environment, as compared to those who are passively absorbing information." 

You can read the full article, How Memory Is Enhanced By An Active Role In Learning, here.

Workshop Wednesday

Matching Letters with Cracked Eggs

Materials: colored paper (scrap paper or construction paper); marker; scissors

Directions: Draw an egg shape on the colored paper. Cut egg out and then cut egg in half (cut each egg in half using different shapes). Write an uppercase letter on the top part of the egg and the lowercase letter on the bottom part of the egg. Place egg halves in a basket and have children match. Simple but fun!

Transition Tuesday

In the Garden
(Tune: Up on the Housetop)

Look in the garden,
There I see
Ten little carrots growing merrily
Rabbit came and ate one
Oops, Oh No!
Now there's only nine carrots in the row.

Last line:
Now there's NO carrots in the row!

Make & Take Monday

Make your Easter Grass

To make your own Easter grass, you will need construction paper (any color you like) and a paper shredder.  (Five sheets of each color of construction paper make the amount of Easter grass to fill about half of a shoebox sized container.) After you shred each color, empty the container into a basket then start the new color so the colors do not get all mixed up.
And there you have it – your very own home made Easter grass! I hope you like it!



Once you have your grass you can create many activities for your children.

Ideas taken from Deborah Stewart.

Feature Friday

"Five Green Speckled Frogs" Masks

Act out "Five Green Speckled Frogs" by using frog masks. I recently conducted a workshop in Dillon, SC and the 4K teachers made frog masks to go along with the fingerplay/song. The masks are made from felt and foam. A small piece of elastic is attached to both sides of the mask. The teachers had a ball making them and I know the children will LOVE being the 5 frogs! A BIG thanks to the 4K teachers in Dillon!

Five green speckled frogs

Frog masks can be made any color. Just change the song.

Sat on a speckled log

Eating some most delicious bugs...yum yum!

One jumped into the pool

Where it was nice and cool
Then there were four green speckled frogs.

Continue counting down. The last line would be:

One green speckled frog
Sat on a speckled log
Eating some most delicious bugs...yum yum!
He jumped into the pool

Where it was nice and cool

Then there were no green speckled frogs.

Thoughtful Thursday

The Brain Remembers Best When Actively Involved in Learning

Memory is enhanced when actively involved in learning. A recent study found that those who have some control over their learning environment are better at remembering what they learned than those who do not.

This is exciting information to share. I continuously promote that the brain learns best through exploration and  interaction with real objects and people. This research clearly demonstrates the difference active learning vs. passive learning makes in the memory area of the brain. We can use this information to add to what we already know to hopefully create more active learning experiences in schools.
An article on this study states: 

"The new study showed that activity and interactivity increases between important brain regions in individuals who have more control over their learning environment, as compared to those who are passively absorbing information." 

You can read the full article, How Memory Is Enhanced By An Active Role In Learning, here.

Workshop Wednesday

Hand Print Chicks

Materials: construction paper (1 sheet for the main page and then yellow, orange, white, black); scissors; glue; yellow paint; paint brush
Directions:
1. Trace and cut a chick's body from yellow and glue on the main paper
2. Trace and cut the chick's head feathers, beak, and legs from orange paper and glue to the chick's body
3. Cut two circles from white for eyes and glue on the chick's head
4. Cut out two black pupils for the eyes and glue on paper (or use a hole punch)
5. Paint the child's palms yellow and stamp them on each side of the little chick for feathers

Transition Tuesday

The Bug Dance(Echo Poem)
Bugs, bugs everywhere!
Bugs, bugs everywhere!
On my shoulders, in my hair!
On my shoulders, in my hair!

Fat and lean ones, in-between ones
Fat and lean ones, in-between ones
Orange ones, red ones, pink and green ones!
Orange ones, red ones, pink and green ones!

Crickets, beetles, ladybugs too—
Crickets, beetles, ladybugs too—
One just landed on my shoe!
One just landed on my shoe!

Caterpillars, grasshoppers, spiders, ants
Caterpillars, grasshoppers, spiders, ants
One is crawling up my pants!
One is crawling up my pants!

I like bugs both big and small.
I like bugs both big and small.
I like them marching up the wall.
I like them marching up the wall.

I like them on flowers and in trees,
I like them on flowers and in trees,
But please, oh please, get them off of me!
But please, oh please, get them off of me!
Taken from Dr. Jean at www.drjean.org

Make & Take Monday

I must admit I am PLAY DOUGH crazy! I even dream about making play dough. Anyway I could not resist this idea with play dough. Have fun!

Play Dough Bugs

Materials: play dough (2 or 3 different colors); pipe cleaners; straws, wiggly eyes; toothpicks; buttons; photos of bugs: and placemats or play dough mats

Directions: Place materials in small containers. Remember children only need a fist size of play dough. So if 3 children are allowed at the play dough area have 3 fist-sized balls in each color. Display photos of bugs for children to use as inspiration.

Feature Friday

Wedgits

Wedgits are a great way to stimulate children's imagination, creativity and logical thinking skills! The starter set comes with a base to help your creations stand up along with 15 various sized building pieces. The pieces nest, stack, link and even wedge together! While you can create almost anything you can think of with the blocks, the set also comes with a fun instruction manual with tons of 3D sculptures that children can try to copy as well. The starter set cost $23.99. You can purchase Wedgits by going to the website at http://www.wedgits.com/. You can also purchase them at Wal-Mart.