Poetry Cube

This is a picture of a poetry cube that I have made. It can be used in many different formats in your classroom, such as a reward, transition activity, or to calm the students down when their energy is high. Turning poetry into a fun game by using a poetry cube is perhaps one of the very best ways to get poetry into children. To make this cube, use two milk cartons or other square items and then push the two together. Then decide on a theme for the poems such as snow, butterflies, pumpkins,or anything else. Find six poems that are short and simple to put on each side of the cube. Cover the cube with wrapping paper and decorate the poems with stickers if you choose. The cube can be rolled and then what ever poem is on the top will be read. The students will begin to memorize the poems as this activity is used. A teacher can also read the entire poem the first time and then begin leaving words out as the poem is repeated, observing if the students remember what words are missing. In time the students will begin reciting most of the poems on their own and will understand the concept of poetry.

Rhyming

I will be adding another key concept the a child's learning with this post about rhyming. Rhyming is not always an easy concept for children to absorb. A child first has to have letter sound knowledge and be able to tell when two words have the same sound along with depicting the difference. While reading books to your child or students, stop and ask them what they heard or was similar between two words. In the picture above I have an activity were the children connect words that rhyme. My coworker found this activity in a book, but you could take the idea and just find your own images that rhyme. By putting a hole punch in each side of the picture and then using toy links your able to connect the cards together. The students have to sound out the name of the image and then find one that rhymes. They can also see how many words rhyme with each other in one chain. During group time a teacher could also either give the students a word to rhyme with or have them give you a word for you to rhyme. The second example is a good way to introduce rhyming and then transition into them giving a rhyme to a word. Playing the name game is always fun too, were you make funny rhymes with a child's name. We have played this game as a group and while dismissing to the coat rack. I myself find it challenging at time to find rhymes to words, so give this concept some time with many opportunities to practice. When a child is learning to make rhymes don't worry if they are nonsense words, just that they are understanding the concept. Just like I have said in many other post, make sure the children are having fun and not getting discouraged then the learning will be a success.

Patterning

The skill of patterning is a developmental mile stone. This skill is many times mastered between the ages of 3-5 depending on the child's exposure. To promote the development of being able to pattern practice is needed. Being exposed to patterning in many different formats can be intriguing. In this exercise the students make a caterpillar pattern. To start out, have the students make the same pattern with the circles as on the card. After mastering this form of patterning the students can make their own patterns with the circles. A discussion can take place about what type of pattern is it? Each new color represents a new letter, so when looking at the two patterns in the picture we have an AB pattern and an AABC pattern. Sometime children can get really creative with their patterns. The key to this is practice. Have your children or students make patterns with toy counters, blocks, goldfish crackers, tricks cereal, or anything else that has a number of different items. Being able to see how long the pattern can be made without mistakes is great fun. If a mistake is noticed, have the child run through the pattern to see if they can notice where they have messed up and then help them discover how it can be fixed. Like any activity, make sure the child is enjoying themselves and not getting too discouraged when they have difficulties.

Homemade Books

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, books and reading are very important in a child's development. When children have books from the store or library it is always nice, but it is even more fun when they can make there own book. During "Read Across America" in March, I visited a kindergarten class and I read a book to the students. We then discussed the author and illustrator in the book and what role they have in making the book. I asked the students if they would like to be the author and illustrator of their very own book? They were very excited when I gave them the theme of the book "My Favorite Animals". I chose this theme because each student would be creating a page in the book and everyone seems to have a favorite animal. First I had the students draw a picture of their favorite animal, then they wrote a sentence stating what their favorite animal was. On the white board I wrote the words "favorite animal" for the kindergarteners to copy for their sentence. I then was the editor and cut out the animals, glued the pictures and sentences onto the pages, developed a cover, and bound the book together. The book was then read to the students and left in their book area for them to look at on their own. The students were very proud of the book that they made. This book was made as a class, but each child could also make their very own. Books are great and when they are homemade it makes them very special. So on the next rainy day or after/during a trip have your child make a book of their very own for an activity to do or keepsake of the trip.

Color Words

This is a file folder color game that I have designed where students can start recognizing the names colors. The candles would be in a pouch and it would be like a loto game where the student has to pull the candle out of the pouch and then decide which cake says that color. Many times children know colors by site, so once they have mastered this my color game can be the next step in learning. As a child learns that R-E-D spells red, they are beginning the process of reading by sounding out the letters. Children love birthday cakes and playing a game that involves candles and birthday cakes is very eye appealing to many. This file folder color game can also be used as a counting tactic as the student counts the number of candles found on each cake. So this game actually has many different areas of learning that can take place while playing this file folder game. Students can correspond between the colored candles and the name of the color, practice beginners reading, and be able to count the number of candles on each cake. To make this color game a little more challenging once a child can read is to write the color names in a different color. Such as Purple or Blue so that the student has to really think of what they are reading and not let their mind get mix up when it sees the word wrote in another color. There are probably other variations that can be done to this game, so use your imagination and knowledge as your students have fun with the file folder color game!

Bulletin Boards

 

 Today I wanted to talk to you about bulletin boards.Bulletin boards are great to have in a classroom for so many reasons. I hope that your classroom is designed so that there is space for you to have one in your classroom. A bulletin board can hold information or be a form of greeting such as the two examples that I have posted. We have a bulletin board in our classroom that does not change during the year that has the calender, days of the week chart, weather chart, letter of the week, and other information. The purpose of this bulletin board is to hold the daily information. The other bulletin board that we have is used as a greeting and changes as seasons, holidays, or months change. This bulletin boards is special because the students help create it. Many times we find a cute saying and combine it with a craft or vice versa. As you can see the students artwork is similar, but not the same. Crafts that are open ended allow the child to create in a way, so that their item is their own and not just like someone else. Many times we give the material needed for the craft along with some direction when needed, otherwise the students are free to create. These are the type of crafts that I love because it shows parents and others that each child is unique. So find a cute bulletin board idea in a mailbox magazine, online, or anywhere else. You could even dream one up yourself! The main point is to make it child friendly by have fun in your class and show it on the board.

Graphing

Sorry, I could not get the picture turned. This graph is a graph that we make in the fall with our preschoolers. Graphs are a great way for children to visually see the difference or similarity between choices that are being compared. For this graph the students taste a piece of red delicious, gold delicious, and granny smith apples. They describe if the apple is soft or hard and if it tastes sweet, sour, or anything else. The different color of the apples is also discussed. Then the student's decide which apple they enjoy the best. Once everyone has voted on their favorite apple, either by putting their name in a column or by placing an apple cutout in a column. Then as a class we count how many are in each column. The number of items in each column can be wrote and then there can be a discussion on what number is bigger. Graphing can help students visual see why one number is bigger/smaller than another number. This activity also helps students make decisions on what they like best and choosing just one. A lot is covered and discussed when making a graph. There are so many different forms of graphs that can be made to demonstrate an end result. Have fun by making bar graphs, line graphs, or pie graphs. An end result may be made quickly or information may need to be collected for a few weeks in order to achieve the end results. Graphing is a lot of fun because the options are endless!

Ruby Bridges

The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles is a great book to illustrate how diversity and racism took place between blacks and whites. In this book a little black girl is appointed by the government to attend a white school. The history and reactions of desegregation are played out in this child friendly book. Since we are talking about history in this book, it is also very informational. A friend of mine who used to teach 1st grade has used this book with her students. Students can learn about the lifestyle of black African Americans and what they had to go through in order to receive the same educational rights as the white folks. History is told in the book The Story of Ruby Bridges. There were laws in the early 1900's that separated the blacks and whites into two different schools. The Story of Ruby Bridges tells how these laws were broken during racial desegregation. What I really like about this book is that the topic of desegregation is brought down to the students level, which can make a bigger impact on the students.When talking about history to younger students I think that it is important to find a book like The Story of Ruby Bridges that the students can relate to easier to introduce the topic being taught. Then students can relate back to the book as the learning continues.