"Rrrrrrr" matey!

Letter:  Rr is for raccoon and ribbon
Sound Action: Pretend to be a puppy holding a rag and shaking your head from side to side saying 'rrrrr' (Jolly Phonics) 
Number: 0
Theme: Color wrap up


We introduced the letter Rr this week.  The students are given both the capital and lower case letter as well as what sound the letter makes.

Parent questions worth sharing:

"Why do you teach letters out of order?"
In my kindergarten class we used the reading program Jolly Phonics as well as the Harcourt program. I like both of these programs because they use the phonemic approach that combines a mixture of introducing consonants and vowels that are common in three letter words.
For example the letters  'm, s, r, t, p' (Harcourt order) combined with the vowel 'a' will make the 'at' word family:
 mat,  sat,  rat,  pat,
In  the Jolly Phonics they introduce 's, a, t, i, p, n' first. Which would make up the 'it' and 'in' word families. This program also teaches an action for the sound that is easy for most kids to remember. Such as the  letter 'm': Rub tummy as if seeing tasty food and say mmmmmm

I feel that by using a combination of these methods as well as teaching alphabet songs the preschoolers will truly learn the letter's name, sound and recognize where it belongs among the other letters.

*You will also notice that when I test the kids it is based on what order I have introduced the letters. *

One of the kids favorite letter introduction activities is using the dot-to-dot paint marker.

Making Rainbows:

Skills being used include color identification by both color squares and color words. Fine motor skills of being able to pick up the small square and squeeze the glue to place on their rainbow. Children also had to listen for directions as to what step would be next. At the end of this activity each child had to use their own words to describe their rainbow. They used their verb in the blank:  " My rainbow is _______"

Sight word this week:

Sensory bin full of shapes, colors and textures. The boys in this picture are sorting the objects based on their color. They are using the plastic tweezers: )

Ellie reading an ABC book. She loved the colors in this one!

Abby is practicing both her first and last names. Evey child at DBP has their own wipe off practice name plate. Once they have mastered their first name using correct upper/ lower case letters they graduate to practicing both their names. Kinder Prep student's goal for the month of September is to be able to say their full name!

ABC match

Watching ABC Twiggle's video of the letter Rr.

More Rr writing practice.

And toddler Rr practice.

Identifying upper and lower case R's by color coding. (Worksheet from ABC Twiggles)

A farewell to friends this afternoon! Best wishes Israel!

Color Unit

The last two weeks have been focused on teaching colors. The kids had a lot of fun being dressed "alike" for each color day. We worked on color recognition (which many of your little ones already know most if not ALL their colors!), how to read/ spell each color word,  and identifying the 3 primary colors and what combinations make secondary colors.

Pink day:

I use the Frog Street Press sing and Read Color collection to teach color words to my students. My little kiddos love the big books and music CD that accompanies them! You may have heard them singing the songs at home.

We also have red lots of books about colors. Some of their favorites have been:

 Our most challenging task has been making our color pages for our color book. This involves many different levels of abilities. The children have to listen for directions, be able to recognize their color words, use scissors, squeeze glue and count the words in the sentence.

Here is an example of  "Black is a spider." and "Red is cherry pie!":

Color Mixing:

Our "Yellow day Brunch"

Exploring primary colors through finger painting.

 

Predictable sentences; this is where the sentences are all the same with the exception of where they fill in the blank. We point to each word and the kids read! Yes... READ. Later in the week the sentence is typed out, cut into pieces and given to the students to put back together. They then draw a picture to match their words. We make a class book for the final product. This week we did My favorite color is... (sorry, it would not rotate for me!)

Working on our fine motor skills: lacing.

 We also made flubber! They had soooooo much fun getting their hands all gooey. We followed the recipe directions and each had a turn to help make our goop. Flubber is very easy to make. Here is the recipe if you would like to make some on your own:
2 cups of water
1 cup of white glue
1 tsp. Borax detergent mixed with 1/4 cup warm water
Food coloring
Mix 2 cups of water with 1 cup of glue. Add several drops of food coloring and mix. Add Borax mixture to glue mixture and stir well. Place flubber on hard surface and have fun! Easily washes out with warm water. Keep stored in air tight container for up to 2 weeks.

 And finally, I am sure you have all heard of our furry new classmate! Meet Harley, our beloved white kitty that is AWESOME with the kids. They all do very well not chasing him, giving him treats and giving soft pets.

 

 

I would love to hear your comments about what is happening at DBP! Please feel free to drop a line or two. Or you can leave your comments on blogger. Thanks! 

Ms. Jaymee

Welcome Back!

I am very excited to start off our new school year and happy to have an amazing group of kids!

So far we have been very busy getting to know new friends and learn classroom rules/ expectations. Assessments have been ongoing to see where your child is at in their learning. They are truly an energetic bunch of "smarty pants"! 

Over the next two weeks we will be exploring colors. Various activities and lessons will be introduced as your little one learns about the color names through literature, art, science and math.  Be sure to ask them about their day! I know they will have lots to share.