Hands are for Clapping

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*For students that tend to suck in when they're trying to blow,
the mixture is replaced with milk

Hands are for Clapping

We start the activity with this song:

We talk about things are hands are great for (helping, saying 'hi', getting stuff done, playing etc.) and what things we shouldn't use our hands for (pushing, hitting, etc.). We then play a rhyme game where we chant the following lyrics: 

Clap, clap, clap your hands,

Clap them just like me.

1, 2, 3, 4

Then place them

on your knees.

The students take turns picking what else we can do with our hands during the chant. Ideas include:

Wave, tap, squeeze, pat, touch, flap, swing, shake, snap

Depending on the time, we will sing the "Hands are for Clapping" song one more time.

Mixed-Up Chameleon & Space Travel

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Mixed-Up Chameleon

Reading the story Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle. This story is about a Chameleon that thought his life was boring until he discovered he could change his shape and color to look like other animals. In the end he discovered that being himself was the best. After reading the story, each student gets their own transparent Chameleon to take around the class and turn into any color or texture they would like. We then come back to the rug, talk about what we saw and emphasize that the best thing to be is oneself.

Space Travel

Remember our train obstacle course (click here)? This time it's the same type of course teaching the same concepts (Under", "Behind", "Through", "Over" and "On") but instead it's with a space theme. The students get to travel through space as they go from planet to planet in a loop around the room. The planets have numbers on them so they look for each one in numerical order before they finally come back to rest at 'Earth'.

Hide, Seek and Space Travel

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Hide and Go Seek- The Game

Now if you are thinking, "Now didn't this class just do this?", your are right. They loved it so much, and only half the kids got to be the seeker, that we made a list of who gets to go next and I promised them we would do it as soon as possible. As a reminder, here is how it goes:

We practice saying the 'Hide and Seek' chant as a class:

Lets All Play Hide and Seek

Cover Your Eyes, Please Don’t Peek!

Then We’ll Count From 1 to 10

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Ready or Not, Here I Come! 

Then we choose a seeker and all the other student's hide while they say the chant including counting to 10 and saying, "Ready or not, here I come!". (The seeker's favorite part is talking into the microphone!)

The student then looks for the other students and are encouraged to use student's names as they find them. As they are found the other students come back to the rug and we talk about where they hid emphasizing prepositions including "under", "around", "in" and "behind". We also used distant words like, "closer," "nearer" and "over there". Once everyone is back, we review it once again and then start with a different seeker. We have a list that they 'sign-up' for which helps us choose our next person.

Space Travel

Remember our train obstacle course (click here)? This time it's the same type of course teaching the same concepts (Under", "Behind", "Through", "Over" and "On") but instead it's with a space theme. The students get to travel through space as they go from planet to planet in a loop around the room. The planets have numbers on them so they look for each one in numerical order before they finally come back to rest at 'Earth'.

Mrs. Shirley's Flowers

Photo/Activity Credit: http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2014/07/alphabet-activities-kids.html 

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Photo/Activity Credit: http://www.teachpreschool.org/2013/03/o-how-we-love-to-estimate/

Shirley's Flowers Large Group

Mrs. Shirley brings in a variety of flowers for the students to smell and feel. She talks about colors, names, smells and lets everyone have a flower to count the petals as they pull them off. This year, the students will divide into three groups at the rug to share flowers for feeling the roots, stems, leaves and petals, for talking about their smells and colors and discussing what ones that they like best. She will do this on Monday and Tuesday with a slight variation so all the students will have an opportunity to do it.

Speech Sound and Letter of the Month: S