 March Issue 1003
PreschoolFirst announces
Subscriber Refresher Webinars
for Program Administrators! |
| Subscriber Refresher Webinar for
Program Administrators & Directors |
Join a Question & Answer Webinar!
Meet us for an online session during the third week of March. Ask our staff questions, get an "admin" refresher, and share your thoughts and success stories with other PreschoolFirst subscribers.
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Preschool Activity: Beautiful Noise
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 Windy days and blustery nights - that's the month of March. This month head outdoors and make some noise. Use this special experiment to watch and explore some of the sounds objects make on a windy day!
Here's what you'll need for older toddlers and preschoolers:
Materials:
Here's How:
Prior to the activity, organize a worktable outdoors with a ball of string, label stickers on which to write names, a thin permanent marker, and child safety scissors.
Use colorful markers to write the words of the poem 'Wind Song' on a large sheet of chart paper, and hang the poem poster on a wall near the indoor Story Circle Time area. Place a sheet of paper; a handkerchief, flag or scarf; a tree branch; and a baseball cap on a shelf nearby. Laminate the poem if you'd like to hang it outdoors later in the day so children can read it during the experiment.
Wind's Song
Rustle, flap, crackle, swoosh!
Rustle, flap, crackle, swoosh!
Hear the wind song?
Sing along!
Rustle, rustle! Rustling leaves tumble by
Flap, flap! Flapping flags wave high
Crackle, crackle! Crackling branches bend low
Swoosh, swoosh! Swooshing hats all blow
Rustle, flap, crackle, swoosh!
Rustle, flap, crackle, swoosh!
Hear the wind song
Sing along!
Invite the class to join you in the Story Circle Time area. Point to the words in the poem on the wall as you read each line to the children. Rustle and crinkle the piece of paper, flap the scarf to make a snapping sound, crackle the branch against the wall, and swoosh the hat in the air at the appropriate place of the poem. Read the poem again and invite the children to join in and chant with you.
Prompt the children to talk about the descriptive words used in the poem. Say, "Why do you think the wind blows? What do you think it does for us?" Listen to the children's responses and discuss wind's important job.
After the discussion, say, "Let's do an experiment and see what sounds the wind creates as it blows different objects. Can you find something that might make a sound in the wind?" Allow the children to look around the room and select an object they would like to use in the experiment. Choose an object for yourself such as a metal measuring spoons or a small pan. Ask the children to rejoin you on the rug, give each child a turn to show the object he/she chose and guess what sound it might make when it blows in the wind. Write the child's name, the name of the object, and the child's guess on a line of a large sheet of chart paper.
Gather small groups of children to join you at the outdoor worktable. Show the children the object you chose and say, "Let's tie each object to a tree or fence, and listen to the sounds we hear as the wind blows by." Demonstrate how to unroll a piece of string and cut off a piece, wrap it securely around the object and knot it. Help each child cut and tie a piece of string to his/her object. Ask each child to "write" his/her name on a label sticker with a permanent marker and stick it securely around the string.
Ask the children to look around the play yard and choose a tree or bush branch, fence, and/or playground equipment on which to tie their objects. Help the children tie their objects securely to the selected areas. Leave the objects outdoors for a day or so and encourage the children visit the play yard and listen to the different sounds created by the objects.
After a few days, help the children collect the objects and carefully bring them indoors to examine. Write the word LOUD at the top of one sheet of lined chart paper and the word QUIET on the top of another sheet. Place the sheets of paper in the middle of the rug or circle area and ask the children to sit in a circle around the pages. Discuss which objects made loud sounds and which made quiet sounds. Ask the children to place their objects on the appropriately labeled sheet of paper. Discuss which sheet has the most and which has the least number of objects. Count the number of objects in each group with the children. If possible, keep the LOUD and QUIET pages set up on the rug for the day so the children can review the results.
Extend the learning:
Create a special 'Beautiful Noise' Investigation Station for the class on a worktable. Tape each object tied to a string so it hangs over the edge of a worktable. Set a wooden spoon and a large metal spoon on a tray with a stack of paper, pencils and colored markers on the table.
Encourage the children to tap each object with a stick or a spoon, describe the sound it makes, and draw the object on a page. Help each child write his/her name next to the drawing, their comments about the sound the object makes when tapped, and write the names of the objects the child illustrated on the page.
Display the objects, the children's drawings, and the sheet of poster board on which you wrote the children's ideas about the wind in a place where everyone can see. Encourage the children to discuss the activity with parents and caregivers who visit the classroom.
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| Infant & Toddler Activity:
Beautiful Noise for Infants & Toddlers Too!
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Create a special "Baby Bounce and Beats" Station for the infants and young toddlers in your program. Make sound a sensory playful experience!
Here's what you'll need for infants and younger toddlers!
Materials:
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Several pieces of yarn
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Two very different rattles
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A set of measuring spoons
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A small water bottle filled with a few inches of water
Here's How:
In one area of the room, tie a short piece of yarn to each of the following items and hang them from a window ledge or a wall: two very different rattles, a set of metal measuring spoons, and a small water bottle filled with a few inches of water. Use the type of yarn that very easily tears apart and breaks when it is pulled upon!
Secure each piece of yarn to the ledge or wall with a piece of tape. The objects should hang low enough so the infant or a young toddler is just able to swing, touch, or hit them while holding a wooden spoon - but not low enough for him/her to grab and possibly pull them down. Keep an adult stationed by the suspended objects to avoid a choking hazard and be sure no child pulls any down or a piece of yarn wraps around any child's neck.
To create another sound station, place a clean coffee can with the lid taped on, a plastic bottle, and a cardboard box in the middle of the floor. Encourage the infants or young toddlers to tap each object with their hands or a wooden spoon and describe the sound it makes. Help them beat the objects harder and faster for LOUD noises and beat them gently and slower for GENTLE noises.
This activity will not only help infants and young toddlers practice skills using eye-hand coordination when they touch, tap, bang, and grasp objects, but it will also encourage the non-mobile infants to lift their heads and try to grab or reach for an object.
(Caution: Always supervise all children closely when an activity involves using a piece of yarn of any kind).
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Highlights of the Sounds Theme
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Our Sounds theme is filled with fun activities that bring attention to the sounds of letters, musical sounds, and invite children to listen to the world around them.
Here are just a few of our favorite Sounds Theme Activities!To locate these and other activities on our site, login, scroll over the red Your Class button, and click the name of your class on the dropdown menu. Look down the class page that appears on your screen and click on the Theme Activities button to bring up the Select Classroom Activities display. Now you can use the selections to browse all the activities for the Sounds theme for your class. B is for Block Building - 18-24 mos. Children build with blocks and learn the sound of the letter 'B'. Follow the Letter! - 24-30 mos. Children play a special version of 'Follow the Leader' and learn to identify the letters C, D, F, H, and W. Cooking Sounds - 30-36 mos. Children play with kitchen tools in the housekeeping area and listen to cooking sounds. 'P' is for Paint Your Portrait - 36-48 mos. Children look in the mirror, dance to music, and paint a dancing self-portrait. Beetle Sounds - 48-60 mos. Children listen to the book 'The Very Clumsy Click Beetle' and participate in a discussion about the events that take place in the story. Non-PreschoolFirst subscribers can download a PDF version of one of these theme activities.Top |
Head Start Connection:
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Our Sounds theme directly
supports all of the Phonological Awareness and Alphabet Knowledge Indicators
from the Head Start Outcomes Framework.
Here's
a perfect opportunity for children to increase their ability
to discriminate and identify sounds in spoken language, as well as expand their knowledge of beginning
sounds in familiar words. Activities such as The Letter Says(36-48 mos.) and Alphabet
Soup (48-60 mos.) provide many active
literacy learning opportunities for children.
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PreschoolFirst Classroom Tip
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Do you have trouble connecting with the parents in your classroom? Does it seem that no one reads the notes you send home? Children need to know that the adults and caregivers in their lives work together.
A strong home-school connection helps children feel secure and cared for and will make your busy job easier. Here are a few suggestions to help you be sure parents get your messages.
- Masking tape or safety pin special notices to the outside of each child's shirt before he/she puts on a coat to go home. When the children take off their coats at home, they will remember to hand the note to their parent or caregiver.
- Place the note inside each child's lunchbox or bag after he/she finishes eating. When parents and caregivers open the lunch box or bag to make lunch for the next day; they can't miss the note.
- Organize a message tree. Ask one parent to take responsibility and initiate a call to a few other parents, those parents are then asked to call others and pass a message along.
- Use the PreschoolFirst.com Class Announcement feature to post a note for everyone to read. Login to PreschoolFirst.com, scroll over the Your Class button, and select the class for which you'd like to post an announcement. After the class page appears on the screen, look for the text Class Announcements and click on the words Add an announcement directly below. Parents can read this note from home, work, or anywhere they can login to the PreschoolFirst website.
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What's New in PreschoolFirst?
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PreschoolFirst Feedback Survey Link Coming Soon!
Watch for the new link on your welcome page. Just click it to take our latest PreschoolFirst Feedback Survey. Please help us make PreschoolFirst even better. Take a minute to tell us what works well for you, what you think needs our attention, and what you'd like to see in the future.You can even suggest a new theme!
In-depth Implementation Guide:
Have
you checked out the Implementation Guide? Look under Your Resources for this
new button on the drop down menu. It's worth a browse! You'll see answers
to all kinds of user questions and find detailed information about everything
"PreschoolFirst." Other PreschoolFirst users have reported they love having all
this material in any easy to use PDF that has bookmarks for quick navigation.
Teacher Tutorials Online &
On-demand:
We have added a set of updated, easy to watch
modules to help teachers learn to use each step in the PreschoolFirst User
Cycle! These modules are based on the webinars we offered during the fall, so
if you missed them you can still see them now on your schedule. Look under Your Resources for this new menu item. Now it's even
easier to learn how to use this dynamic system!
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Any Suggestions?
We're always looking for more ways to make your job easier. PreschoolFirst continues to improve its site for our subscribers. If you have any specific ideas or requests about themes, we'd be happy to hear them! Click here to send us an email. Keep watching the site as we improve our functions. Remember all PreschoolFirst upgrades, improvements, and new basic features are available to all our subscribers at no additional cost. Your annual subscription gives you access to every basic site improvement PreschoolFirst has to offer, now and in the future.
PreschoolFirst Accounts purchased with the Interactive State Standards Alignment and Multi-site subscriptions receive ALL improvements and new features -- including comprehensive reporting at no additional cost!
Are You Ready for Parent Conferences?
We currently have over 3200 activities in our library of PreschoolFirst activities. Now that you know this year's children better, you will be able to use PreschoolFirst to plan group activities that meet the needs of each child and each class. Don't forget PreschoolFirst also contains a full observation assessment tool for children 0-66 months. NOW is a great time to enter your latest observations into the PreschoolFirst system to ensure you're ready for those next Parent Conferences. You'll be ready at the click of a button!
PreschoolFirst is always happy to answer all your questions. Call us weekdays at 1-866-584-2900.
Sincerely,
PreschoolFirst Team at
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