Quilts and Patterns

Daily Question: Do you know what a pattern is? A pattern is a repeated design.


Toys: FP Little People Village

Snack: Golden Apples and Peanut butter crackers.

Reviewed the Q sound. We also talked about what "makes a good listener?"

We read about animal patterns in the riddle book Patterns and Animagicals. It was fun for the students to see a little of the animal's fur or skin and listen to the riddle and guess what animal it was talking about. The hardest one was probably the Okapi (which has a hind end like a Zebra but the head and torso are solid brown).

Outdoor Recess: Played outside in the sand pile and on the slides and with the ride on toys.

I love this one of "flight."

Q and Pattern Review: We enjoyed coloring the Q page and talking about "q" words: quail, quilt, queen, and question.

I love the colors and Olivia's handwritten name up in the corner.
Great job!

Pattern Book:
Patterns and Animagicals; Paintings by Svetlan Janakovic, Poems by Carol Diggory Shields

Susie is the photographer!

Letter Q

Daily Questions: Which starts with the letter Qq, quilt or duck?

Toys: Trains table, Skee-ball, Dora Bowling, Spaghetti Doll Village.


Guest: We welcomed Olivia's cousin, Ezra, to class today.

Snack: Orange Slices, pretzels, and fruit snacks.

At Snack Time, we learned about simple patterns (something that repeats it's self). An AB pattern would be something like red, blue, red, blue. An ABC pattern is illustrated below: blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry. By learning patterns, children will better look for them in life and in Mathematics.

Next, we studied a mini quilt that was an example of an AB pattern. See it?
(red, pink, red, pink).

We talked more about quilts. "What is a quilt?" A quilt is a blanket made of two pieces of fabric with a layer of cotton batting in between, all stitched firmly together, usually in a decorative design or pattern.


We learned about Q a Queen Bee who quilts. She needs quiet so she can finish her quilt. "Q-q-q" she quivers as she quilts. She finishes her quilt at a quarter past ten. (Students pretend to quilt and move a needle in and out of a piece of imaginary fabric saying "q-q-q.")

We had a white board discussion about q and her friend u. Together, qu makes a "kwah" sound. Words like this are: quail (a small bird), quake, quiet!, queen, quilt, etc.

Story Time: We enjoyed reading The Quilt Story together. In this story, a mother makes a special quilt for her young daughter with shooting stars, hearts, doves, and her daughter's name, Abigail, embroidered on it. Abigail loves the quilt and plays with it and takes it across the plains when her family joins pioneers to find a new home. Later, it is put in the attic of her new home where various animals enjoy it's warmth. Many years later, her granddaughter finds it in the attic and asks her mother to repair and fix the special quilt for her and is comforted again by the warm quilt.

Other Quilt Stories:
The Quilt Story by Tony Johnson, Ill. by Tomie dePaola
The Quiltmaker's Gift by Jeff Brumbeau, Ill. by Gail de Marken
The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills (Little Brown and Co.) Good Read Aloud, not an easy reader.
The Kindness Quilt by Nancy E. Wallace PCL
Cassie Word Quilt by Faith Ringold PCL

Arts and Crafts: Today, students worked on an Qq pattern quilt like the Queen Bee was quilting while saying the letter q and it's sound.

Students completed an AB quilt pattern.

Fortune Hunting: As part of Chinese New Year, today we went hunting treasure to put in our red envelopes--for a lucky future. (Chinese New Year celebration lasts 15 days and ends in a feast.)

Hidden in the new sand are "gems" and "pebblettes of gold, silver, and purple."

After finding our fortune, we went in to finger paint a lucky Chinese Dragon banner with a New Year's Greeting, Gung Hei Fat Choi, which means "Wishing You Prosperity and Wealth."

Finger Painting Fun!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Years!

This unit teaches children about Cultural Diversity as we study Chinese Americans and the Lunar New Year Celebration.

2012 is the Year of the Dragon (according to the Chinese Zodiak Calendar).
Depending on what year you were born, you are assigned an animal: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Cock, Dog, or Boar. It is felt growing up that you will have characteristics and personality similar to your birth year animal.

Daily Question: Do you know a Chinese Happy New Years Greeting?

"Gung Hei Fat Choi!"

Which means in English "Wishing You Prosperity and Wealth."

Toys: Train Table, Dora Bowling, and Spaghetti Doll Houses


Snack: Stir-fried noodles, orange slices, and birthday cake. (Later on we enjoyed Chinese New Year treats too).

Chopsticks or forks!

Chinese Foods: Children smelled a sweet Chinese fruit Lychee (looks like a raspberry with a thin leathery peel and white, moist fruit inside). We enjoyed White Rabbit (creamy, milk) candies wrapped in rice paper and eating and reading Fortune Cookies. Tangerines are considered lucky at the New Year. They leave the stem and leaves on for a sign of "connectedness."

Princess Susie: We learned that Susie's full name is Susannah. She has three sisters and one brother. She likes the colors pink and red. She loves to read (esp. at bedtime!). She likes having a baby sister in our class.


Contributions from China: Did you know the Chinese invented paper, silk, kites, noodles, and fireworks? Fortune cookies were invented by Asian Americans and are not found in China.

Chinese Language:
We learned a little Chinese in class today, with help from a library DVD.
ni how (knee how) means "hello!"
zai jian (Zaie zhen) means "goodbye."
xie xie (zhey zhey)means "thank you."
peng you (pong yow) means "friend."

Counting:
1. Yi (yee)
2. Er (er)
3. San (san)
4. Si (s'uh)
5. Wu (w'uh)
6. Liu (li-ah)
7. Qi (chee)
8. Ba (bah)
9. Jui (je-oh)
10. Shi (sh'uh)






Chinese New Year Books:
A New Year's Reunion by YU Li-Qiong and Zhu Cheng-Liang (2012-Year of the Dragon)
The New Year Dragon Dilemma by Ron Roy, Ill. by John Steven Gurney. PCL
Light the Candle! Bang the Drum! A book of Holidays Around the World by Ann Morris and Peter Linenthal
The New Year Dragon Dilemma by Ron Roy; Ill. by John Steven Gurney PCL
Happy New Year, Julie (1974) American Girl. (This is for more advanced reading and pictures about the Chinese New Year. Julie celebrates with her Chinese American friend, Ivy). PCL


DVD:
American Cultures For Children: Chinese-American Heritage (Schlessinger Media) PCL

Birthday Book:
Happy Birthday, Dear Duck by Eve Bunting, Ill. by Jan Brett

The Same or Different

Hope you had a fun Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday off from school!

(I have no photos from today's lesson. Sorry.)

Daily Question: Do you know your opposites?
Toys: FP Little People, Foam Blocks, Opposite Flash Card Games, Opposite Puzzle Pieces, Opposite Cards.

The children helped choose toy selection this morning. I pulled other things out, but the Little People (Airport and Construction Site) seem to be very popular.

The children spontaneously hid under the table, one by one, and then invited other to join them (like the game Sardines) and brought some toys under there and had a good 10 min. playing time before inviting me to "find" them and screaming "Boo!" or "You found us!" at me. This did not seem to get old but became a hilarious game to them until we needed to clean up.

I love teaching this group. I have a real affirmation that children learn best from play and each other--not in a formal "school" setting at this age.


Snack: Clementines and Ginger Snaps. There were many kind things said at snack time. "This is a good snack, "says Preston. "Thank you, Hugh," says Susie. One little guy was hesitant about the snack--he tried some sweet clementine slices and asked for more oranges and more and more cookies.

Parents, thanks again for helping send snacks to change up the variety. They really do "feast" here at snack time. They must use up a lot of energy playing.

I introduced our topic of opposites at snack time. We then smell the spicy sweet ginger snaps and then each child gets on a chair and smells the fish water--stinky, ewwh!

Circle Time: The Opposite Box. Inside the box I had places a number of opposite pairs. Each child got to peer inside the box, "discover" the opposites, and share one of them with the class. Inside was: a large, soft teddy bear and a small, hard plastic bear; a long piece of yarn and a short piece of yarn; a sparkly snowflake ornament and a dull snowflake ornament; a wet (clean) wipe and a dry (dirty) wipe; a dull pencil and a sharp pencil; a noisy bell and silence; an orange peel and a stinky eraser. etc.

Opposite Books:
The Foot Book (The Bright and Early Books for Beginning Beginners) by Theodore Geisel, Dr. Suess
GO Dog, Go! (I Can Read it All By Myself Beginner Books) by P.D. Eastman
*Same Same by Marthe Jocelyn and Tom Slaughter
Scruffy Teddy's Book of Opposites (Parragon Publishing) Ill. by Gaynor Berry
First Concepts: Opposites (Lift-the-Flap) (Priddy Bicknell--Big Ideas for Little People)
Opposites (Active Minds) Publications International, Ltd.
Mt Tall Book of...Big and Small, Far and Near (Preschool Press)
Exactly The Opposite by Tana Hoban (All photographs, no words)
Is it Rough? Is it Smooth? Is it Shiny? by Tana Hoban (Photographs)
Earth, Sky, Wet, Dry; A Book of Nature Opposites by Durga Bernhard


*We began with reading the book Same Same and talking about why different things can be classified as the "same" and not opposites. For instance, on the first page are pictures of a tambourine, a guitar, and a song bird. I ask, "Why are all these the same?" "Because they all make music!"the children guessed It is important to know what is the same to understand what is different.

Modern Day Heroes

Daily Question: Do you know a Modern Hero?

Toys: FP and Imaginex (x2) Castles


Snack: Nathan's birthday cupcakes, pretzels, and goldfish crackers. Thanks, Mrs. Marley! They were delicious.


Songs: From the Time to Get Dressed CD
*Dress For the Weather
*What Color Should I Wear
* I Can Do It!
** Once There Was a Snowman.

We enjoyed playing together with the castle building sets-- and had lots of fun! After clean-up, we enjoyed snack time. There, I read a book aloud called Happy Birthday Word Bird and went around the table asking each student, "When is your birthday?"


We had fun getting to know Nathan today. We had a small "Un" Birthday Party. (His birthday really is in June). He likes the color blue and has an older sister in school, Andelin, who is six! He has a younger brother, Jaxon. They moved here from Alaska so his father could go back to school at BYU. He will move soon. (In April, they will go bask east with their dad who is taking a month long Internship.) We will miss him in May and wish him and his family all the best!

In Circle Time, we saw and talked about many books of Modern Day Heroes/Heroines. We learned that after the start of America, people in Africa were kidnapped and taken by boat to America to work as slaves on plantations that grew tobacco and cotton. We talked about how the slaves (People from Africa who became African Americans or were sometimes called Blacks or Coloreds) were treated poorly--not allowed to vote, hold a paying job, use the same water fountain, or marry. We talked briefly about the US Constitution, the Civil War and President Lincoln (whose birthday is celebrated in Feb.), Segregation, Civil Rights, "Separate but Equal," Martin Luther, Coretta Scott, and Rosa Parks, and Montgomery Bus Boycott. We also talked a little about Helen Keller, one of my personal Heroines.

Happy Birthday Book:
Happy Birthday Word Bird: Word Birds for Early Birds by Jane Belk Moncure & Linda Hohag*
* Excellent book on the months of the year for early learners.

Heroes/Heroines Book:
Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope by NIkki Grimes, Ill. by Bryan Collier--PCL
Martin Luther King, Jr. A Dream of Hope by Alice Fleming (Sterling Biographies)--PCL copy, use for pictures--too advanced for preschoolers.
What's So Great About...? Rosa Parks by Jim Whiting (A Robbie Reader) PCL
Helen Keller by Sean Dolan (Rookie Biographies) PCL
Bio-Graphics Abraham Lincoln (Graphic Planet, Red Wagon) written by Joe Dunn, ill. by Rod Espinosa
The Bus Ride That Changed History; The Story of Rosa Parks by Pamela Duncan Edwards, Ill. by Danny Shanahan
Coretta Scott Poetry by Ntozake Shange, Paintings by Kadir Nelson
I went to the Restroom and I could hear whispering conspirators. When I came into the room, all the children were "gone!" "Where could all my preschoolers be?" "BOO! we scared you!" they shouted as they popped up from behind the couch.

Numbers Not Letters! (Time)

Daily Question: Can you count from 0-12?

Snack: Peanut Butter Crackers and Dried Mango slices.

Toys: (New) Alphabet Floor Puzzle, Number blocks, FP Race Car Track,



Today, we were learning all about numbers. At snack time we discussed, "how many people are in your family?"

Numbers Songs:
Six Little Ducks
Ten Little Fish
How Many Ducks?
Numbers Song.


Number Books & Nursery Rhymes:
I, 2, Buckle My (Nursery Rhymes by Golden Book)
Jumprope Magic by Afi Scruggs and David Diaz
Fun With Numbers 1-2-3 (World Book)
Berenstain Bears on Time by Stan and Jan Berenstain
6 Sticks by Molly Coxe (Dr. Seuss Book)

Media: We watched a short clip of counting from the award winning DVD Rock N Learn Preschool, Ages 2-5. Counting 1-5, 1-10, 1-20 (English -Spanish).

Follow-up Activities:
Tracing Numbers in wipe off books

Making our own clocks.
Parents, I introduced clocks and telling time in preschool today. Children this age are focused on learning number 0-10. Next year, they will be learning numbers 0-20. They can learn about the hour and o'clock but the minutes will most likely still be confusing (skip counting by fives).

Apples to Popcorn (Review)

Daily question: Do you like apples or popcorn better?
Toys: Playhouse, Duplo blocks--race track, ABC magnets, ABC "touch and feel" cards.


Snacks: Asian Pear, carrots and Cheez-its.
We had a fun time with the Asian Pear or Pear Apple. We felt it, squeezed it, (it is hard to the touch), cut it, smelled it (sweet like a pear and juicy). The texture when ripe is crunchy like an apple but sweet like a pear.

Circle Time/White Board Discussion: While reviewing the alphabet, we talked about the copycat C and how C and K sound the same. We talked about how when c and k walk together c always comes before k so that k does not kick c! Our example was chick and chicken!

Songs: Johnny Appleseed and Popcorn Popping

Alphabet Review--We enjoyed listening to the Amazing Action Alphabet and reviewing letters and sounds A-P.

Meet our new class fish!
Have you seen our new fish?
How many can you count?
What should we name them?

New Years Books:
Here Comes the Year by Eileen Spinelli
A Busy Year by Leo Lionni

Winter Books:
Winter Lullaby by Barbara Seuling and Greg Newbold
Winter: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur and Leslie Evans

Snow Books:
A Perfect Day for It by Jan Fearnley

New this term, (Parents, please take note):
Snack Bucket: I have a snack bucket and a snack schedule posted in a side bar to the right. Thanks for your help with this! It is fun to have our snacks coordinate with our lesson themes.

Lesson Schedule on the Blog! I have posted the themes to our class schedule to the side of the blog in case your printed schedule gets misplaced (Hey, these things have a way of disappearing. I have children too! :)