Here are some
super ideas I brought back with me from Manchester, NH, the Osage Nation, and
Chicago.
Country
Countdown (Kori Wichell)
Put on your “hats”
and “boots” and put your hands on your hips. As you count forwards and backwards to twenty, tap out your
heels in front of you like a cowboy or cowgirl.
Command Hooks
Are you tired of
things falling off the wall?
There’s a new product called command hooks (available at Lowe’s or Home
Depot) that will keep pocket charts or anything on your walls once and for all.
Giant Brain
Tickets (Janice Vinci)
Enlarge brain
tickets and when a child does something difficult give them a GIANT BRAIN
TICKET!
A Visit with
Mother Goose (Ruth)
To review nursery
rhymes, invite a visitor to dress up like Mother Goose. She can bring props or pictures to
prompt the children to recite or sing the nursery rhymes. Mother Goose will be “so proud that the
children are keeping her rhymes alive.”
Take a photo of each child with Mother Goose and the prop and make a
class book with the words to the rhyme.
Little Jack
Horner (Trisha Keddie)
Teach children the
rhyme about “Little Jack Horner.”
Make a pie from a disposable plate with felt glued to the top. Cut a slit in the felt. Make plums out
of purple fun foam and write letters on the plums. Children take turns selecting a plum and identifying the letter.
*You can also use
the pie for sight words and math facts by writing words or numerals on the
plums.
Bug and a Wish
(Linda Carr)
Make a poster with
a bug and a magic wand. Children
are encouraged to use a “bug and a wish” instead of tattling. “It bugs me when you ______. I wish you would ______.”
Class Scrapbook (Lisa Booker)
Hostess a potluck
dinner so families can get to know each other. After dinner invite everyone to your classroom to make a
scrapbook page about their kindergartener. (Families know ahead of time to bring 2 or 3 photos.) The scrapbook stays in the classroom
all year for the children to read and enjoy.
CD Organizer (Mary Charnley)
Burn a CD with
greetings and morning message.
Make a literacy CD and a math CD.
You’ll be all set to match music with your curriculum.
CD Art Cases (Louise Childerhose and Deirdre
Marssalek)
Recycle old CD
cases into Christmas gifts using clay art pictures. Popular Canadian author Barbara Reid gives examples of how
to make clay art pictures on YouTube.
Integrate discussions of line, shape, and form when creating these
pictures.
Going on a
Treasure Hunt (Rhonda Frisch
Cooper)
The teacher can do
this finger play on a child’s back or students can do it with a partner.
Going on a
treasure hunt. (Make a circle with
hands on back.)
“X” marks the
spot. (Make an “x” on their back.)
Shall we go
up? (Walk fingers up back.)
Or shall we go
down? (Walk fingers down back.)
Or shall we go
all the way around? (Walk fingers
in a circle.)
Take three
steps forward. (Walk 3 steps with
fingers up to their neck.)
Give it a
pinch. (Gently rub neck.)
Give it a
squeeze. (Gently squeeze
shoulders.)
Then… (Blow on their neck.)
(Pretend to
crack an egg on the top of their head and slowly dribble all ten fingers down
their neck and shoulders.)
*Hint! Always ask child permission before
starting.
Fancy Nancy Day
Look at these little dolls who stopped by the workshop in Pawhuska, OK. They were all dressed up for their "Fancy Nancy Day." They had manicures, pedicures, and a tea party. (The boys went fishing for the day!)
Fancy Nancy Day
Look at these little dolls who stopped by the workshop in Pawhuska, OK. They were all dressed up for their "Fancy Nancy Day." They had manicures, pedicures, and a tea party. (The boys went fishing for the day!)
Rock Chic???
I was so flattered
with the poem and book the teachers made me in New Hampshire.
Dr. Jean, you
really are a solid gold rock star!
From “Tooty Ta”
to “Kiss Your Brain,”
We think of you
with each refrain!
To our kiddos
you are number one!
You help make
learning so much fun!
Stretching, kick
box, and “Banana Dance,”
Will help us
wiggle, jiggle, and prance!
You are such an
inspiration to us all!
We’ve learned
so much and had a ball!
So until next
time when we meet…
Please don’t
change- you are so sweet!
