NATURE CENTER

Several years ago I read a powerful book called LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS. It reminded me that children need to be connected to nature, and in our technical, fast paced society they are just not getting to spend enough time outdoors.
                                              
We all need balance in our lives or things get out of whack. It’s especially critical when children are young and their brains are developing to make sure they have plenty of sensory stimulation, time to be creative, time to use their imaginations, and time to experience all seasons of nature.

Children love to collect things. Aren't they always bringing you rocks or leaves or flowers or nuts? A nature center would be a perfect place to display their treasures and give them the opportunity to observe and investigate natural items. You can purchase commercial kits (such as this one offered by Lakeshore), but you could also create a nature center from natural objects in your habitat. Better get busy while the weather is still good and there are leaves and nuts and all sorts of interesting things outside!
                                
Materials: 

basket of leaves, rocks, shells, pine cones, sticks, nuts, or other natural items (rotate for different seasons)
magnifying glass
clipboard, pencils, paper
ruler
field guide book (leaves, rocks, shells, etc.)

Activities:
*free exploration
*sorting
*counting
*seriating by size
*measuring
*observing with a magnifying glass
*sketching with a clip board
*identifying with a field guide book
*non-fiction writing
*PLAYING!

                  FREE, GREEN, ENGAGING, OPEN-ENDED, EASY - IT'S A WINNER!!!

HORIZONTAL - VERTICAL

Let's have a little more geometry today. We'll sing, develop small motor skills, and have a dose of creativity!

What’s a line? What’s a curve? 
Start by finding out what children know about lines and curves. Let them take turns drawing lines and curves on the board. Can they walk around the room and touch a line? Can they touch a curve? As you walk down the hall have them silently point to lines and curves. Can they find lines and curves in nature on the playground?

Horizontal, Vertical (Carrie O’Bara and Terri Miller)
(Tune: “Where Is Thumbkin?”)
Horizontal, horizontal,
(Forearms held up horizontally in front of chest.)
Vertical, vertical.
(Forearms bent at elbows to form right angles.)
Horizontal, horizontal,
Vertical, vertical.

Then diagonal, then diagonal.
(Right arm slants in front and then left.)
Add a curve. Add a curve.
(Make a “c” with right hand and then left.)
Then diagonal, then diagonal.
Add a curve. Add a curve.

Skinny Books
This is a super idea to help children learn to track from left to right and practice pre-writing strokes. Lay 4 sheets of paper on top of each other and staple four times along the left side. Cut horizontal lines to make four skinny books. Children practice drawing horizontal lines, vertical lines, curves, and diagonal lines on each page.


Play Dough
Draw lines and curves with a permanent marker on placemats or plastic plates. Let children roll the dough and place it on top of the lines and curves.
                                 
Letter Sort
What letters are made from lines? Curves? Lines and curves? Let children sort magnetic letters on the board or for a center activity.
                                                       
Artsy
Prepare sheets of paper ahead of time with random curves and lines made with a black marker. Children choose a sheet of paper and try and create a design or object from the lines and curves on their page. *Encourage them to fill in the whole page.

MATH MONDAY

It’s Math Monday!  How about some ideas for geometry?  You can use these activities with young children or school age by adapting the shapes.  You might even “spy” some of your state standards here!!!

Spy a Shape  (“Do You Know the Muffin Man?”)

Do you spy a circle, circle, circle?   
(Make circles with fingers and put around eyes.)

Do you spy a circle in the room?   
Yes, I spy a circle, circle, circle. (Children point to a circle.)

Yes, I spy a circle in the room.

Can you draw a circle, circle, circle?  
(Draw an invisible circle in the air.)

Can you draw a circle nice and round?

I can draw a circle, circle, circle.

I can draw a circle nice and round.

Square… 4 equal sides.

Triangle…3 sides that slant.

Rectangle…2 long and 2 short sides.

*Have children draw shapes in the air with elbows, feet, noses, and other body parts.

*Let children get up and touch different shapes in the room as you sing the song.  You could use flat shapes as well as solid shapes (cubes, cylinders, etc.)

*Place foam shapes or 3-dimensional shapes in a bottle filled with sand or salt.  Children spin it around and try to identify the shapes.  Can they draw the different shapes that they spy?

*Divide children into small groups and challenge them to lay on the floor and make various shapes with their bodies.  How many friends will it take to make a triangle?  A square?  A pentagon?  Take pictures and make a book.

*Make spyglasses for “spying” shapes by wrapping construction paper around paper towel rolls.  

*Cut geometric shapes out of construction paper and let children use them to make a collage.  Can they combine simple shapes to make larger shapes?

*Cut sponges into geometric shapes and have children dip them in paint and stamp on paper.

*Download highway shapes from makinglearningfun.com.  Children can drive around these with toy cars or they can roll play dough and place it on the shapes.

*Go on a walk and look for shapes in your school and on the playground.

STICK BOOK

Here's a book your students will WANT to write in!  It can be used as a letter book, for retelling the sequence of a story, for writing sight words or spelling words, for original stories, for math, science - you name it!

Materials:  2 sheets of paper, a craft stick, rubber band, and hole punch 
Directions: Fold two sheets of paper in half and cut along the folded line. Stack these and fold in half again. Hole punch on the folded side about 1 ½” from each end. Push one end of the rubber band through one hole and insert the end of the popsicle stick through the loop. Push the other end of the rubber band through the other hole and insert the other end of the popsicle stick through that loop.

Hint! To make a bigger book just fold several sheets of paper in half.

Cut up halfway as shown to make a book of onsets and rimes.

Make a nature book by substituting a real stick. 

A novelty pencil can become a journal or a seasonal book.

A plastic fork or spoon makes a cookbook.

How about a candy cane or cinnamon stick?

Make a color book by using a crayon.

WHO'S CALLING?

After giving you all a new iPad yesterday, I thought you might need a new phone today. Kids always want what grown-ups have, so now they can all have their personal cell phone. They'll have a great time making these and designing their own covers. Plus, you can use these to reinforce some math and reading skills. 

                            
Materials: copies of the cell phone, heavy paper, scissors, markers, glue

Directions: Make copies of the attached cell phone. Children cut out the front of the phone. Next, let them trace around the back of the phone on heavy paper and cut it out. Glue the front of the cell phone to the back. Decorate the back with markers.
Note! If your copy machine will work with card stock you can eliminate the back.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljb0hMY2hKSjJPV1k/view?usp=sharing

Skills:
*Call out letters or numbers for children to identify.
*Type out phone numbers or zip codes.
*Spell words. How much is a word worth?
*Use for math facts or number stories.

*Let children make up their own learning activities to do with their phones.

IPADS FOR ALL

I was actually going to title this blog, "Win a free iPad," but I thought that was a little mischievous. However, it truly is an idea you can use to make individual "pretend" iPads for all of your students. These can help children with keyboard, letter recognition, sight words, spelling words, etc.

Materials: pocket folders, keyboard pattern (link below), glue, index cards

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljb1NUajZXTWZxc1U/view?usp=sharing

Directions: Cut around the keyboard pattern and glue it to the inside top right of the pocket folder as shown. On the index cards write letters of the alphabet. Place them in the pocket. Students choose a card and place it on the top of the screen. After visually matching the letter and "typing" it on the keyboard they place it in the left pocket.

*Write sight words on index cards and place them in the pocket. Children choose a word, type it, and then place it in the pocket on the left side.

*Write children's names on index cards.

*Use iPads to practice spelling words or vocabulary words.

Behind the Scenes
For those of you who joined me for my webinar Wednesday afternoon I thought you might get a kick out of seeing what it looked like behind the camera.  If you didn't get to watch it Wednesday you can still go to the link and see a rerun.

http://home.edweb.net/webinar/lets-give-them-something-to-talk-about-supporting-oral-language-development-in-the-early-childhood-classroom/

If you enjoyed spending an hour with me at the webinar, why not spend a whole day with me?   Here's where I'll be doing my new "Active Learning Adventure" the next few months. Go to sde.com for details.

November 2, 2015, Madison, WI    

November 9, 2015, Philadelphia, PA

November 16, 2015, Cleveland, OH

December 3, 2015, Concord, CA

December 4, 2015, Rancho Cordova, CA

December 11, 2015, West Orange, NJ 

TEDDY BEAR, TEDDY BEAR

TEDDY BEAR, TEDDY BEAR

(Have the children stand and follow along as you model these movements.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Turn around. (Turn around.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Touch the ground. (Touch ground.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Read the news. (Pretend to read.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Tie your shoes. (Bend down to shoes.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Go upstairs. (Climb stairs.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Say your prayers. (Fold hands.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Turn off the light. (Pretend to switch.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Say, “Good night.” (Place head on hands and close eyes.)

*You can change, “Say your prayers,” to “Comb your hair” if you wish.

Puppet – Give children a copy of the bear to color and cut out. Attach it to a straw or craft stick to make a puppet. Use it to repeat the rhyme.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljakM1ZzhhOUs0TzA/view?usp=sharing

Positional Words - Give the children directions for placing their bear on their head, under their chin, behind their back, etc.
*Let them place their bear somewhere in the classroom and then use descriptive words as to the bear’s position.

Skill Game – Cut out bears and shirts. Write uppercase letters on the bears and lowercase letters on the shirts. Children match bears and shirts with clothespins.

                           
*Make similar games for sets and numerals, color words, and so forth.

I sang at two Charleston schools this week and I smile just thinking about those children!  What a joy!!!  One teacher has a particularly active class (don't you all?) and I reminded her to just pause every now and then and look at their happiness.  Who knows what lies ahead, but be grateful that you can make a little part of their life special.  I visited a friend with Alzheimer's in between the concerts and it just made me so grateful for children and their enthusiasm and energy.  It's really O.K. if they get excited and out of bounds every now and then.  That's what children are suppose to do!  When they get old they can sit and be quiet.  Love those kiddles - wiggles and all!!