5 Little Germs

During Health and teeth week we talked a lot about germs and sugar bugs. And a lot of children have been coming in with runny noses and coughs so I had to find a way to really explain germs and how quickly they spread. I created this felt story to go along with our theme and created the corny rhyme to go with it. So many children wash their hand for about two seconds and I really wanted them to understand that the germs will stay on them. Before we did the rhyme I  pretended to sneeze and put glitter (germs) on my hand and then had a child touch my "germ" hand. Well, that child touched another friends hand and so on and so on and the germs spread all over to each child. When they went to wash it off I explained that you have to really wash your hands good to get all the germs off. Ok, enough rambling, here is the story.

Five Little Germs

by Analisa Carrillo

5 Little Germs

5 Little germs were on my hand.

because someone went ah ah ah choo.

They didn't sneeze into their arm,

so the germs stuck to me like glue. 

I had to wash my hands with soap

before I went to play.

I didn't wash them long enough

So 4 germs were left to stay. 

By the way, the cute little germs were the ones I made. The creepy ones my husband made ;) LOL, but he did a good job and he was a big help! 

5 Sugar Bugs

Today we did this felt story I made. I found this song on the internet a few years ago and I just changed it up a bit. A few children asked to do this one again so tomorrow we will do it again :) I just love making felt stories and love my job :)…..most days…hahahah just kidding.

Five Sugar Bugs

Adapted by Analisa Carrillo

Sung to: 5 Little Ducks

Five sugar bugs went out to play,

Inside my mouth one day 

(make a face and say YUCK!)

They had so much fun in there,

Until I brushed and one disappeared .

(Brush a sugar bug off)

4..3..2..1…

No sugar bugs went out to play,

Because I brushed them all away.

I had very clean teeth inside,

And no more sugar bugs were left to hide.

Teeth Talk

Today we talked about things that would make our teeth happy and sad. I placed the tooth in the middle and made a happy side and a sad side. We had this long talk about how eating too much sugar is bad for our teeth and how sweet treats leave sugar bugs on them. Afterwards,  each child came up and picked a piece. Then one by one they came up and placed it on the happy side or sad side. A better way to do it would be to have a happy tooth and a sad tooth. I was so busy making all those felt pieces, and two more stories I have to share, that I forgot to make another tooth :( Anywho, the kids had fun and really liked it. I was surprised at how many children wanted to make the tooth "happy." I was asked, "Miss Analisa, will this make the tooth happy?" Loved it!!!

We also used this really giant mouth and toothbrush to practice brushing using this rhyme:

Up and down like a plane,

Back and forth like a choo choo train.

I showed the children how to brush their teeth and then had them come up one by one to give it a try. We used shaving cream as toothpaste and they had a lot of fun!!

Fall

We are talking about Fall and leaves this week so I created this felt story to reinforce sizes. The children had a lot of fun coming up to the board to find a big or small leaf. 

I also created this little poem to go with it:

Big Leaf Small Leaf

  by Analisa Carrillo

Some leaves are big and some leaves are small,

When the leaves can't feed the trees they start to fall.

I need some help finding some leaves from my tree.

______ and _______ can you find a small/big leaf for me?

I insert the children's name in the blank spots and have two children come up at a time. You could easily change it to one child at a time.

For a center I created this game using coffee filters. Someone donated TONS to our school so I have been finding ways to use them. I taped the coffee filters to the table, placed cut out leaves with numbers around the table, and numbered the filters. 

Here's what it looked like

The one in the middle is ripped because….well what child wouldn't find it fun to rip it off hahaha! I just simply explained they are to stay on the table and it didn't happen again. You just gotta love these little ones.

Felt Story: Bats

Last week we did a bat theme and I wanted a felt story that actually taught the children some facts about them. I made up this felt story that also helps with number recognition.

Can You Find The Bats?

By: Analisa Carrillo

*After you place all the pieces on the board, have each child come up and find the bat with the correct number*

Bats are nocturnal, they sleep in the day.

And at night, they come out to play.

There's so many bats that want to have fun,

Can you come find, bat number 1?

Bats are nocturnal, they sleep in the day.

And at night, they come out to play.

There are so many things for them to do,

Can you find bat number 2?

*Repeat the first two lines for every number*

Bats sleep in caves and in holes inside trees.

Can you find bat number 3?

Most bats eat insects, some from the floor.

Can you find bat number 4?

All bats fly, of course they can't drive.

Can you find bat number 5?

Bats in the Cave

I was supposed to post this last night, but got busy cleaning/organizing things in my craft room :) Yesterday we played this bat game in my classroom. 

The paper bags were the caves and the pom poms were the bats. 

I wrote a number on the back of each bag like this

 

I mixed up the bags and had the children come up one at a time to pick a bag. They read the number on the bag and placed that many bats into it. They had a lot of fun counting out loud and placing the bats into the cave. I forgot to take pictures during so I quickly set it up after school to post on here :) Hope you will be able to use this fun game in your classroom. Have a great weekend!

Halloween

Today was our Pumpkin Parade! The parents came and watched their little ones in costumes march around our patio area. Afterwards we all headed inside for pumpkin muffins. When all of the parents left we did rug time. I read the book above for the third time this month. The children LOVE this book and requested it. Next we headed outside to play on the patio and when we came back inside. I took out some shaving cream and let the children have fun.

For our las rug time we did a science experiment I found here over at Preschool Powol. 

Before I did the experiment we did the song listed below.

Pumpkin Bubble Experiment

Sticky Icky Bubble Gum

**Start off by taking a piece of pretend gum from your pocket, chew it, blow a bubble and pop it**

Sticky icky sticky icky bubble gum 

Bubble gum, bubble gum 

Sticky iicky sticky icky bubble gum 

We'll put it on our head......Oh no it's stuck!

So we pull and we pull and we PULL!

(Pretend you are pulling game off the area it's stuck too)

The children had lots of fun with this song and were very excited to see the bubbles come out of the pumpkin.

We'll that's all for today. Tomorrows Friday :) Yay! Let's hope I remember to take pictures tomorrow!

Bats

Hi everyone! So the point of this blog was to document what I did everyday in my class....and well....that did not happen lol! The main reason I stopped is because even though we did the most coolest things in class, I forgot to take pictures so that I can share them. So I remembered today and wanted to share what we have done so far this week. We are learning about bats this week and each theme I try to get the children to learn one to three facts about our topic. This week we are focusing on the following:

• Bats eat fruit and insects
• Bats are nocturnal
• Bats like to live in dark places like caves

When I talk about these things I always say most bats eat fruit and insects, most bats are nocturnal and so on and so on. To introduce this, I placed pretend food items on a tray. Cake, spaghetti, eggs, waffles, fruit, and insects. I told the children what bats eat and what they don't eat. They thought it was funny when I asked if they eat cake. After we went over this I had each child come up to the tray and pick something that bats eat. They had a lot of fun doing this! And every single one picked either a fruit or insect. 

For art we made the bats above using these things.

I have no idea what they are, but I always like to paint with different items. After they were all done we hung them up across our room like this.

I'm huge on letting them do whatever they want. I don't care if they end up painting with their fingers or hands at the end. Or if the bat looks nothing like a bat. I want them to have fun and explore and be creative! I will try to remember to take pictures so you can see a little bit more of what we are doing! 

Oh I almost forgot! We also played a game where one of my puppets asked the children to crawl in the bat cave and find the puppet a specific numbered bat. The children couldn't wait to get a turn. I found the idea on pinterest and here is what our bat cave looked like after most bats were gone.

Well that's all for today!

Feed the Bird

Yay! It's Friday! My little class is finally adjusting to our routine and getting over their fear of being away from mommy and daddy.

To continue with apple week, I read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I know it's not really about apples, but the caterpillar does eat one ;) After the book, we did the Apple Roll poem, because the children really liked that one, and went outside to play.

When we came back in we played, Feed the Bird for our second rugtime. It was the first time I used "Flapper," so he went around and asked each child their name. Flapper even got my timid students to talk. After he went around the circle,  he explained the game.

Each child was handed an apple and one by one they came up to feed Flapper. We played using the apples with shapes on them from yesterday. The children loved feeding the puppet! It is so much fun watching them laugh and giggle. You could also do this game using colors or with numbers drawn on them.

Apple Shape and Color Match

Yesterday, to continue our apple theme, we played this shape matching game. I lined up bags with shapes drawn on them (yes I know my shapes are not perfect) and placed them on the floor. Just like the picture below, but on the rug.

Next I gave each child an apple with a shape on it. One by one each child came up and put their apple in the correct bag. They really enjoy rug times where they get to do something, so I try my best to do this as often as possible.

I also played this game on Tuesday, except I taped an apple (one of each color) to the front of the bags and had the children match colors. 

I also used the Apple Tree felt pieces today to do a twist on the famous Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree.

Here's the poem

Five Litte Apples

Five little apples growing on a tree.

Teasing Mr. Worm,

“You can’t catch me, you can’t catch me.”

Then along comes Mr. Worm,

as quiet as can be.

(make sure you whisper this part)

 And CHOMPS! that apple

 right out of the tree.

(Make sure to clap and shout CHOMP!)

Continue counting down

Apple Roll

Hey everyone! I have been so busy this last week I haven't posted anything! The children in my class are so fun and keep me busy all day. I have to remember to take pictures of things before class starts from now on. This week we are talking about everything apples. Today we made swedish apple pie after reading a book called Apple Farmer Annie. 

For the second rug, I used this felt tree and apples

for this cute poem:

Apple Roll

by Unknown

Five little apples in the bowl.

One fell out and started to roll.

(Roll hands around each other really fast! The kids loved this part)

It bumped the table and hit my feet,

(I said a big, "OUCH!!" and touched my feet)

How many apples left to eat?

Countdown to zero

By the third verse I had most of the children yelling, "OUCH!" 

I found the poem off of a website that contained fingerplays for children. I just turned it into a felt story.

The Kissing Hand

Yesterday, for our first rug time we read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. It's a really cute book about a raccoon who is afraid of going to school. His mom kisses his palm to remind him that she loves him and tells him if he places his palm to his cheek the kiss will be there.

I wanted a felt story to go with this, but didn't want to make a trillion felt pieces so I came up with this.

Here is a poem I made to go with it:

Kissing Hand

by Analisa Carrillo

Chester the Raccoon

really missed his mom.

So she gave him a kiss

in the middle of his palm.

 The kiss helps him,

when they are apart.

Can you help him

find the matching heart?

We placed all the hearts on the board, put a heart in one hand and had each child find the matching heart. When the found it we went over the color and had them place it in the palm of the other hand. For the patterns I traced my hand and cut out different sized hearts.

Where does it belong?

Today was the first day for some of the students so we played a game called, "Where does it belong?" I gathered different items from different parts of the classroom and placed them in a basket. During rug time I handed each child a piece and had them find where the item belonged. Some children needed a little help and everyone pointed them in the right direction. It was awesome teamwork! This is one of my favorite first week of school games. 

Hickety Bickety

Today was the first day of school!  It went great!  The children got along and did really well following directions. For the first circle time I introduced my friend,  Hickety Bickety, the bumble bee. I have no idea who created this one but the children loved it. You basically go around to each child and say the poem. After the children say their name,  I take the bee, make a buzzing sound, fly the bee around the child, and the bee kisses their nose. The children loved it. We had lots of laughs today with this one.

Here are the words:

Hickety Bickety

Teacher: Hickety Bickety bumble bee,

 can you say your name for me?

Then the child says their name.  

If some children are shy I have them whisper it to the bee. There are so many ways to do this activity.  I like to go up to each child individually, but you could do it as a group and have all the children repeat the child's name.  Sharron Krull has a fun way to do it here.

Ten in the Bed

I am back from the most amazing vacation! Definitely the best birthday present ever! Today I have another felt story for you. I am sure you have all heard the original Ten in the Bed song.This one is similar but instead it's with bears and focuses on color recognition.

I got the words and the bed pattern from Making Learning Fun and found the bear outline here.

Here are the words to this felt story. I changed them up just a little.

Ten in the Bed

There were ten in the bed and the red one said, 

"Roll over, roll over."

So they all rolled over and the (color) one fell out.

Last line.....

There was one in the bed and the RED one said.

"Good night!"

Find the Bear

Tune:  The Muffin Man

Can you find the (color) colored bear, the (color) colored bear, the (color) colored bear? 

Can you find the (color) colored bear?  

(Child's name) come and find it.

Pizza

Wooohoooo! I'm off to Playa del Carmen! I have made some more felt stories and will post them when I return. Until then, I am taking a break from everything. Or I am going to try. It's hard not looking up fun things to do in class :)

I found this felt pizza in my classroom and forgot I had it. You could actually use it two ways.

One way I have used it is too reinforce the circle shape.  I add each piece one by one by and ask the children what shape I am putting up.  Then I ask them what topping they think it is.  I love all the different answers I get.

The other way I use it is by putting it up in the classroom for freeplay. It's so fun watching them use their imagination when they play with it. I'm sure there are other ways you can use this one. Be creative.

                                

Do You Know the Apple Man?

My sister is getting ready to get married tomorrow! And here I am posting this felt story hehe. Ok I'll make this one quick since they need the computer.

Here is a fun game to play with the children during the month of September. I always do the song once before I let the children participate so that they can get a feel for how the game is played. You sing the song and put the pieces up when that specific part of the apple man is called.

Here is what the pieces look like separated.

I don't know who wrote this song, but I believe I found it on the Perpetual Preschool website.

Apple Man

(Sung to: The Muffin Man)

Oh, do you know the apple man,

the apple man, the apple man?

Oh, do you know the apple man

who likes to play with me? 

(this is where I put up the main apple part)

Oh, he has a great big smile,

a great big smile, a great big smile,

Oh, he has a great big smile

and likes to play with me.

*Continue the song with the following lyrics, or make some up*

Oh, he has two blue eyes….

Oh, he has two green hands….

Oh, he has two green legs…

Oh, he has two yellow shoes…

Oh, he has one brown stem….

Oh, he has one green leaf…

You could add eyebrow, hands, a hat or any other pieces. Be creative.

Almost There

Today was our first staff meeting of the year. It went really good and I'm really excited to work with my new team! We are almost done with the classroom setup. We just have a few more touch ups to do and we will be ready for Monday, September 9th. 

Thank God I have such an awesome assistant who will be setting up the rest while I'm laying on the beach or swimming with dolphins! Actually, that's a little scary. I'd have to watch other people first before I try it. 

 Here are some pictures of my classroom in the final stages. I know it's not 100% done, but looks way better then when I started this blog. 

 

I had to finish up my newsletter today and wanted to share it with you. I'm always curious as to what other teachers do for their monthly newsletter. So in case anyone out there is like me, here is what mine looks like.

September Newsletter 2013

Classroom Cleaning

I finally went in to start on my classroom. It was a bit overwhelming. I mean look at it!

I didn't even know where to start. But I figured that my cupboards would be a good place. I started on them two weeks ago but didn't finish. So I took everything out and found things I didn't even know were there! Yikes! At least that's marked off of my checklist.

                                   

I was able to finish this cupbard and I turned my dramatic play area from this....

to this.

I am definitely not done yet, but it looked a lot better than when I first walked in. Don't you think?

I'm going back tomorrow. I only have until Thursday to finish. My sister is getting married Saturday and I'm off to Playa del Carmen Sunday! Wooo hoooo! Oh, but when I was there, I had a little visitor! One of my soon to be students stopped by to say hi :) My has she grown over the summer! Can't wait to start school. I'm so excited!