Yummy Yucky

This week for Large Group, we read and talked about the Yummy Yucky story by Leslie Patricelli.  This story is about a boy who likes to eat some things, but thinks other things are yucky.  

We helped teacher Heidi read the story by giving her a "thumbs up" if the thing the boy wanted to eat was yummy and a "thumbs down" if it was yucky.  Some of the "yummy" things were spaghetti, hamburgers, eggs and sandwiches.  Some of the "yucky" things were worms, sand, earwax and boogers!!!

We helped Teacher Heidi make some food for her friend Ted.  We chose items out of her pot and if they were "yummy" we fed them to Ted.  If they were "yucky" we threw them in the garbage can.

We sang about food and practiced saying the "p", "t", "s", "k" and "ch" sounds by singing the song, Sing and Eat to the Alphabeat.

You can watch a reading of the story by searching "yummy yucky book" on YouTube.

The Popper is On!!!

This week for Large Group, we pretended to pop popcorn!  We played a game with the parachute where we pretended to put popcorn (scrunched up paper) in the popper and then shake the parachute until it all popped off!  We practiced using words in phrases and using the /p/ sound in words by saying the following rhyme while we shook the parachute:

"Popcorn, popcorn, hot, hot, hot.

Popcorn, popcorn, pop, pop, pop!

We worked on listening and following directions.  Teacher Heidi told us that we could not start shaking the parachute until we heard her say, "The popper is on".  When she said, "The popper is off", we could stop shaking and help her gather up all the popcorn that had popped off the parachute and put it back in the middle of the parachute.  We also played a game where we practiced counting.  We would choose a number and count to that number by shaking the parachute that many times.  When we reached the number we had chosen, we would run under the parachute.  We loved going under the parachute!!!  We laughed and jumped under the parachute.  We worked on understanding the words on, off, middle and under. 

You can work on following directions and understanding prepositions and basic concepts at home by having your child place on object on, in, off, next to, under, in front of or behind something. You can have them hold the object up high and down low.  You could also play a game where your child is a robot and they can move like a robot when you turn then "on", but then they have stop when you turn them "off".  

"P" is for POPCORN

This week for Large Group, we introduced the "P" sound.  We practiced saying the "P" sound by itself and in the beginning of words.  We played a game where Teacher Heidi let us choose a piece of popcorn out of her bucket and we practiced saying the "p" word that was on the popcorn.  We also talked about how the letter "p" makes the "p" sound.

We watched a short animated story on the BIG SCREEN in our class.  It was the Popcorn book by Frank Asch.

This story is so funny.  It is about a bear named Baby Bear.  He wants to have a party so he calls up all his friends and invites them over.  All of the friends that come to the party bring popcorn.  Baby Bear decides to pop all of the popcorn, so he gets Mama Bear's big pot and fills it with all of the popcorn.  Soon, it begins to pop and it keeps popping!!!!  The popcorn spills over the side of the pot, onto the kitchen floor.  The popcorn fills up the entire kitchen then moves to the living room, soon filling the whole house.  Baby Bear and his friends had to get rid of the popcorn so they crunched and munched and munched some more until it was all gone.  They all felt so sick!!!  Baby Bear's friends went home and Baby Bear went to bed and when his mom and dad got home, they told him they had brought him a treat and guess what it was????  POPCORN!!!

We loved the story and watching it on the BIG SCREEN.  We talked about the story and what happened.  We talked about how Baby Bear felt.  We talked about what we would do if that happened at our house.  

If you want to watch the popcorn story at home, you can find it by googling "frank asch popcorn flash" and then clicking on the link.

"P" the Popping Sound

This month we are working on the "P" or the popping sound.  To make the "p" sound you bring your lips together and releasing air to say "p".  The visual cue for the "p" sound is made by bringing your fingers together to make a fist and releasing them out when you say "p".

Listed below are some activities you can do to work on the "p" sound in words:

-Blow bubbles in the room.  Have your child pop the bubbles saying "pop" for each one.
-Make popcorn.  Have your child say "pop" for each piece they eat.
-Pretend to make soup or stew.  Have your child repeat the phrase "in the pot" for each item you put in the pot.
-Play with stuffed animals and have your child repeat the word "pet" as they pet their animal.
-Play with toy cars or trucks and have your child repeat the word "push" each time they "push" the vehicle.
-Play store with your child.  Have them say the word "pay" for each item they want to buy.

Some good books to read that help work on the "p" sound are:
If You Give a Pig A Pancake by Laura Numeroff
Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Little Green Peas by Keith Baker
1-2-3 Peas by Keith Baker
Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
ANY Pete the Cat BOOK by James Dean

Glad Monster, Sad Monster

Last week, to end the month of October, we read the story Glad Monster, Sad Monster by Ed Emberley.  We talked about each monster and how they felt.  We also talked about things that made us feel happy, sad, scared, worried, loving and mad.

We also practiced showing how our face would look if we were sad, happy, mad, surprised or worried.  We stood up and moved our bodies as if we were sad, happy or mad.  We played a game where Teacher Heidi showed us a monster face and we said how we thought the monster was feeling based on how his face looked.

We sang the song If You're Happy and You Know It, but we changed it a little bit by changing the emotion we we were feeling (happy, sad, mad, loving, surprised, worried, scared) each time we sang and then we took turns telling the class the movement we would do to show that emotion.  

This activity helped us to lean to identify and name our emotions.  It also helped us to learn to recognize that others have feelings that may be the same as or different from ours.  You can work on this at home by talking about feelings when your child is sad, happy or mad.  You can help your child identify and verbalize their feelings by saying things like, "I see that you are sad because you cannot have a cookie right now.", or "I see that you are mad because brother took your toy.".  

You can also watch a reading of the book Glad Monster, Sad Monster by searching the title on YouTube.