Run, Run, Run As Fast As You Can.....

This week in Large Group, we read the story of The Gingerbread Man.  We then played a game where we pretended to be The Gingerbread Man and we took turns telling our friends in the class how they would move their bodies to try to catch us.

One person threw a dice to tell us if we were going to move "fast" or "slow" and then another person threw a dice that told us how we were going to move.  We jumped, hopped, clapped, wiggled, flew and twirled.  If we didn't want to use the dice, we thought of our own way to move.  Some of us suggested skipping, waving our arms, tapping our toes and marching.  

While we were doing the movement, we said "Run (or hop, march, jump, clap) as fast/slow as you can.  You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man."

This activity helped us work on understanding the concepts fast and slow and answering questions. It also helped us work on following directions and using one or more words to make comments.  

You can play the same game at home with your child by taking turns choosing how you should move.   

The Jingle Bell Game

This week for Large Group, we sang the song Jingle Bells and then we  used the Jingle Bells to play a Jingle Bell Game.  We stood in a circle and we shook our bells while we sand the song...

Jingle bells, will you tell how to ring our bells?

Teacher Heidi chose one classmate to tell us how to ring our bells.  We could think of an idea on our own or we could use one that was on the GoTalk.

We rang our bells high, low, loud, soft, fast, slow, in front of us, behind us, in a circle, while jumping, while hopping and even while meowing like a cat!! 

We had a lot of fun doing this activity and working on understanding prepositions, answering questions, using words to express ourselves and naming actions.

The Jingle Bell Sound

The Jingle Bell Sound

This month we are working on the "j" sound or the Jingle Bell sound.  This sound is made the same as the "ch" sound, but the "j" is voiced.  To make this sound, put your teeth together and pull the corners of your lips to the middle to make a pucker.  The tip of your tongue should rise to the top of your mouth behind your front teeth as air passes through your mouth to make "j".  The visual sign for the "j" sound is made by putting your thumb at one corner of your mouth with your fingers at the other and then drawing them together to say the "j" sound.

To practice using the "j" sound in words and phrases, we are going to be singing Jingle Bells and reading and talking about Gingerbread Men.

To work on "j" at home.  You can sing Jingle Bells.  You can also read the story The Gingerbread Man.  You can also move by "jumping" and "jogging" and say "jump" and "jog" with each movement.  

Who's Behind the Pumpkin

For the week of November 28th to December 2nd, we continued to work on using the "p" sound in words.  For Large Group, we played a game that helped us practice using the "p" sound in words.  This game also helped us work on answering "wh" questions and using correct pronouns in sentences.  We each took a turn hiding behind a big pumpkin while our friends in class sang a song that goes like this:

Who's behind the pumpkin?  Nobody knows but him/her (depending on if it was a boy or girl behind the pumpkin).

He/She won't tell you. You will have to guess.

While we were hiding behind the pumpkin, we chose a hat to put on.  We got to choose from many different hats.  

When Teacher Heidi moved the pumpkin away, she would as our friends in the class..."Who is it?"  We answered her "wh" question and  practiced saying the names of our friends in class by saying who was behind the pumpkin.  If we were the one behind the pumpkin, we got to tell the class who or what we were based on the hat we chose.  We were pirates, cowboys, construction workers, owls, cats, clowns, lions, football players etc...  

After we told our friends in class what we were, we would all practice saying it in a sentence.  This was done like this;

"He/She is a cat."

We then would act like a cat.

We had fun playing this guessing game, taking turns wearing different hats and moving our bodies like different people or animals would.  If we were pirates we said arrrgh, if we were a cowboy we pretended to have a lasso and said YAHOO, if we were a cat we crawled around and said MEOW and if we were a construction worker, we pretended to hammer nails.

The Popper is On!!

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 tried to think of words that started with the "p" sound. We thought of penguin, pop, popcorn, pan and pencil.  We also talked about how the letter "p" makes the "p" sound.

Teacher Heidi told us a story about a boy named Buster who had a popcorn party.  The story is based on the book Popcorn by Frank Asch

This story is so funny.  It is about a boy named Buster.  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.  One of Buster's friends, Betty has an idea that they should go in the kitchen and pop all the popcorn.  Buster gets a 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 and onto the kitchen floor.  The popcorn fills up the entire kitchen then moves to the living room, soon filling the whole house.  Buster 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!!!  Buster's friends went home and Buster went to bed.  When Buster's 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 and thought it was so funny.  We talked about the story and what happened.  We talked about how Buster and his friends 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.

When we finished with the story, we played a game where we pretended like we were popcorn popping in a pot.   We crouched down on the rug and with Teacher Heidi we said....

Popcorn, popcorn popping in a pot.

(someone's name) got hot and he/she went pop!

 We had to turn our ears on and listen for our name because when Teacher Heidi said our name we got to jump up like we were popping.  This game helped us work on  using the "p" sound in words and phrases, following directions, recognizing our name and using correct pronouns in phrases.

"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

There's A Monster On My......

This week for Large Group we worked learning our body parts and understanding prepositions with a Monster Game.  We used some monster finger puppets and took turns choosing what part of our bodies we wanted to put the monster on.  When we chose the body part, we would sing the following song to the tune of Farmer In The Dell....

There's a monster on my nose, a monster on my nose.

Yes there is, oh yes there is a monster on my nose.

We incorporated prepositions into this activity by putting the monster under an arm, behind our back, in our hand, next to our ear, in front of our eyes, over our head etc...

We put the monster on our eyes, nose, next to our side, on our chin, our neck, our elbow, ankle and wrist.  We talked about a lot of body parts that we knew and some that we didn't know.  

You can do this at home by asking your child to show you their pointer finger and then have them put their finger on different body parts and sing the song too. 

Who's Behind the Monster???

This week for Large Group, we talked about prepositions.  We practiced putting our hands next to us, above us, behind us, under us and in front of us.  We played a game with Big Green Monster where someone was hiding behind him and we had to guess who was behind Big Green Monster.  

We closed our eyes while someone hid behind Big Green Monster and when we opened our eyes,  we sang a little song that goes like this....(to the tune of Farmer in the Dell)

"Who's behind the Monster?  Who's behind the Monster?  Who's behind the Monster? Who's behind the Monster?

We took turns guessing who was behind Big Green Monster.  If we guessed right, the person hiding behind Big Green Monster would say "YES".  If we guessed wrong, the person that we guessed would say "NO", I'm NOT behind Big Green Monster.  

We had a lot of fun hiding behind Big Green Monster.  We worked on answering "wh" questions, understanding prepositions, answering "yes/no" questions and using the word "NOT" in sentences.

If you want to work on these concepts at home, you can play the game with your family.  You can use a blanket or a box and hide under or behind it.  You can use "wh" and "yes/no" questions to figure out who is behind/under the blanket. 

Monster in the Middle

This week in Large Group, we played the game Monster in the Middle.  We talked about what the word "middle" means.  We stood on the edge of the rug and in the middle of the rug.  We also talked about what it meant to "follow" someone.  Teacher Heidi showed us a monster hat that she brought to class.  We took turns wearing the monster hat and being the "monster in the middle" of the rug.  When it was our turn to be the "monster in the middle",  we could choose how we wanted to move and the other kids in the class followed our actions.  

We sang a song while we did our actions.  The song goes like this...

There's a monster in the middle, just because we're gonna do what the little monster does.

Follow monster, follow monster, follow monster.

The monster in the middle takes a bow, there's a new little monster gonna show us how.

Follow monster, follow monster, follow monster.

We did some fun things.  We hopped, jumped, swung our arms, shrugged our shoulders, touched our toes, did jumping jacks, spun around, moved our knees and kicked our feet.

You can do this same activity at home by playing following the leader.  You can play with a group of friends or with family.  Choose a leader, let the leader choose what action they want to do and have everyone follow.  

If You Are a Monster and You Know It

If You Are a Monster and You Know It

This week for Large Group, we looked at the book If You're A Monster and You Know It by Rebecca and Ed Emberley.  We practiced snorting and growling, smacking our claws, stomping our paws, twitching our tails, wiggling our warts and giving a roar.  We stood in a circle and sang the song If You're A Monster and You Know It.  While we sang the song we acted out all the monster actions.  When we were finished with the song, we took turns choosing how we would move if we were a monster. We chose to march, twirl, jump, crawl, scratch and shake our shoulders.  We worked on answering "wh" questions and following directions as we made our choice and followed the action that was chosen.  

You can sing the If You're a Monster and You Know It song at home by copying the link below and pasting it into your browser.  If that doesn't work, just google  If You're a Monster and You Know It song.

http://www.scholastic.com/browse/media.jsp?id=1358

Go Away Big Green Monster

Go Away Big Green Monster

This week for Large Group, we read the story Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley.  As we read the story about Big Green Monster's eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth and hair, we pointed to our own eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth and hair.  We helped teacher Heidi read the story by telling Big Green Monster's body parts to "go away".  When they had all gone away, we told Big Green Monster to "go away" and not come back until we said so.  We made Big Green Monster disappear.  

We had our own Big Green Monster in our class and we took turns putting the parts on his face and then telling them to "go away" and taking them off.  

We talked about the parts of our bodies and identified our own eye, nose, mouth, teeth, ear and hair as we were reading the story.  When we were finished readying the story, we stood up and sang Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes using a "monster" voice.  We also sang the song fast, slow, in a loud voice, in a whisper voice and with no voice.

We learned another song called If You Ever See a Monster.  When we sang this song we made some scary faces and said the word "BOO" at the end.

You can sing this song at home with the following words to the tune of Did You Ever See A Lassie:

If you ever see a monster, a big ugly monster.

If you ever see a monster then here's what you'll do.

Make this face (make scary faces) and that face and this face and that face.

If you ever see a monster, make sure you say BOO!

"M" the Monster Sound

"'M" the Monster Sound

In the month of October, we will be working on the "M" or Monster Sound.  To make the "M" sound we press our lips together and use our voice to say "M".  The visual cue for the "M" sound is to move our pointer finger across our lips while saying "M".

In October, we are going to have a lot of fun with Monster Activities.  We will be reading the book, Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley.  We will also be talking about other books by Ed Emberley like If You're A Monster And You Know It, There Was An Old Monster and Glad Monster, Sad Monster.

Some other fun books about monsters are:

Five Little Monsters Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow

Frank Was A Monster Who Wanted to Dance by Keith Graves

My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Luck

Some things you can do at home to practice saying the "M" sound are:

-Have a good treat and practice saying "mmm".

-Ask your child questions that can be answered by using the word "me".  For example:  Who's is (child's name)?  Who is wearing a (color) shirt?

-Share a small snack.  Give the child some but then hold the rest in view.  Encourage your child to use the word "more".

-Play with farm animals, have your child say "moo" for the cows and "meow" for the cats.

-Have your child help you make something. Use the word "mix" as you do it.

Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

This week for Large Group, we continued to work on saying the "B" sound in words by singing the 

Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy Song

When we sing this song, we stand up and bend our knees and bounce.  We also use our hands to sign the words stop, wait and go while we sing.  

We also played the game Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.  This activity helped us work on math because we counted how many "monkeys" (kids in the class) were jumping on the bed.  We also used math to determine how many monkeys were left after one fell off the bed.  We worked on answering "wh" questions and using "ing" words in phrases.  We also were given opportunities to make choices by choosing what action the monkeys were going to do on the bed.  We didn't just jump, we ran in place, marched, clapped, shrugged, skipped, twirled and hopped.  We each had a turn to choose an action.  If we couldn't think of one on our own, we used the GoTalk to help us.  

After we fell off the bed, we got to help the doctors tell Mama,  "No more monkeys jumping on the bed."  If we weren't able to say the whole phrase, we could use the Big Mac switch to help us.

You can play the Monkeys Jumping on the Bed game at home with family or friends.  The monkeys don't just have to jump on the bed, they can twirl or hop or skip.  You can take turn choosing the action. You can help your child with math skills by having them count how many monkeys are jumping and how many are left when one falls off the bed.  You can also help your child use short phrases by having them repeat the words of the game.  

Billabee Ballabee

This week in Large Group, we sang the song Baby Blowing Bubbles.  It's a fun song to sing that helps us work on using the "B" sound in words.  The song uses just a few simple words; baby, blowing, bubbles and up.

We also use our hands while we are singing to make some signs for baby, bubbles and up.

Ask your child if they know the song.  I bet they will be able to sing it for you.

To continue to work on using the "B" sound in words and phrases, as well as, learning our names and the names of our classmates, we played the game Billable Ballabee.

We sang this song using the "B" sound to replace the initial sound of our classmates names and then we had to guess which friend we were singing about.  We talked about how the name we used "rhymed" or sounded like the real name of our classmate.  We also got to choose if we were going to sing about a "bunny" sitting on our classmate or a "bear".

We played the game by singing the song like this;

Billabee Ballabee Beidi, a bunny sat on Heidi.

We then would guess which classmate had a name that "rhymed" or sounded like "Beidi".  We then got to choose if we were going to sing about a bunny or a bear and then moved on to singing about another classmate.

You can play this game at home with any stuffed animal and any sound.