Hide and Seek

This week for Large Group,  we reviewed the story of Phil the Elephant.  We talked about how Phil liked to hide.  We also got to hide by playing Hide and Seek.  While teacher Heidi counted to 20, we found places to hide in our classroom.  After she found us, we went back to the rug to wait until everyone was found.  We helped Heidi count how many kids were on the rug so we would know if we found everyone. We  talked about all of the places we were hiding using prepositions.   Some of us are hiding under the table, under a blanket, in the pretend stove, under the pretend sink, behind a bookcase or behind a poster.  We are having a lot of fun playing hide and seek and thinking of places to hide.

Little Phil Hides UNDER

This week for Large Group, we continued to work on understanding the word UNDER by playing a game with Little Phil.  Little Phil is just a smaller version of Big Phil.  We remembered the story we read about Phil and how he hid UNDER things. We hid our eyes while Teacher Heidi hid Little Phil UNDER a box, a bag or a blanket.  When we opened our eyes, we took turns guessing which thing Little Phil was hiding UNDER.  We worked on answering YES or NO after we guessed where Little Phil was hiding.  

You can work on this concept at home by hiding a small object under something and have your child guess what the object is hiding under.  You could use this same game to work on understanding other prepositions by hiding an object on, next to, in, behind or in front of something.

Hiding Phil

                                                    

This week for Large Group, we worked on understanding the word "UNDER".   To do that, we read the book Hiding Phil  By Eric Barclay.  It's a story about some kids who want to take a pet elephant home, but then realize that maybe their parents won't be too happy about it.

When we read the book, we focused on the words "look" and "under".  As we read the story, we used our eyes to look at the things that Phil the Elephant was hiding under.  We then went and hid UNDER things in our classroom and teacher Heidi found us and took a picture of us with her iPad.  We then looked at all of the pictures and used our words to tell the class what we were hiding UNDER.

You can work on these concepts at home by playing hide and seek and talking about "looking" for people and hiding "under" things.

"H" The Panting Dog Sound

 

For the month of May, we are going to be talking about, singing about and practicing saying the "H" or panting dog sound.

 In order to produce this sound, you just have to open your mouth and breathe!!  This sound is unvoiced, which means what you hear comes from the movement of air through your throat and mouth.

To practice this sound at home, you can do any of the activities listed below:

-Go on a walk and say "hi" to objects, people and animals you see.

-Pretend to be bunnies and hop across a room or the yard. Say "hop" each time you hop.

-Pretend to cook something with your child and talk about the food being "hot".

-During a game or activity where your child needs assistance, model using the word "help".

Stop and Go

This week for Large Group we learned about the words "stop" and "go".  We also worked on using "ing" words and answering questions.

 

To work on those things, we used the rhythm sticks.  We listened for Teacher Heidi to say "go" and we tapped our sticks together or on the carpet until we heard her say "stop".  When she said "stop", we held our sticks up in the air until we heard the word "go" again.  We practiced understanding "stop and go" by tapping, rolling, waving, sliding and hammering our sticks.

We practiced using "ing" words by singing this song while we did different actions with the sticks:

Tapping, tapping, tapping

Tapping, tapping, tapping

Tapping, tapping, tapping

Now let's stop.

We sang this song using the words rolling, waving, sliding and hammering.

We each got a turn to choose how we were going to use the sticks as we sang the song.  We chose to twirl, circle, pound, drum, make ears, rub, roll, walk and many others.

You can practice the same concepts at home by playing Do As I'm Doing.  You and your child can take turns choosing an action and then saying, "go" to start and "stop" to end.  You can model using "ing" words to describe what you and your child are doing. 

Little Frog Little Frog

Last week for Large Group, we played a game focusing on understanding and using the word "IN" as well as, asking and answering questions, making predictions, drawing conclusions and understanding colors.

We met Little Frog who sometimes goes "IN" logs in the pond to cool off and take a break.  We played a game where Teacher Heidi hid Little Frog in a colored log and we all had a chance to guess what color log we thought Little Frog was hiding in. 

 

If we needed some support in choosing our color, we could point to the log we thought the frog was hiding in and if we needed some support saying the rhyme with the class, we could point to the words on the Boardmaker Page.

After we chose the color log we thought Little Frog was hiding in, we said the following rhyme while tapping our knees...

Little Frog, Little Frog, are you IN the (color) log?

If we guessed right, we would say YES, he's IN the (color) log.  

If we guessed wrong, we would say NO, he's NOT IN the (color) log.

Little Green

Last week for Large Group, we met Little Green Frog.  Little Green Frog had a BIG PROBLEM!! He lost his voice and could not say RIBBIT.  He asked all of his friends in the pond for help and finally Timmy Turtle was able to help Little Green SLOWLY say RIBBIT!!!  YAY we were so happy.

After we heard the story about Little Green, we played a game where we practiced saying different sounds as a way to help Little Green find his voice.

We took turns choosing what sound we were going to practice and what action we would do while we practiced it.  We could choose from one of Teacher Heidi's sounds or actions or think of one of our own.

We practiced the G, S, T, D, M, O, E, SH, CH, B, P sounds just to name a few and we practiced them while clapping, stomping our feet, tapping our knees, shaking our hips, jumping and bouncing.  We sang the following song for this activity...

MM (or whatever sound we chose) said the Little Green Frog one day;

MM said the Little Green Frog.

MM said the Little Green Frog one day,

but we all know frogs say RIBBIT!!

When we got to the RIBBIT part, we jumped just like a frog.  For some of our friends that have a hard time using words, they were able to use the Big Mac switch to help them say RIBBIT.

We had a lot of fun helping Little Green Frog find his voice!

This week for Large Group, we worked on using the "G" or frog sound in words and phrases.  We sang the Go In My Car song and also used our hands for the word "go" as we sang.

We used the parachute to help us understand the meaning of the words up, down, under, stop, go and to help us practice counting.  We practiced moving the parachute up and down.  When we moved it up, we looked to see who we could see across the circle and said hi.  We listened for Teacher Heidi to say "GO" and we shook the parachute until we heard her say "STOP".  

We then played a game where we took turns choosing a number and we counted to that number and then ran under the parachute until we heard Teacher Heidi say "STOP" and then we came out and chose another number.  If we could not say a number, we could use our fingers to show what number we wanted or we pointed to the number on a piece of paper.

We had so much fun and didn't want to stop!

The "G" Sound-The Frog Sound

The "G" Sound-The Frog Sound

For the month of April, we are working on the "g" or the Frog Sound.  This sound is made by keeping your tongue back and using your voice to say "g".  If you put your hand on your neck when you say this sound, you can feel your voice vibrating to make the sound.  

We practiced saying the "g" sound by itself and in words.  This month we are going to be singing the Go In My Car song because it helps us practice saying "g" in the word "go".  When we sing the song, we use our hands to sign the word "go" as we sing.  Ask your child to show you how to use their hands to say the word "go".

You can work on this sound as home with some of the following activities:

-Have a race between cars.  Ask your child to say "go" at the beginning of each race.

-Set up a goal and kick a ball through it.  Ask your child to say "goal" each time a goal is made.

-Play with toy cars and trucks.  Model the word "gas" by going to get "gas" in the car or truck.

-Have your child put gum balls into a container saying "gum" for each one.

-Practice the word "gone" by having your chid say "all gone" when a snack is finished or when toys get put away or when a family member leaves.

Emotion Game

  This  week for Large Group, we talked about emotions and how you can tell how people are feeling by looking at their faces.  We played the Emotion Game.  Before we played, we reviewed the story of Emo Egg and talked about some of the emotions that Emo felt and how his face looked.  We practiced making each emotion with our own faces.  We then stood in a circle and we used our emotion and action dice to play the game.  One friend tossed the emotion dice to tell us how we were going to feel and another friend tossed the action dice to tell us what we were going to do.  We sang about the emotion and did the action to an adapted version of the song, If You're Happy and You Know It.  We sang...if you're happy, happy, happy clap your hands.  If you're happy, happy, happy clap your hands.  If you're happy clap your hands, if you're happy clap your hands, if you're happy, happy, happy clap your hands.  

We sang different words and did different actions to the song depending on what happened when we threw the dice.  We sang about being mad, scared, tired, sad, surprised and happy.  We growled, jumped, shouted hooray, clapped our hands, took a nap and stomped our feet. 

You can play this game at home by thinking of an emotion and asking your child what action they think would go with that emotion.  You can sing the song and do the action together.

Emo Egg

 

Last week for Large Group, we talked about emotions.  We talked about how an emotion is a feeling and how we can often tell by the look on someone's face how they feel.  We met Emo Egg.  Emo goes to preschool just like we do.  We heard a story about Emo's day at preschool and we learned about different emotions he felt and how his face looked when he felt them.  We practiced identifying the emotions by looking at Emo's face and making those emotions with our faces.  

We also sang If You Chance To Meet a Frown holding our own egg faces and we turned our egg face when we sang about a frown and a smile.  

To practice using the "t" sound or the ticking sound in phrases, we also sang the song Oh I Wish I Were A Teeny Tiny Egg.

You can play an emotion game at home by showing your child different emotions on your face and have them guess how you might be feeling.  You can switch places and have them show the emotions on their face and you have to guess what emotion they are feeling. 

Are you a.......???

This week for Large Group, we talked about animals and we practiced answering "yes/no" questions and asking questions.  We also practiced pretending to be an animal.

We read the story Are You A Cow?  by Sandra Boynton.  As we read each page, we answered each question with a yes or no.  To answer some of us used a thumbs up for yes or thumbs down for no or we used a picture symbol to point.  

After we read the story, we played a game where we each took a turn going behind a box and choosing an animal and making the sound that animal would make.  The rest of the class would use their "listening ears" and listen for the animal sound that was coming from behind the box and then they would guess what animal they thought it was.  When they made their guess, they would try to guess using the question, "Are you a duck?". If the class guessed right, the person behind the box would answer yes. If the class guess wrong, the person would answer "no" and the class would make another guess.

You can play the animal guessing game at home too.  You can also listen to and watch the story Are You A Cow? by searching the book title on YouTube.

Farmer in the Dell

Last week for Large Group, we talked about animals.  We practiced answering "wh" questions by telling Teacher Heidi what animal we thought Old MacDonald would have on his farm.  After we named an animal, we told the class what we thought that animal would sound like and we all sang the  Old MacDonald Had a Farm song using the animal we named and how we thought that animal would sound.  

We pretended to be many animals.  We were donkeys, pigs, cows, dogs, ducks, cats, horses and chickens.  Some of us even thought that maybe Old MacDonald had some dinosaurs, monkeys, snakes and elephants.

You can work on answering "wh"questions and using words and phrases at home by playing the same game with family and/or friends.

"T" the Ticking Sound

This month we are working on the "t" sound or the ticking sound.  We will be practicing using this sound by itself and in words and sentences.  There is a visual cue for this sound that is made by putting your hand in a fist and then flipping your pointer finger up when you say "t".  This visual cue is to remind us that when we say "t" our tongue goes up.

Some things you can do at home to work on the "t" sound are:

-Play the "tip toe game".  Walk around on your "tippy toes" saying "tip toe" as you walk.

-Get some toothbrushes and pretend to brush the teeth of stuffed animals or dolls and practice saying "t" while you brush.

-Make and have an afternoon "tea" with dolls and stuffed animals.

-Build some block towers and repeat the words "my block is on top" as you add new blocks to the tower.

-Count your toes saying "1 toe, 2 toe etc....".

-Talk about and point to body parts that start with "t", like teeth, tummy, toes and tongue.

-Make some art and use tape.  Have your child use the word "tape" to request it.

If I Were a Doggie

This week for Large Group, we played a game called, If I Were A Doggie.  This game helped us work on using the "d" sound in phrases.  It also helped us work on using phrases to make choices, following directions, answering "wh" questions and using "ing" verbs.  To play the game, we sang a little song to the tune of The More We Get Together.  The song goes like this....

If I were a doggie, a doggie, a doggie.

If I were a doggie then here's what I'd do....

We each got a turn to choose a "doggy action" from the cards pictured above or we could think of our own action.  We sat, panted, played dead, rolled over, dug, barked, begged, shook, jumped, bowed and chased our tails.

You can work on this at home by pretending to be an animal too.  You can let your child pick different actions to do and then verbalize what you are doing or what you did.  By talking about it, you are modeling using present and past tense verbs in phrases.  

Who Has The Doggy Bone??

This week for Large Group, we played the game Who Has The Doggy Bone?

This game helped us work on using the /d/ sound in words.  It also helped us work on asking and answering "who" and "yes/no" questions. We talked about how dogs like to chew bones and how sometimes, they hide their bones.  We talked about how our friend Tiny Tony wanted to know "who" had his bone.  We hid our eyes while Teacher Heidi put the dog bone behind one of the kids in the circle.  When we opened our eyes, we tapped our knees while we chanted....(to the tune of Farmer in the Dell)

"Who has the doggy bone? Who has the doggy bone" Who, who who, who has the doggy bone?"

We then took turns guessing WHO we thought had the doggy bone.  If we had the bone, we said "YES" if we didn't have the bone, we said "NO".  

You can play this game at home by hiding an object and using questions to get hints on where the object might me.  This will help your child work on attributes (it's under something red or big) and prepositions (it's on, next to, under, behind etc..).  This will also help your child work on asking questions and answering questions. 

Valentine Yoga

This week for Large Group, we worked on following directions, understanding prepositions and identifying body parts by doing Valentine Yoga.

We took turns choosing cards that had yoga poses on them and then following directions to move our body to make that pose.  We did a cupid pose, an arrow pose, a balloon pose, a heart pose, a special delivery pose, a secret admirer pose and a gift pose.  

As we made each pose we worked on identifying body parts and prepositions. For example, to make some of the different poses we had to put our hands UNDER our ANKLES, move one of our FEET BEHIND us and put our ARMS out to the SIDE etc..

We had a lot of fun listening, following directions and moving our bodies.

Animal Movement and Sound

This past week in Large Group we talked about animals.  We talked about how they move and what sounds they make.  We took turns choosing an animal and then showing the class how we thought that animal would move or sound and then we all pretended to be that animal.

We pretended to be kangaroos, elephants, snakes, monkeys, dogs, cats, penguins, birds and butterflies.  We worked on using "ing" words as we described what action we were doing.  We also worked on following directions as well as, pretending and moving our bodies.

You can play this game at home by taking turns choosing animals and pretending to be them.

"D" The Raindrop Sound

The Raindrop Sound

This month we are working on the /d/ or raindrop sound. The /d/ sound is made by putting the tip of your tongue up on the bump behind your top teeth and using your voice to say /d/.  This sound is made the same way as the /t/ sound except you use your voice with /d/ and turn your voice off for /t/.  Have your child practice saying /d/ and /t/ to help them learn the difference between using their voice and turning their voice off.  The visual cue for this sound is made by tapping the index finger of your right hand into the palm of your left hand.  Ask your child to show you how to make the raindrop sound.