Move Fast or Slow

This week in Large Group, we reviewed 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 Gingerbread Man

This week for Large Group, we read and talked about the story The Gingerbread Man.  We practiced using our words as we helped Teacher Heidi tell the story by repeating some of the familiar phrases from the book like, "Run, run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man"  We also helped by sequencing who the Gingerbread Man had run away from.  

Teacher Heidi brought a pretend oven to our class that she was baking Gingerbread Men in.  When she opened the oven, the Gingerbread Men were gone!!!!  They had run away and were hiding in our class. We had to find them and help get them back in the oven.  When we put them back in the oven, we practiced saying some words that started with "j".  

We got up and ran like the Gingerbread Man.  We got to choose if we wanted to run fast or slow or even super, super fast!!

We also sang the song Jingle Bells.  When we sang the song, we all had an instrument and we played our instrument to the beat of the song.  

You can read The Gingerbread Man at home and work on sequencing by asking your child to help you recall the people or animals that the Gingerbread Man runs away from.  You can work on answering "wh" questions by asking your child what happened in the story.  You can stand up and work on understanding concepts like fast and slow by running the like Gingerbread Man and letting your child choose if you will run fast or slow.

You can watch a reading of The Gingerbread Man by clicking on the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U89dkGrsYZY

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 moth 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.  

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.

Who's Behind the Big 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....

"Who's behind the Big Monster?  Nobody knows but me.  Who's behind the Big Monster?  Nobody knows but me.  I won't tell you, you will have to guess.  If your guess is right, I will say YES."

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. 

If You Are a Monster and You Know It

This week for Large Group, we read 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

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 also met our friend Mario Monster.

Mario likes to eat, but he will only eat things that start with the "M" sound.  We took turns feeding "M" things to Mario and practicing saying the "M" sound as we fed him.  We fed him a mop, money, a mug, a mouth, a monkey, a mouse etc...  When we were finished his tummy was so full and he thought the food we fed him was "mmmm" good!!

You can read Big Green Monster at home and have your child "help" read the story by saying "go away".  You can check the book out from the library or if you search "go away big green monster ed emberley" on YouTube, you can watch a reading of the book.

"'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.

Bug Under the Rug

This week in Large Group, we played the game Bug Under the Rug.  Before we played the game, we went around the circle and had everyone tell us their name.  We also talked about how bugs are very quiet and we practiced being as quiet as a bug.  When Teacher Heidi told us to be as quiet as a bug, we covered our eyes and put our heads down and we were SOOOO quiet.  Teacher Heidi put a rug (a sheet) over one of us.  When we opened our eyes and sat up, we tapped our knees while we said, "Bug under the rug, bug under the rug, who's the bug under the rug?"  We then guessed who we thought was hiding under the rug.  We worked on answering questions with yes/no and using the word "not" as we made guesses.  If we guessed someone that wasn't under the rug, that person would say, "No, I'm NOT under the rug."  If we guessed the right person, that person would sit up and say, "Yes!  I'm the bug under the rug."  This activity helped us learn our classmates names, it helped us learn to say our own names, learn to understand the preposition "under" and it helped us learn to follow directions.  We had a lot of fun pretending to be as quiet as a bug and guessing who was under the rug.  

You can work on some of these concepts at home by playing the name game.  Have everyone in your family state their name by saying, "My name is.....".  You can also work on understanding prepositions and following directions by getting a small object like a stuffed toy and asking your child to place the object in, on, under, behind, next to or in front of something or someone.  You could also ask them to hold the toy up high or down low.

Little Bug

Little Bug, Little Bug

This week in Large Group we practiced saying the "b" sound in the song, Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy.  We stood up and bounced as we sang the song.  We also used our hands to say the words stop, wait and go.

We played a game called Little Bug, Little Bug.  

We talked about how bugs are quiet and they like to hide.  We looked at some different rugs and used our words to say out loud what color each rug was.  We put the little bug on, next to, behind, in front of and under the rug and used our words to say where little bug was.  We hid our eyes while Teacher Heidi hid little bug under a rug.  We each had a turn to guess which color rug we thought little bug was hiding under. We tapped our hands on our knees while we asked little bug if he was under that color rug.  We said these words to little bug....

Little Bug, Little Bug are you under the (guess a color) rug????

Teacher Heidi moved the rug and we looked and said yes we see little bug or no, he's not there.  This activity helped us learn to answer yes/no questions, identify colors, identify prepositions, make choices, ask a question and use the word "not".  We had a lot of fun looking for little bug.

You can play this game at home by getting a small object and hiding it under different colored cups.  You can then ask...is it under the (color) cup???  You can lift the cup and help your child answer yes or no.  You can incorporate the use of the word "not" by adding it's NOT under the (color) cup.

A Bug is On My......

A Bug is On My......

This week for Large Group we continued to work on saying the "b" sound in words.  We sang I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee and practiced saying the "b" sound in the words baby, bumble and bee.

  

To help us learn body parts and practice following commands, we played a game called A Bug is on My.....   We each had a bug to hold and we went around the circle and everyone got to take a turn choosing which body part the bug was going to be on.  We sang a song to the tune of Farmer in the Dell that went like this:

A bug is on my toe, a bug is on my toe.

Hi Ho I wish he'd go.  A bug is on my toe.

We identified the body part that was chosen and sang the song for each body part.  We learned some body parts some of us did not know like elbow, wrist, waist, shoulder, ankle and forehead.

You can practice the "b" sound at home by singing I'm Bringing Home A Baby Bumblebee.  You can also practice identifying body parts and following commands by playing Simon Says and asking your child to point to different parts of their body.

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

This week in Large Group, we talked about bugs.  We talked about how the word "bug" starts with the "B" sound.  We sang a song called I Love Bugs.  In the song it talks about different colored bugs and it talks about how they are yucky.  

We noticed that when we were outside BUGS came into our classroom and hid.  We went on a bug hunt so we could find them and put them in a cage.  Each bug had a picture of a word that started with the "B" sound on it's back.  We practiced saying words that started with the "B" sound.  

We looked at the pictures and talked about the different bugs we saw in the book Bugs, Bugs, Bugs by Bob Barner. We even tried to act out how the different bugs we saw would move.  If you want to practice saying the "B" sound by reading some bug books at home you can try to check out the following books from the library or search them on YouTube for an online reading:

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs by Bob Barner

Bugs Galore by Peter Stein

I Like Bugs by Margaret Wise Brown

The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

The Bouncing Sound

"B" is the Bouncing Sound

This month we are going to be working on the "B" sound or the bouncing sound.  We have practiced saying the "B" sound while moving our arms like bouncing a ball, while moving our knees bouncing up and down and while jumping up and down.  

We have talked about different objects that start with the "B" sound and practiced saying them.  We are going to read some books this month that have the "B" sound in them and sing some songs with the "B" sound like, Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy , Bubblegum, Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee and I Love Bugs. 

Some activities you can do at home that will give your child many opportunities to practice using the "b" sound are:

-Play with stuffed animals or dolls and have your child say "bye" to each animal or baby.

-Set up a play store by finding objects around home you can "sell".  Ask your child to shop by saying "buy" for each item he or she chooses.

-Roll or toss a ball to your child.  Have him or her say "ball" as they catch it and again as they toss it or roll it back.

-Play toy cars or trucks with your child.  Encourage him or her to say "beep" every time your vehicle gets in the way of his or her car or truck.

-Read the story Goldilocks and The Three Bears or read the book The Wheels on the Bus.  While you are reading talk about what you see, ask your child what he or she thinks will happen as they look at the pictures.  Name the things you see in the pictures emphasizing the "b" sound.

Welcome to Preschool!!!

Welcome to Preschool 2015-2016

Welcome to preschool or welcome back if you are a returning student.  I am so happy to be back again this year working with all of your cute kiddos on their Speech and Language Skills.  I will try to update our class blog weekly so you can see the speech and language activities we have been working on in class.  

How Should We Move???

For our first Large Group of the year, we talked about different ways we can move our bodies.  In Preschool, we take turns choosing how we should transition from one activity to another during the day.  Sometimes we choose to move like a dinosaur or a cat and other times we choose to skip, jump or twirl.  We took turns drawing out pictures from our magic red box and then moving like the picture.  We marched, skipped, jumped and twirled.  We moved like a car, a butterfly and an airplane. We also talked about following the leader and watching to see what they do and then doing it.  We sang the song Do As I'm Doing and followed our teachers as they moved in different ways.  We also played the game Monkey in the Middle.  We each had a turn to be the monkey in the middle and choose the way we wanted to move and our friends followed us.  

This activity helped us work on following directions, answering "wh" questions, using words to express wants and needs and understanding and using action words.

You can practice these concepts at home by playing following the leader and taking turns choosing how to move.

Emotion Musical Walk

This week in large group, we reviewed the story of Emo Egg and talked about the emotions he felt on the day he went to preschool.  We practiced showing each emotion our faces.  We then played a game where we danced to the music and when it stopped, we found an Emo Egg face to stand on.  We told the person next to us what emotion was showing on that face and then made it ourselves.  This activity helped us work on the preposition, next to, as well as using words to express thoughts and actions and recognizing emotions.  

The Emotion Game

This week in Large Group, 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 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

This week for Large Group, 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 making those emotions with our faces.  

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. 

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.

Chicken Chicken Your Egg You Can't Find

Right before Spring Break, during our Large Group we talked about chickens and eggs.  We looked at a book that had many different types of birds and eggs.  We talked about how they are the same and how they are different.  Some eggs are really big, while others are small.  Some eggs are a plain color, while others have speckles.  We looked at some pictures that showed a baby chick trying to hatch.  We then played a game where everyone sat in a circle and we took turns being the chicken that got to sit in the middle.  Everyone would close their eyes and Teacher Heidi would put a big egg behind someone.  When we opened our eyes, we would all say "Chicken, chicken your egg you can't find, somebody has it, check BEHIND....".  The chicken in the middle would then go to his friends in the circle and ask them, "Do you have my egg?".  This game helped us work on learning what behind means.  It also helped us learn how to ask and answer a yes/no question.

Little Mouse, Little Mouse

This week for Large Group, we played a game where we had to guess what color house little mouse was hiding in.  We closed our eyes while Little Mouse hid in a house and then we all had a turn to guess which color house little mouse was hiding in.  We used our hands to tap our knees while we said, "Little Mouse, Little Mouse are you in the red house?"  Little Mouse was good at hiding, sometimes it took us a lot of guesses to figure out where he was.  This activity helped us practice asking questions, practice using yes/no to answer questions and practice using the word "not" to make a statement.  It also helped us work on identifying colors and use our hands to tap out a beat.

Kitty Kitty in Your House

This week for Large Group, we played Kitty Kitty in Your House.  To play this game, Teacher Heidi was the mouse and all the kids were the kitties.  We talked about how cats like to chase mice.  We talked about different ways we could move our bodies to chase the mouse in our class (Teacher Heidi). We played a game where we sang a song about a kitty in his house and asked him how he would move to chase the mouse.  The song goes like this and it is to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star;  Kitty, Kitty in your house, how will you move to chase that mouse?  We all had a turn to choose how we all should move our bodies to chase the mouse.  We marched, stomped, twirled, jumped, hopped, galloped, wiggled, waved etc...  Playing this game helped us learn how to answer questions, use our words to describe actions, follow directions and move our bodies.

Musical Chairs

This week for Large Group, we played musical chairs with a twist.  Before we played, we looked at some pictures that start with the /k/ sound.  We practiced saying the names of the objects.  We put the pictures under our chairs and turned the music on.  We got up and danced around in the middle of the rug.  We talked about how when we dance we can move different parts of our body.  We also talked about how we can move our bodies fast or slow.  When the music turned off, we found a chair to sit on.  We talked about how it was ok it we sat on a different chair each time.  We picked up the /k/ picture under our chair and practiced using /k/ in words by telling the person sitting next to us what object was on our picture.  We then turned the music back on and did it all over again!

Fat Cat

This week for large group, we read and talked about the book, What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Jan Thomas.  Fat Cat likes to sit and relax.  Fat Cat sometimes wants to sit on things he shouldn't.  As we read the book, we talked about the pictures and what we thought the animals were thinking and feeling based on the expressions on their faces.  We also talked about the words "no" and "not".  

After we read the book, the kids got to meet my friend Fat Cat.  We talked about how Fat Cat spends most of the day trying to find a place to sit.  We talked about how Fat Cat wanted to sit somewhere in our classroom.   We played a game where we would close our eyes while Fat Cat found a place to sit in the classroom and then we would have to find him.  Some of us helped Fat Cat find a place to sit and then some of us helped find him. When we found where Fat Cat was sitting, we used our words to tell the class where he was.  We found Fat Cat on things, under things, behind things, in front of things, in things and next to things.  

Stomping Dinosaur Sound

This month we will be working on the "k" or the stomping dinosaur sound.  We make this sound in the back of our mouths with our tongue down in the front, but up in the back.  As we say the /k/ sound, we tap our palms on our knees like our hands are dinosaur feet stomping across the ground.  

During large group, we practiced saying the stomping dinosaur sound.  We looked at objects that started with the /k/ sound and practiced saying them.  We also tried to think if we could think of anything that started with the /k/ sound.  

We sang a song that gave us a lot of opportunities to practice saying /k/ in words and syllables.  The song we sang was Happy Birthday Cake and Cookies.  We learned how to say happy birthday using our hands, in sign language.  Ask your child to show you how they can say happy birthday with their hands.  

To work on the /k/ sound at home,  you can do the following activities:

-Play with a farm set that includes a cow, a cat and a rooster.  Have your child say "cow", "cat" or "cock-a doodle-do" each time they play with the  cow, cat or rooster. 

-Let your child play with various keys in various locks.  Have your child say "key" with each one that they try.

-Play cars on the floor.  Model using the word car as you are playing.  Encourage your child to use the word car as they play too.

-Play ball and have your child say "catch" each time they catch the ball or "kick" each time they kick it.

-Have cookies for a snack and have your child request using the word "cookie".

-Play house and pretend to "cook" a meal.  Model the word cook and encourage your child to use the word too.  You can also do this with the words "cup", "cut", "can" and "cake".

This is My Dot

This week in Large Group we practiced the raindrop or /d/ sound by talking about "dots" and practicing saying the word "dot".  We played a game called "This is My Dot".  We each had a dot.  We talked about what color we had.  We put our dots on the floor and tapped our dot while saying "This is my dot, my dot, my dot".  We held our dots in front of us, over our heads, behind us etc...  We then put our dots on the floor and played music.  When the music was on, we danced and when the music stopped we found a dot to stand on with both of our feet.  We chose different actions to do while we stood on our dot and said, "This is my dot, my dot, my dot."  We jumped,  hopped, clapped our hands, touched our toes, marched and did star jumps.  We also looked around the room to see what things we could see in our room that were in the shape of a dot, we also tried to think of other things that would be in that shape.  We thought of pizza, doughnuts, balls, the sun, wheels and the clock.

You can talk about dots with your child at home by reading the book Lots of Dots by Craig Frazier.  

 When reading the book, look at the pictures and talk with your child about the objects that are in the shape of dots and then look around as you are walking or driving and ask your child to name what they see around them in the shape of dots.

Doggie, Doggie Where's Your Bone??

This week for Large Group, we played the game Doggie, Doggie Where's Your Bone?

This game helped us work on using the /d/ sound in words.  It also helped us work on asking and answering "wh" and "yes/no" questions.  We sat in a circle and one person got to be the doggie.  The doggie closed his/her eyes while Teacher Heidi gave the bone to another one of our preschool friends to hide.  When doggie opened his/her eyes, we all chanted, "Doggie, doggie where's your bone?".  Doggie had to go around asking his friends, "Do you have my bone?".  If we had the bone, we responded "yes" if we didn't have the bone, we responded "no".  We all got a turn to be doggie.  If some of our preschool friends didn't have enough words to ask "Do you have my bone?", they used the Big Mac with the phrase recorded on it.

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. 

Animal Yoga

This week for Large Group, we talked about animals.  We looked at pictures of animals and named them.  We also talked about how the animals look, how they move and what sounds they make. We moved our bodies different ways by doing animal yoga.  We used a fun (and free) iPad app that was projected on our Apple TV to show us how to do the different animal yoga poses.  

We moved our bodies like a dog, an elephant, a flamingo, a giraffe, a peacock, a monkey, a lizard, a butterfly, a ladybug and a snake.  

You can talk about and move like animals at home by downloading the My First Yoga app off iTunes or you can read the book You Are a Lion! byTaeen Yoo.  This book shows pictures of animals as well as yoga poses to move like the animal.  

D is 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.

This month we are also going to be talking about dogs and other animals too.  One of my favorite books that targets the /d/ sound, dogs, numbers and colors is called Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd.  You can check this book out from the library or by searching the title, you can watch a reading of it on YouTube.

Another great book to target the /d/ sound as well as preschool vocabulary is Lots of Dots by Craig Frazier.  As you read the book, you can talk about different dots.  You can also target using /d/ in the word "dot" by doing an art project where you make lots of dots of paper.  As you make the dots, practice saying "dot" over and over. You can make dots with crayons, paint or markers.  You can put dots together to make objects too.  

Snowmen Songs and Games

To finish up the month of January, we played some snowman games and sang some snowman songs in Large Group.

We did The Snowman Pokey and we sang Ring Around The Snowman.  We sang Ring Around The Snowman slow and fast and loud and soft.  

We read the book The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.  We looked at the pictures and talked about what we thought was happening.  We also looked at some other pictures of all the things you can do in the snow and we talked about them too.  

You can read The Snowy Day at home and talk about the pictures.  If you don't have the book, there is an online reading on YouTube if you search the title.  

To work on identifying bod parts and understanding prepositions, we played the snowflake game.

To play this game, we all had a snowflake and we would use our ears to listen to where we needed to put it.  We put the snowflake under our arms, above our heads, next to our ears, by our sides, touching our elbows, behind our backs, in front of our eyes etc....

Snowmen

This week for Large Group, we looked at the pictures in the book Snowmen At Night by Caralyn Buehner.  We talked about the actions that the snowmen were doing at night.  We noticed that they were walking, skating, sledding, drinking "cold" chocolate, swinging, racing, playing games and making snow angels.  We played a snowman game where we were all a different colored snowman.  We counted how many snowmen were standing in our line and when the sun came out, one of the colors of snowmen melted to the ground.  We used our bodies to move like we were melting and as each snowman melted, we used our math skills to figure out how many snowmen were left.  

If you want to read Snowmen At Night at home so you can talk about action words with your child, you can check it out from the local library or there is a reading on YouTube if you search the title of the book.

We also played with scarves by moving them to the beat of the music.  We worked on directional words and prepositions by moving our scarves up high, down low, in front of us, to the side and behind us.  We also danced to the song Shake Your Sillies Out.  We moved our bodies in different ways to shake the sillies out.  We also took turns choosing ways for our friends in class to move their bodies to shake the sillies out.  If we had trouble thinking of an action, Teacher Heidi let us use the GoTalk to make a choice.