Pre-K students tore strips of red and green paper to create Mexico flags for Cinco de Mayo. We listened to fun songs and watched flamenco dances.
Category: Pre-K
Thank You, PISD Education Foundation!
Posted in advocacy, grants, Pre-K, and reading skills
Both Pre-K classes were so excited to receive the new library books and stuffed animals from the Pre-K Zoo Buddies PISD Education Foundation grant! Each student will take his/her library book home to read to his/her new ‘zoo buddy’. The kids wrote and decorated thank you note cards in the library.
Thank you to the Plano Education Foundation and Toyota for the Pre-K Reading Zoo Buddies grant! This money will purchase board books for our Pre-K students and a mini stuffed animal. They will read to their stuffed animal at home. Awesome!
Proposal summary:
Since the Pre-Kindergarten class sizes at our campus continue to grow every year and it is important to encourage a strong literacy foundation for the youngest learners, the money for this grant will purchase Pre-K level library books to borrow and a mini stuffed animal (“Reading Zoo Buddy”) to keep at home. Since several students may be absent due to various illnesses, they will now have a “reading zoo buddy” to keep at home to encourage continuous reading. The student will return their book when they return to school but will keep their reading zoo buddy at home. Pre-Kindergarten library books will be purchased for students to check out to read to their zoo buddy. William Teale, president of the International Literacy Association, said that “when you pair reading with a toy or stuffed animal, kids become a part of the story. And they will start to show interest on their own.” (Teale, 2017) In the CNN Stuffed Animals Reading Study (Teale, 2017) he states that children reading to a stuffed animal causes them to… “look at pictures in a book, and they’ll start to use some of the words in the book.” We want the students to use reading to the stuffed animal at home to enhance their comfort with reading and to allow their skills to bloom.
Pre-K Tie Dye Turkeys
Posted in fun events, holiday, and Pre-K
Pre-K had fun in the library this week! They created tie-dye turkeys. After coloring a coffee filter with water-based markers, they dipped them in a bowl of water. After letting them dry a couple of hours, they came back to the library to put their turkey parts together. Helpful tips: Have samples of a completed coffee filter to show them how to color ALL of it, bottles of water available to pour into the bowl, a bucket available to pour the dirty water into, lots of towels and paper towels, a butcher-paper lined bookshelf top for a drying space, and always make a couple of extra filters for the absent or late students so they can still assemble their turkey on time. Fun!
Pre-K Black History Month Sing Along
Posted in bilingual, holiday, Pre-K, and Social Studies
Pre-K created an African American musician “quilt” in the Jackson Library! As they worked, we talked about Nina Simone and played her “I’m Feeling Good” song. Then we used Liz Buchanan‘s primary version of the song as a chant for the kids to sing the “I’m Feeling Good” lyric at the end of each line while they worked. Fun! Thanks to Liz for adapting the song (linked below) to make it choral for Pre-K! They sang ‘I’m feeling good’ for the second part of each verse. The kids loved it. I found a Spanish version of the original song for the bilingual Pre-K class to sing. I have a note to purchase the Nina Simone: Jazz Legend and Civil-Rights Activist book for next year!
Spanish -Y me siento bien
Quilt Square Pattern for Musicians Quilt
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Last week in the Jackson Library, Pre-K had fun with hearts. After reading My Heart is Like a Zoo by Hall, the kids used hearts and shapes to create their own dogs. Cute!
We Are Thankful
Posted in fifth grade, first grade, fourth grade, fun events, holiday, Pre-K, second grade, and third grade
Round is a Tortilla
Posted in holiday, picture book lesson, and Pre-K
To wrap up Hispanic Heritage month, the bilingual Pre-K class identified objects with different shapes in the story, Round is a Tortilla. Kirkus applauds this book for incorporating cultural elements along with the shapes.
Whose Feet?
Posted in apps, bilingual, nonfiction lesson, and Pre-K
Before STAAR week, Pre-K had fun guessing Whose Feet? in the Jackson Library. After reading My Eyes are Big and Red, the kids guessed what animal on which the story was based. Then they had to guess what animals were on the poster just based on the feet. At the tables, they played the Whose Feet? game on the app, colored the feet of Jan Brett animals, and listened to the fun Maple Leaf songs.
Pre-K Farm Fun
Posted in Pre-K
Last week in the Jackson Library, Pre-K read farm animal stories. After singing Hap Palmer’s Big Red Hen song, we read Barnyard Banter and the kids identified the animals by their sounds. They explored the Canticos Chickies/Pollitos app to create their own song, listened to the Chick song (featured also in different languages), and decorated an egg. During check out, we enjoyed Alina Celeste‘s Pollitos song video.
