Book Love: Some Bugs

I found a fun, new book for our bugs and insects study right now.

The text is very simple, and the illustrations are bright and engaging. The kids loved looking carefully for different bugs on each page.

After we read the book we went on an insect hunt around the classroom.

We learned the name of the insect (if we didn't already know it), counted how many there were, and then practiced writing that number.

Then we went outside where the bugs seem to be plentiful right now. Happy Spring!

What Happens in a Preschool Piano Class

I've had some questions about the preschool piano classes that I offer, and wanted to provide a more detailed example of what those classes can look like.  These classes are meant to introduce young students to musical concepts that will help prepare them for piano lessons (or really any instrument) in the future. Although I tend to call them preschool classes, they are really just pre-piano classes that can be beneficial and fun for 5-6 year olds as well. I strive to put my background in early childhood education to work with my musical knowledge and experience to make music fun, playful, meaningful, and exciting to all of my students.

Finding note patterns on the keyboard.

Every session of classes looks a little bit different as I make adaptions for student interests and abilities.  Generally each lesson or class focuses on one simple topic such as dynamics or the musical alphabet, and those topics are then integrated and built upon with each proceeding class. As I plan for the classes, I  think about ways that I can make the concepts more visual and active, and I spend time selecting music that supports what I'm trying to teach. Sometimes I find inspiration for learning activities and games in the theme of a song or in a picture book. I also love to read about and learn from what other teachers are doing to make music lessons more accessible and developmentally appropriate for young children. I've been especially inspired by these approaches: The Teaching Studio, Let's Play Music, and Let's Play Kid's Music. 

So, my music classes usually contains these elements:

• Instrument Exploration: We spend a lot of time exploring sound by making noise and using instruments. This most often involves rhythm instruments, but at times I will also incorporate instruments like the guitar or hand chimes. I have a full-size, digital keyboard that we use on the floor, in addition to my regular upright piano. The kids LOVE to try out the instruments, and we use them in a variety of ways to play and practice concepts. 

• Fun Songs: I try to find music that encourages movement and singing to help the kids use their bodies and voices as much as possible. Some of my favorites come from Hap Palmer, and K-8 Music. 

• Classical Examples: I also try to find classical music examples that illustrate concepts and expand our listening repertoire. For example, last week in class we listened to several different movements from "Carnival of the Animals" by Camille Saint-Saens to explore fast and slow sounds in the music. This also inspired us to move and dance like different fast and slow animals.        

• Listening Activities: Along with dancing, and singing to music, we also play games or do an activity that involves listening and responding to music or sounds. I loved these ideas for long and short notes from The Teaching Studio, and incorporated them into my own lesson about that topic. We created artwork based on the theme from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and used raindrops and rainbows to make up our own long/short song patterns on the keyboard.

• Stories: If possible, I also like to find picture books and stories that can illustrate a topic or help bring the music to life. 

• Individualized Instruction: Every student brings different interests and personality to the class, and I definitely take that into account as I'm teaching. This spring I had a student who loved trains, and so we used Thomas the Train to explore the notes and patterns on the keyboard. 

I have a lot of fun planning for and teaching these classes, and sharing my love of music with young kids in this way. Learning to play the piano is a complex skill that involves ear training, note reading, theory knowledge, fine motor skills, musicality, and more. It can be very overwhelming for young beginning students to jump into a world of new symbols, clefs, and 88 keys without prior experience. My purpose in teaching these classes is to help build up their background knowledge so that they have something to connect to as they learn to play. Just as background knowledge is a crucial part of comprehension in learning to read, these musical experiences can empower beginning piano students to feel more confident as they learn, because many of the terms and concepts that they encounter will already be familiar to them. 

More Rainbow Fun

Our St. Patrick's Day activity was a great segue into some additional rainbow play. Here are a few of the favorites:

Rainbow Pasta Sensory Bin

The kids helped in the process of dying the pasta on Tuesday, 

and I set this out for them on Thursday. 

At first they enjoyed feeling the textures and mixing the colors. 

And as often happens with the sensory bin, extra props are brought in.

There was a lot of "rainbow soup" going around. 

50 Bears Counting

It was also our 50th day of school, so we spent some time counting five groups of ten bears, and then made a rainbow to count them altogether. 

Rainbow Pattern Art

We also learned about how the colors of a rainbow go in a certain order (Red-Orange-Yellow-Green-Blue/Indigo- Purple), and everyone created their own rainbow. 

A Visit from a Leprechaun

My husband still remembers the day a leprechaun made some mischief in his preschool classroom on St. Patrick's Day. He remembers that the leprechaun left green footprints and a silly mess in the room, and thought I should do something similar with my kids. I'm not sure why, but I was just a bit hesitant at first, and unsure of how to approach it in a meaningful and purposeful way. But in the end I gave it a try, and it turned out to be a fun way to recognize the holiday.

The leprechaun that visited our classroom left green footprints, but didn't make a mess. He was more of a friendly, curious sort. (This take turned out to be beneficial when one student was freaked out by the idea of an unknown creature spending time in our room).

However, he did leave us a note explaining that he came from far away Ireland to visit our classroom. He wanted to see what preschool was like, and he was also looking for a place to hide his golden treasure. He liked our school and wanted to hide his treasure in our classroom, so he asked if we would make a rainbow for him since he usually hid his treasure at the end of the rainbow.

He left the beginning of a rainbow on our train table, and hoped we could fill it up with colorful items to make it complete.

I had gathered up some colorful items and placed them in a bucket already, but invited the kids to use anything else that they found around the classroom as well. We made a pretty interesting rainbow!

At the end of center time, when our rainbow was finished, some magic happened. There was something underneath the rainbow.

It was some golden treasure!

So before snack time we popped the leprechaun's "gold,"

And had a tasty rainbow snack with popcorn clouds.

All in all, it wasn't the most traditional take on leprechauns, but it worked for us. The kids had some great "why" questions about leprechauns, and it made for some fun learning conversations throughout the day about Ireland and more traditional stories. During sharing circle at the end of the day, each of the kids told me what they would do if they ever caught a leprechaun. Most said they would ask for his gold and then be his friend. It was pretty cute. :)

Places to Go

Here's how we've been integrating literacy into our theme of exploring the neighborhood.

Paper Bag Buildings with Blocks/Trains

  Labeling the buildings with words and pictures provides opportunities for students to engage in concepts of print, and think about letter-sound connections and beginning sounds, according to their readiness.

Predictable Text Chart with Sight Words

This predictable chart is accessible to students who are still developing concepts of print, but also supports those students who are recognizing words and beginning sounds. We encounter these sight words in other activities as well. 

Predictable Text Readers

I usually try to turn our charts into a take-home book for extra practice at home.

 Music and Movement

I can't remember where I found this poem, but I made up a little melody and actions to go with it. At the end, I ask someone to pick where we should go and how they want to get there, and then we all act it out together. We also used the sticky notes to find and cover the sight word "go."

Word Family Trains

There are several kids in my class who are starting to match letter sounds fluently and blend sounds together to make words. I like the repetition of spelling/sound patterns in word families for helping students to get comfortable with reading c-v-c words, so we made some word family trains. These trains work well for sorting words, in addition to just basic reading practice.

I try to make reading these words active and meaningful, so we come up with an action to accompany every word that we read together. When I do this activity in whole group, I differentiate by providing support for each student according to their needs. The students who are still learning letter names and sounds might only practice identifying letters that they know, and then we say the sounds and read the word altogether. That way, they still feel involved in reading the word, but are being challenged at their own level.

Tools and Work

This construction tools center was popular this week as we explore people that work in our neighborhood community.

I set out some play tools, styrofoam, an egg carton, and golf tees, and the kids went straight to work.

It was loud, messy, and an engaging way to work on fine motor skills and a little engineering. It was definitely worth sweeping up all the bits of styrofoam later. :)

We talked about other kinds of jobs and the tools that people use besides the typical household or construction tools that most kids are familiar with.

We learned that a tool can be any object that helps someone to do work.

There was a book that I loved in my Kindergarten classroom library called Everybody Works. I couldn't find it at the library, but I tried to adapt the same concept to a book that I already owned: ABC of Jobs. We talked about how everybody works in different ways- some work inside, some work outside, some work on the go...some work for money, and some work just to help others. I asked the kids what kind of work they do in preschool, and they had lots of great ideas. "Sit on the rug!" and "Read books!" and "Be nice to friends!"

But my favorite answer was "Play!"

Play is the best kind of work.

On the Go

We have been on the go in our classroom this month, exploring things and people that we see in our neighborhood. Here are a few of the ways we've been learning with things that go in our community.

Construction Sensory Bin

(With kinetic sand, solid shapes, and construction vehicles)

The kinetic sand was so great for discovering the flat shapes that make up solid shapes. 

Car Painting and Washing- Art & Sensory Play

Fine Motor Races

Dump Truck Letter Rock Matching

Train Car Adding and Counting Games