Field Trip to the Fire Station

As part of our fire safety week, we went on a field trip to our local fire station. It was such a great learning experience!

The firefighters did such a great job showing us around the station and talking to us about fire safety.
The kids were especially excited to see the fire trucks. They were even able to sit inside!

They also showed us all the equipment and tools that they keep inside the trucks to use in emergencies. It's amazing how much they carry! Then one of the firefighters showed us how fast they have to get dressed in all their gear before a fire.

He also showed us how they breathe with oxygen masks when they go into a burning building. I thought it was so great for the kids to see that so these helpers would hopefully appear less scary in an emergency situation.

Thanks to the fire station for a fun morning- and for all the work they do for our community!

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

Tape Roads

Nothing fancy here: just tape, scissors, and cars. But it turned out to be an engaging center that allowed the kids to direct their own learning, and work on fine motor skills, mathematical thinking, social skills, and dramatic play.

"I was going to make a square, but then it turned into a rectangle."

"Can I connect to your road? Then it's one long road!"

"We had to put some tape on these cars because they had boo-boos." 

(An area of the road became a doctor's office.)

I'm excited to extend this play next time with some additional open ended materials that might inspire some buildings to pop up in their little community.