Not Just Cute

June 27, 2009

10 Ways to Get the Most Out of Story Time with Your Preschoolers

It’s well known that being read to is one of the best ways a child gets ready to read. But the benefits of story time come from more than just hearing words. Here are 10 ways to make story time meaningful for your early readers.

1 Get Familiar- Before diving right in to your next read, take a minute to look at the cover with your children. Talk about the title, what could it mean? What can you guess from the pictures on the cover? What might this book be about? In addition to getting them interested in the book, this gives your children the opportunity to make inferences and think creatively. They may ask questions that will be answered in the story. What a great tool for building comprehension!

2 Make Connections -As you read, make connections from the text, to similar concepts or situations your children have experienced. “Froggy’s mom is teaching him how to do the backstroke, just like you learned at swimming lessons today!” or “Do you ever have to help was the dishes like George did?” These kinds of connections help children better understand events in a story, increase comprehension and make the story more meaningful.

3 Question Everything-(OK, maybe not everything, but my hippiedad would appreciate the 60s reference!) Now and then, ask your children “why”. “Why did he hide?” “Why did they give the letter to Duck?” Also encourage your children to make predictions. “How will she get out?” “What do you think he will do now that he has the treasure?” These questions, once again, aid in comprehension and foster critical thinking skills, and they also allow the children to slip into the author’s chair for a moment.

4 Give the Words Meaning- As you’re reading, it’s easy to skip over words your children may not understand. Occasionally pull out a word as you read and ask your children what they think it means. They are often very good at using contextual clues to come up with a definition, a skill that will help them as they begin to read on their own. You may also want to preview a book, and talk about some of the words before you read the story. Focusing on a few terms in each book will pad their bank of vocabulary words and build language skills.

5 Picture This- Don’t forget to take in the scenery along the way. Children’s books are notorious for fantastic illustrations. Pointing them out and talking about the details not only increases the enjoyment for the children but teaches them to use picture clues to aid in understanding the overall story and making predictions. These are skills that will come in handy as they become independent readers.

6 Make it Personal – Draw your audience into the story by asking what they would do in any given character’s situation. Thinking from another character’s perspective also stretches the social and cognitive skills of these typically ego-centric preschoolers, and is another way to encourage prediction skills (see tip #3).

7 Point Out the Text-Subtly call your readers’ attention to the written words on the page. Sweep your finger under the words as you read. Occasionally point out familiar words and letters. Pause at the end of a rhyme and let your children finish the rhyme, using the written word as a clue. Let them sound out simple words as they begin to have the necessary skills. Tying the written word to the words they hear helps build prereading skills in children.

8 Talk About Emotions- Because plots usually center around some kind of conflict, stories are a great way to teach social problem solving. As you read, take time to talk about moral dilemmas and label emotions. These activities not only enhance the connections with the story, but build social skills as well.

9 Extend- If you just read “The Paper Bag Princess”, make some costumes from paper bags. Make your own green eggs and ham if the Dr. Seuss classic is on your reading menu. Extending a book into an activity makes it both more meaningful and memorable. Look under “Book Activity” in the category column to find examples.

10 Make it Enjoyable- You certainly don’t want to implement every one of these ten strategies with every page you turn. Breaking up the story too frequently makes it incoherent and tedious. The most important rule for a fantastic story time is to make it enjoyable. Find comfortable, cozy spots for reading together. Be expressive as you read, and really draw the children in. Let your children choose the books you read whenever you can, and don’t hesitate to repeat their favorites. If you do nothing more than create wonderful, happy associations with reading, you’ll go a long way in instilling a love of reading in the children you love and teach!

Photo by rrss.

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Filed under Article, book activity, language activity, literacy activity, social skills

Tags: literacy

June 26, 2009

Seed Snack Time!

While you’re exploring the topic of seeds, you might as well have yourself some fruit snacks. No, not the gummy imitation of fruit my children try to count as one of the four food groups, but actual fruit, for snacks. Instead of quickly doling out fruit slices on each child’s plate, turn snack time into science time. Take some time to examine and talk about a few fruits and their seeds.

Select a few fruits with different sized seeds: small (strawberries, kiwis), medium (apples, oranges, watermelon), large (peaches, nectarines, mangoes). Hold up each fruit, one at a time, and talk about the characteristics of the fruit, how the fruit grows and where the seeds might be. As you cut up the fruit, isolate the seeds and pass them around for the children to look at (include magnifiers if you like). Compare the sizes of the different seeds, even sort them into groups of small, medium, and large if you’ve used several samples.

You may wish to dry the seeds and tape them to a poster with pictures of your activity. Make it a matching poster by having pictures of each fruit at the top, and the dried seeds at the bottom with yarn or something else the children can use to connect the seed to the corresponding fruit. You could even try sprouting the seeds after they’ve dried. As a sweet reward, this science activity ends with a great fruit salad! This could also be a great literacy activity when combined with the book, A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds by Jean Richards.

Photo by sjur.

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Filed under Activity, Recipes - Edible, Snack Time, science activity

Tags: fruit, Seeds

June 25, 2009

Let Imagination Grow

Dramatic play is a fantastic way for preschoolers to really synthesize the information they’ve been gathering throughout their experience with a theme or unit. They naturally use new vocabulary words, implement concepts, and contemplate new ideas all in a meaningful way. Here are a few ideas for dramatic play themes within a seeds, plants, garden, or flowers unit.

Flower Shop
Set up with a cashier’s table, complete with register, phone, and paper and pencils to encourage writing orders. On another table, provide containers, bows, and artificial flowers. Ask your neighborhood flower shop for items like water tubes (fascinating to kids), expired catalogs, or outdated note cards. Make sure to include purses or wallets with play money for your customers! This dramatic play theme encourages writing with the note cards and order forms, counting and color recognition as they place and fill orders, and the social structure of commerce.

Farm
For this theme, it’s always fun to have a tractor. You may just have a steering wheel at a table with a cotton stuffed paper towel tube taped down as the exhaust pipe. I like to have a tractor in one section with a play cell phone, and then a farmhouse using our usual kitchen area, perhaps with the veggies from the field cooking on the stove, and including seed catalogs (you can request them online) and paper and pencil at the table to encourage the children to plan their crops. You could use a brown blanket as soil and place imitation plants or toy food to simulate a field or a small garden. Along with language skills, this theme reinforces the true origins of food.

Garden Store

Combine a few of the above props here for a garden store. Start with your standard cashier center with a register, phone, paper, and pencils. Use an array of seed catalogs for ordering and to encourage copying words. Have items for sale such as seed packets (real, empty, or created), items like tools, gloves, pots, watering cans, and empty boxes of things like MiracleGro (again, real or created). This theme, again, promotes the social concept of commerce, as well as the needs of plants, and lots of writing and reading opportunities!

So try one of these themes in your seed unit and watch your little ones grow their imaginations!

Photo by Thoursie.

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Filed under Activity, dramatic play, language activity, social skills

Tags: Farm, flowers, Gardens, Plants, Seeds, store

June 20, 2009

Sowing the Seeds of Reading – Book List

What unit would be complete without great books to incorporate?

Ok, first of all, a few that are old standards, not in any specific book. I always try to brainstorm nursery rhymes and fairy tales as I do my book list. These are all too often disregarded in favor of the newest and freshest. We need to remember however, that these are new to most young children and necessary for a foundation for future literacy. Think of it as the Shakespeare and Homer for preschoolers. Here are two that come to mind on the topic of seeds: Mary Mary Quite Contrary, of course; and Jack and the Beanstalk. Any others you would add? Now, back to the books.

Here are some of my favorite books to use while teaching about seeds. Click on their pictures to link to Amazon for summaries and purchasing information!

A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds, by Jean Richards

The Carrot Seed, byRuth Krauss (Activity here.)

The Tiny Seed, by Eric Carle

One Little Seed, by Elaine Greenstein (I used this one as a book activity when planting sunflower seeds in planter cups for them to take home! Click here for the sunflower planting take-home sheet.)

Ten Seeds, by Ruth Brown

Grow Flower Grow, by Lisa Bruce

Grow Flower, Grow! (Originally titled: Fran's Flower )

The Empty Pot, by Demi (activity here.)

Pumpkin Pumpkin, by Jeanne Titherington

Planting a Rainbow, by Lois Ehlert

Zinnia’s Flower Garden, by Monica Wellington

(As a note, Zinnia’s are great to grow from seed. You may want to plant some as an activity after this book!)

These are just a few I’ve used in the past. I’m quite certain there are many more. What books would you recommend?

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Filed under book activity, language activity, literacy activity, supplies

Tags: Gardens, Plants, Seeds

June 19, 2009

Serendipitous Seed Science

It’s only June, and my preschool age son is already antsy for school. He asked me to “play preschool” with him yesterday. A convenient request, since I’m pretty good at playing preschool. He’s watched the show Sid the Science Kid on PBS (a great show for kids and teachers alike), and wanted to do a “Super Fab Lab” science activity like they do. He was in luck! I just happened to have such an activity on hand! It might be one you’d like to recreate as well! DSCN1931

I had been sprouting pumpkin seeds in Ziplocs with wet paper towels. It gives them a jump-start when you plant them, and also helps me determine whether or not the seeds we’ve dried from last year’s jack-o-lanterns are viable seeds. Well, the seeds were great, and I’d planted all I could use, but still had quite a few left over in a bag. Being a procrastinator, I left the last bag on the window sill, until I decided what to do with it. And then I forgot about it. I noticed it the other day, and it had full-on seedlings in it. Luckily I didn’t throw it out, because it was perfect for our “Super Fab Lab”. DSCN1932

I pulled out my dry pumpkin seeds and let my boys examine them with their magnifying glasses. We talked about what they were and where they came from. Then I showed them the seedlings. I pulled out one for each of them to examine with their magnifying glasses. We talked about the parts of the plant and what it requried to grow. Then they drew pictures in their notebooks of what they had observed. Each seedling was a little bit different, so their pictures could be too. Once they were done, they told me about their pictures, which provided for another review of the plant parts (”Here’s the seed, and the roots, the stem and the leaves.”)

We talked a little about the function of the roots. I told them that they work like little fingers, holding the plant into the ground. They also work like straws, sucking up the water that the plant needs to grow.

Then, in another stroke of luck, I pulled out the see-through seed gardens we had planted earlier. We looked at how the roots grow beneath the soil, and hold the plant in place. They wanted to record their observations in their notebooks again, so they did. As we wrapped up, they got the idea to look inside the seeds to see what they look like. Another great way to examine a seed!

Like I said, this was an activity based a lot on luck. I happened to have these seed/plant specimens on hand. But it wouldn’t be too hard to plan such an activity ahead of time. The sprouted seeds had been soaked overnight and then left in the baggie for about 2 weeks. They provided some great, strong seedlings for handling and examining. This would work really well as a small group activity or as part of your sensory or science tables. The boys loved being scientists and exploring the parts of these little seedlings! And they just happened to learn a thing or two along the way! In addition to being a great life science activity, teaching about the parts of plants, the opportunity for using tools like a magnifying glass and recording observations hone overall science skills.

For more Seeds & Plants activities, click here.

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Tags: Gardens, Plants, pumpkins, Seeds

June 19, 2009

Seed Mosaics – Two Ways!

Because seeds come in such a wide array of colors, sizes and textures, they are great for creating mosaics and collages. You may want to use a collection of seeds that are already mixed, maybe seeds leftover from another activity, like rain sticks. You could also take the time to open several containers of seeds and look at each type. Compare the seeds to the plants they grow into, as well as to each other. Either way, the variety of seeds gives a great opportunity to introduce a multitude of descriptive words, as well as the concept of comparing and contrasting. DSCN1946

To make the mosaics, you can take your pick of these two ways. The first is the standard Elmer’s glue method. I like to put the paper on an art tray to control the strays, and provide a jar lid of glue and a paintbrush to make it easier for the children to control how much glue they use and where it ends up. The children can apply the glue and then select their seeds from a nearby container and sprinkle them where they’d like.

(For smaller seeds, using an empty shaker container may work even better.)

Another way is to use clear Contact paper. Tape the top side of the paper to your art tray, and then peel off the back paper, so that it is sticky side up.

As the children sprinkle their seeds, they stick to the Contact paper. When they’re done, spread another sheet on top, and seal it on the edges. (It seals best when there is a clear border to adhere to. When I do this again, I think I would trace a 1 inch border around on the smooth side of the bottom Contact paper, so that the children could try to avoid that area.) Trust me, the finished product looks cooler in person than my meager photography skills have captured here!

Seed mosaics encourage the children to notice and talk about the different characteristics of the seeds. This feeds the math and science skills of observation and categorization as well as language skills as they discover new words to describe their experiences. Fine motor skills are developed as they pick up and place the seeds. And of course, creativity is fostered as they make their own unique work of art!

For more Seeds & Plants activities, click here.

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Filed under Activity, Art Activity, fine motor skills, science activity

Tags: Gardens, Plants, Seeds

June 17, 2009

The Power of Choice

During the preschool years, children have a need to assert their independence. Giving them choices when it’s feasible feeds that need, and can stock up points in an account of sorts, to draw upon when choices are not negotiable. When children feel like they already have power, they are less likely to demand it through tantrums.

Think of the ways you can invite children to make their own choices. “Which barrette do you want to wear?” “Which center do you want to explore?” “Do you want 1, 2, or 3 apple slices?” Be careful when you’re phrasing the choice, to offer only those scenarios you are truly willing to accept. Don’t ask, “Which shoes do you want to wear?” if you are not willing to let him wear his plastic rain boots. Narrow down to only acceptable choices, two or three, therby giving him the choice of suitable options. Few things incur the wrath of a child like offering a choice, only to take it back.

Allowing children to feel that sense of power that comes from making their own decisions can also diffuse a situation where they may feel powerless. Instead of having a fight over whether or not your child will get dressed, allow your child to choose her own clothes if she can do so in a timely manner. If she chooses not to, her clothes will be chosen for her. Most children will want to assert their power of choice. Giving them an appropriate opportunity to choose can divert their attention from situations where there is no choice. Think about the areas where you are willing to let your children take the wheel and make the choices, and also where you are not. Wearing pants to school may not be negotiable, but your child could choose which pair to wear.

Be careful not to offer choices where there is none. When I did my 6th grade student teaching, I had a supervising teacher who pointed out my tendency to follow up a reprimand with “OK?”. “You’ll be staying after class for 10 minutes, OK?” “You’ll need to move to that seat, OK?” To me it was rhetorical, but my teacher pointed out that to a child, I was offering a choice I wasn’t really willing to let them make. What I meant to say, and learned to say, was “Do you understand?”

There are other ways we unintentionally offer null choices. Have you ever practiced a skill with a child and said, “Do you want to do it again?” When you really meant, “Let’s do it again!” Or how about, “Do you want to come inside?” meaning, “It’s time to go in now.” Then there’s always, “Why don’t you finish up your dinner and then we’ll have dessert?” If you wonder why children argue these points, it’s because our wording has told them it’s negotiable!

Giving children choices in small things, and allowing them to experience the consequences, good and bad, gives them the necessary experience to make much bigger decisions in the future. When leaving their grandparents’ house on a cool night recently, our boys had the choice of whether or not to put their jackets on before the short drive. One son chose not to wear his jacket. From the sounds in the back seat, he had a chilly 5 minute drive. The next time he was given that choice, he was quick to put his jacket on.

Experiencing that kind of undesirable consequence doesn’t just teach children specific lessons, like “put your jacket on when it’s cold out”, but gives them experience with decision-making ,and an understanding that their choices have consequences attached. They begin to learn that in a cause and effect world, they will not be rescued from the effects they have caused. This is a valuable lesson, and one that, sadly, too many people reach adulthood without learning. We owe more to the children we love and teach!

Top photo provided by Ben Earwicker.

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Filed under Article, self help skills, social skills

Tags: behavior, choice, self-control

June 16, 2009

It’s Raining!

I would say that my rain stick is probably the most popular instrument I own. The children love the hushing, captivating sound, and it requires very little skill to play. Basically, if you’re capable of grasping with your hand and turning with your wrist, you’re a natural! I’ll give you instructions here to make your own full-size rain stick, as well as to make mini rain sticks with the children.

Here are your materials:

Plastic Tube(I use the fluorescent light shatter guard you can buy at Home Depot for a few bucks. Find it in the lighting department. You can do it. They can help. You could also use cardboard tubes like a gift wrap tube or paper towel tubes, but I like the clear tubes because you can see what’s making the sound. The children seem to be as fascinated by the sight as by the sound.)

Curling Ribbon (Like the kind you use for wrapping presents, if you’re an over-achiever like that.)

Pins or Nails (You want their length to be just a little less than the diameter of your tube. We don’t want them poking through the other side!)

Packing Tape and Black Electrical Tape

Dry Beans and/or Seeds in a Variety of Sizes (Example: Rice, Popcorn, Kidney Beans, Garbanzo Beans, and Lima Beans)

Start by preparing your tube. Tape the curling ribbon at the top, and wrap it around your tube, taping it at the bottom as well. If you like, do a second section of ribbon, intersecting the first. This is the guideline for your pins. Push the pins in along the ribbon, about every inch and a half to two inches. This is pretty tough work. You may want to have gloves or a thimble on hand- literally. With the pins through, it looks something like a helix. (Sorry, I didn’t warn you advanced Biology would be involved.) Once your pins are in, you need to seal your bottom cap with electrical tape. DSCN1916

Now the fun part! Fill your tube, about 1/4-1/3 full of a mixture of dry beans, rice, and seeds of varying sizes. Then seal your top cap with electrical tape. Don’t forget to cover the holes in the caps. I’ve seen teachers empty the contents of their tubes at a make-and-take session I was doing. I guess they were so captivated by the sound, they didn’t notice the pile they were creating on the floor! Use your packing tape to cover the outside of the tube, to keep the pins from falling out or being pulled out (not that any kids you know would be that mischievous). I find that running the packing tape down the length of the tube in two or three strips works better than wrapping it around the tube. With a flip of your wrist, you’re ready to rock!

* If you want to make individual mini tubes with the children, you can cut the shatter guard tube in halves or thirds, and prepare as above. (Putting in the pins requires too much hand strength for the children to do alone.) Then, let the children help you put in the seeds and/or beans and seal the top. Since the tube only comes with two caps, you’ll have to improvise by cutting paper or wrapping tin foil on the end, then covering it with the electrical tape to make it durable.

I have used my rain stick in a variety of ways. I’ve used it to simulate rain as I’ve talked about seeds. I have the children ball up like a seeds and then with the sun and rain (cue the rain stick), they stretch up and start to “grow”. This is also a great way to transition, having them “grow and go” when they hear the rain.

You could easily find ways to use the rain sticks when teaching about water, weather, rain, sound, or music. I made the small ones with the children after reading the book, Listen to the Rain, by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault. Because the children can see the items inside, you can encourage inquiry by asking questions like, “Where does the sound come from?” “Which ones get to the bottom first? Why?” How else would you, or could you, use your rain stick?

Top rain photo by Zanderalex.

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Filed under Activity, book activity, music and movement activity, science activity, sensory activity, supplies

Tags: music, Plants, rain, Seeds, weather

June 12, 2009

How Does Your Garden Grow?

When Froebel created that groundbreaking child-centered preschool in Germany, centuries ago, he chose the name “kindergarten”, which translates to mean, “children’s garden”. It seems fitting, that a proper “children’s garden”, might include an actual garden as well! Class gardens are really the best way to teach science topics like seeds, plants, and the origins of food, as well as pro-social skills such as the value of work, responsibility, and working together toward a shared goal. Additionally, few preschool-aged children can comprehend environmental issues in distant places like rain forests and ozone layers, but they will easily learn about the importance of preserving a good environment when it comes to protecting their own prized pumpkins! And we can’t overlook the development of motor skills that takes place as they care for their patch of plants.

Depending on your climate and the space you have available, different options will work better for you. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

If you’re lucky enough, you have a little plot of land available somewhere, and you simply have to turn over the soil and get started. If you only have blacktop as far as the eye can see, or you’re worried about your soil quality, raised beds allow you to create the soil you want. You may want to try these raised beds my neighbor just put in. (I’m only a little jealous.) The building instructions include a PVC pipe frame you can add to create a simple greenhouse for a longer growing season if that’s a concern for you.

One idea for maximizing the minimum amount of space is square foot gardening. It’s also a type of raised bed with it’s own recipe for the perfect soil. (In addition to the web link above, there are books on the topic you could likely find at your public library.)

Of course, a window sill or sidewalk strip may be all you have, and all you need. You can buy window boxes, or an assortment of pots for your mini garden. Here’s a site that gives great information for planning a window garden, with a guide to selecting the right containers, plants, and growing area.

Whichever method you choose, involve your children in planning, planting, and caring for your garden. They will understand more about the needs of living things, plant life cycles, and the origins of food than they ever could from a passive experience, and their memories will be more lasting. I still vividly remember caking my hands in mud as a child as I helped my dad transplant strawberries in our garden. I loved having that time with my dad and the sweet reward of juicy strawberries months later, and I believe that experiences like that have made me love to garden. (Please read that as it was written. I love to garden. I didn’t say I was good at it. Yet.) So start today and grow some memories with the children you love and teach!

For more Seeds & Plants activities, click here.

Photo by ckgd2.

June 11, 2009

Book Activity: The Empty Pot

The Empty Pot, by Demi, is a great story of a Chinese emperor who seeks his replacement by giving all the young children in his empire a challenge to grow beautiful flowers from the seeds they are given. Ping has a proverbial green thumb and seems the likely one to win the challenge. As he nurtures his seed however, nothing happens. The day of the presentation arrives, and ping bravely presents the emperor his empty pot, while all around him the children have brought a variety of beautiful plants. The emperor announces that Ping will be his replacement, explaining that the seeds he had distributed had been cooked and would not grow. Ping was the only one who showed honesty, and was therefore worthy to become emperor.

This book is a fantastic opportunity to discuss the pro-social skill of honesty. Talk about how disappointed, and even embarrassed, Ping felt when his friends had beautiful flowers but he did not. Once the emperor reveals that the seeds he gave could not grow, talk about how the other children ended up with flowers in their pots. Talk about how Ping was brave to tell the truth and why that courage was more important than growing a flower. You could take this discussion as far as you’d like.

After discussing honesty, try your own seed science experiment. Take a batch of easy to sprout seeds (pumpkin, bean, sunflower). Use half of the seeds as your control, and simply sprout them in a Ziploc with wet napkins. The other set will be your test set, or your “Emperor Set” if you wish. Cook these by boiling them, roasting them- however you wish. (Just be sure to cook them thoroughly. I once boiled some very briefly, and they still sprouted. Who knew they’d be so resilient?) Then put them in another Ziploc with wet napkins and observe the two sets of seeds.

Bag-sprouted pumpkin seeds.

Engage your children in the experiment and teach the scientific process as you directly encourage them to be inquisitive, hypothesize, observe, record, and share information. Ask the children what kinds of questions they want to answer as you observe the two sets over the course of a week or two. (Will they both grow? Will one grow faster?) Write the questions on a list, and refer to it as you make daily observations. Write your answers as you discover them. Add surprise observations as well. (”The beans in bag #2 look mushy.”) After observing the two sets over a period of time, summarize the differences and what the children have learned. (”Seeds can’t grow if they’re boiled and soft first.” “You have to have healthy seeds or they won’t grow.” “Not every seed can grow a plant.” etc.)

You can share your experiment by creating a poster or book with pictures and your written observations. Refer back to The Empty Pot and talk about how your experiment was similar. Do the children think the emperor had to do a similar experiment to know what to expect when he gave the seeds to the children?

You could do this experiment again, testing other hypotheses about seeds. Will they grow if they’re chopped in half? Will they grow if they’re soaked in water vs soaked in vinegar before going into the Ziploc? Brainstorm questions with your children and create your own experiment with a (control and a variable) to find your answers!

For more Seeds & Plants activities, click here.

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Filed under Activity, book activity, language activity, literacy activity, science activity, social skills

Tags: Honesty, Plants, Seeds

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Not Just Cute

June 26, 2009

Seed Snack Time!

June 20, 2009

Sowing the Seeds of Reading – Book List

June 19, 2009

Serendipitous Seed Science

June 19, 2009

Seed Mosaics – Two Ways!

June 16, 2009

It’s Raining!

June 12, 2009

How Does Your Garden Grow?

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