Building Readers

Art in the Preschool Classroom: Finding Reality and Fantasy

August 26, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Create, Learning through Play and Experience 5 Comments

One of the classes I’ve been taking this summer is “The Arts in Every Classroom” (you can view the same class here). The arts seem easily incorporated into preschool, as the children are very naturally using music, movement, and visual art as a means of expressing themselves, almost constantly! This class gave me a few new insights into incorporating the arts that I may not have considered before and I hope to be able to utilize the arts more in the future. I’m particularly excited to utilize it during my “Experiencing the Arts through the Senses” theme I have planned for January!

As part of the culminating assignment, I needed to teach an art lesson. Since I don’t start my school year until September, I used two of my own cutie pies as my star pupils. I thought I’d share what we did here, in case you’d like to implement a similar lesson!

[Read more…]

A Culture of Literacy: Teaching Preschoolers the ABC’s and More

August 20, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers 4 Comments

Ask your average parents what they hope their child will learn in preschool, and most have learning the ABC’s somewhere in their tops 5 goals. Many preschool teachers respond to this by implementing a “letter-of-the-week” curriculum. One week may be the letter “M”, so we eat marshmallows, draw maps, read books about monkeys, and write letters to our moms. While this certainly gives a lot of exposure to the letter “M” and invites a variety of activities and learning opportunities, it creates a very incoherent curriculum. Children learn by making connections. It is a little difficult to make a quick connection between a white, sweet, gooey marshmallow and a folded up map of the nearest bus stops. (Though my own children could probably make some great connections between “monkeys” and “Mom”!) Additionally, when the primary focus is on the almighty “letter-of-the-week”, it is easy to lose sight of other important literacy goals or to begin teaching them in isolation as well. That is not how reading happens. The whole purpose of reading and writing is to obtain and convey meaning. Therefore, reading and writing should be taught through coherent, meaningful experiences.

[Read more…]

A Culture of Literacy: Teaching Preschoolers the ABC's and More

August 20, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers 9 Comments

[Read more…]

The Best Books for Dinosaur Lovers!

August 7, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Learning through Play and Experience 1 Comment

I usually start out my lit list with some classic suggestions for incorporating nursery rhymes, fables, fairy tales, and the like, but I can’t think of any old standards involving dinosaurs. If I’m overlooking something, please let me know. I can’t think of a single one!

Here are some great books I like to use in a dinosaur unit, or to share with a dinosaur aficionado and watch his eyes brighten with delight! It is in no way an exhaustive list, so please comment with your favorites as well! As always, each picture in this list is linked to Amazon if you’re interested in purchasing information, or just more views of the books.

[Read more…]

Lumpy Bumpy Dinosaur Scales

August 4, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Create, Learning through Play and Experience 7 Comments

As you’re talking to your preschoolers about dinosaurs, it’s great to talk about what they might have looked like. No one was around to see them, so no one knows for sure, but paleontologists have used some clues to help them make some really good guesses. Some “mummified” dinosaur remains show dinosaurs with scales. That would make sense since they are considered reptiles! (The name brontosaurus actually means “thunder lizard”, just a tid-bit kids love to hear.) Here’s a great activity to explore the scaly nature of dinosaur skin while also building creativity and motor skills.

Start this one out with a discussion about dinosaur’s skin. I have used the book Dino Pets, by Lynn Plourde to introduce this idea, since it does a great job of illustrating and comparing the many characteristics of dinosaurs. I’ve also used samples of leather (or imitation leather, it may be easier to come by) for the children to feel the bumpy, scaly texture. Then, using a dinosaur outline as your base, (I found these dinosaur outlines online), have the children rip colored paper into small pieces and glue them on the dinosaur to represent the dinosaur scales. (It may be easiest just to cover the dinosaur with your glue stick before tearing.) Don’t be tempted to cut the paper for them! The tearing action utilizes the pincer grasp and builds fine motor strength and control. These are all skills children need to develop in order to have the physical ability to write. Of course, since we have no way to be sure what colors the dinosaurs were, the children can use their imaginations and implement any colors they like. Challenge their creativity and talk to them about their ideas as they make their own colorful dinosaurs. Where would such a colorful dinosaur live? What is it called? What does it eat?

[Read more…]

A Trip to the Dinosaur Museum Puts Us All in the Author’s Chair

July 24, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Learning through Play and Experience 1 Comment

When you’re studying dinosaurs with preschoolers, nothing really takes the place of a trip to a dinosaur museum or another hands-on dinosaur experience. Check in your local area and see what options you may have. Don’t forget to check into nearby universities as some have free exhibits or perhaps a professor (or maybe a grad student) who would meet with your group of little ones and show a few prehistoric specimen.

When I took a group of preschoolers to a dinosaur museum lately, I was sure to pack along my camera. I took pictures of the children as they explored, but I also took a lot of pictures of the dinosaurs themselves. After printing the pictures, I put each one on a single page and then combined the pages for a book. I shared the book during large group as we talked about the trip. We had been learning through lots of great dinosaur books. I told the children that they were now the dinosaur experts, that this was their book, and they needed to add the words to go with the pictures.

[Read more…]

A Trip to the Dinosaur Museum Puts Us All in the Author's Chair

July 24, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Learning through Play and Experience Leave a Comment

[Read more…]

Sowing the Seeds of Reading – Book List

June 20, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Building Readers, Learning through Play and Experience 2 Comments

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?

[Read more…]