Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, Quarters . . . and Dance!

Hello Autumn, and Hello EC Community!

We all know that children learn in different ways.  Movement can help to teach and reinforce numbers, counting, and early math skills. Try this quick and easy movement activity about coins and their values.  The activity, presented in two parts, can help young children to learn to identify pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, and then to recognize that each coin has a different value and what those values are.

Coin Dance

Time:  Approximately 20 minutes

Materials:  Separate representations of each of the four coins, on paper or cardboard, large enough for all of the children to see and identify 

Part 1:  Identifying the Coins

    

    

    Place the children in home spots evenly spaced throughout the room, or standing in a circle with plenty of room between each child, or standing by tables or desks.

    Show the coin pictures one by one.  Identify them for the children.   Repeat as needed. 

    Now tell the children:  I will hold one of the coins up, and instead of telling me what it is, I would like for you to show me in movement:

If I hold up a penny, I would like you to sit down and stand back up.  

If I hold up the nickel, I would like you to go up on your tiptoes and then come back down.  

If I hold up the dime, I would like you to bounce (bending your knees) or jump.  

If I hold up the quarter, I would like you to march in place.

     

    Repeat the game as long as the children are engaged and until they can identify the coins.

Part 2:  Identifying the Value of the Coins

    

    Expand the game by having the children identify the value of the coin (again when you hold up the pictures one by one) by doing the following number of movements assigned to each coin (the same number of movements as the value of each coin).  This is a surprisingly lively activity, even though they will be staying in one spot throughout.

    Penny: The children will go down to the floor and back up once.  

    Nickel:  The children will balance on their tiptoes for five counts.  

    Dime:  The children will do ten small bounces or jumps in place

    Quarter:  The children will march in place for twenty-five counts 

    Encourage the children to count along with you as they are doing the movements.  Repeat the activity another day, and have the children make up their own movements!

Do 10 small jumps when I hold up the dime!

Keep on dancin',

Connie

www.movingislearning.com

https://www.scbwi.org/members-public/connie-dow

        

MOVING IS LEARNING!

Math + Engineering in Preschool with Post-it Notes! STEAM!

How do you turn STEM into STEAM in Preschool? 

MIX IN THE ARTS of COURSE! 

The year of 2015 will be remembered as a year of introspection for me: 

personally and professionally. 

We are off to a whizz-bang start on all fronts. 

Which leaves me with a lot of introspection and examination. 

Things I know for sure: 

1. There are amazing people in the Early Childhood world: 

Amazing people directing AMAZING work from very young children! 

Preschool Bulletin Board: Self-Esteem, Math and Engineering QUILTED Together!

I've just finished my first, ever, week long RESIDENCY

 for an entire school district!

My week of visiting all nine elementary buildings for a district, 

took place in Texas. 

You've always heard the rumor about life being BIG in TX? 

I'm here to report that there is validity to that claim!

Take a quick peak over my shoulder and see for yourself.  

Post-it Notes as Geometric Shapes + Fine Motor Work = Awesome ARTS Awareness

These first images are from my fifth and final day.

It was quite a week!!! 

I kicked off the week by giving a day-long

 staff development training on the Arts. 

We sang. We danced. We jumped. We laughed. We signed. We learned. 

Each teacher in attendance received a copy of my first picture book, 

"You're Wonderful." 

Quilts of Fabric become Traditional Picture Book Illustrations! "You're Wonderful" by Debbie Clement 

Quite an exuberant way to begin!

Then Tuesday through Friday I visited each of the nine buildings, 

making a total of 17 Author-Illustrator presentations 

to the youngest students in each building: 

the preschoolers! 

2. I LUV LUV LUV what I get to do for a 'living.' 

Children are so VERY capable of learning! 

That learning is designed and directed by a brilliant teacher.

Extending a picture book's style through a collaborative ARTS project builds bridges and makes connections between the disciplines!

This is what I call an Arts Integration Project! 

3. Teachers inspire each other! 

The pictures above are two different teachers in the same building, piggy-backing from each other's approach. Each are using Post-it notes as the 'fabric' for examining the possibilities of geometric shapes. 

Who is the mentor and who is being mentored. 

You might be surprised. 

Wait till you see how the third teacher in the same pod

directed her students to respond to my quilted illustrations! 

TA-DA!

I felt like I was playing "Where's Waldo."

Three teachers. Three variations. 

Shapes! Shapes! And MORE SHAPES in Preschool Art Response to "You're Wonderful" by Debbie Clement

4. My photography skills are challenged by massive Art displays. 

There's collaboration within classrooms 

and there's collaboration within a building! 

Look what happens when there are thirteen different approaches from teachers in the same building. 

The colors are vibrant and the approaches are numerous!

Why yes. 

My heart does literally JUMP when I walk into these displays!  

WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE! 

It takes vision and planning and resources and an excel spread sheet to pull off something of this magnitude! 

It takes insight and administrative support. 

It takes a willingness to step outside the box!

I am fortunate to meet passionate ECE educators at national events! 

That's how an Artist RESIDENCY unfolds! 

The next national event on my dance-card is Frogstreet's SPLASH this summer. 

I am so excited. I'm so VERY excited at the opportunity to return! 

Using Cards to Build Number Skills

It's Scott from Brick by Brick. I love to repurpose materials—use materials in ways different from their intended purpose.

Playing cards or other numbered cards can be reused to practice number skills and math skills.

You can use any playing cards...just take out the face cards. I've been using Uno cards, since the numbers are large and focus on single digits.

For pre-K and kindergartners, use them to practice numeral recognition. They can sort or match the numerals; talk about each one. As they count or group objects into quantities, show and say the numeral. 

As kindergartners gain more skills, show a card and ask them to count out that many objects. Show another card and count objects. Then compare the two quantities. 

If you create your own board game, you can use these cards as part of the game. Draw a card and move a game piece that number of spaces on your game.

Or draw a card and find that many items in the room that share a common characteristic (color, shape).

For older kindergartners, draw three cards. Help the child put the numerals in order from least to greatest. (I played this game with first graders last year.) 

Use the cards for part-part-whole skills. Lay down a 5 card and count out the objects. Divide the objects into two groups and locate the numerals for those amounts. (For example, 1 and 4.) Seeing these parts of a larger number builds skills in addition and subtraction. 

Another reason I like using Uno cards is that I can use the cards to make larger numerals. I can put 2 card and 3 card next to each other for 23. If you have a child interested in numbers, you can create any number by placing the cards next to one another. (And Uno cards have a 0!)

But note. Whatever you are doing with your kids, keep it fun...as a game. Don't drill or force the play. Start a game. If a child gets engaged, keep going. If the child seems interested in something else, put it aside. You have introduced a concept; build on it when a child's interest is high.

What ideas do you have for using cards with numbers?

FALLING into FALL

 

 

 

 

FALLING into FALL

It is one of my favorite times of the year.  Here in Southern Indiana the corn fields are being harvested and children see this no matter where they go in the area.  Take time to enjoy the world that children should be aware of .............changing of the seasons.

Below is an on going project that can be added to a curriculum, displayed in an in home center or any classroom.

 

Materials needed: 

 Milk or water - gallon or 1/2 gallon jugs

Cut the jugs leaving the handle for easy moving

SOIL - get good soil at your local store

Ears of corn - I suggest an ear of field corn and another ear of Indian Corn

 

Invite the children to plant the ear of corn with the top (end where the shuck was pulled off) inserted in the soil.  Water with 1/2 cup of water.

PREDICT
COMPARE
MEASURE
WHY AND HOW

 

How much water will be needed and how often should you water ?  Make this an on going process for all the children.  We put a different ear of corn in each classroom and once a week we placed them together to see who had the most growth.  The same classroom won each year because she had the most sun coming through her window.  She faced the South.  The corn in the Northwest window did not grow much...............what a comparison for children to see.

 

Print a corn picture for each class and measure the growth. 

 

 

 

 

SEEING NATURE UP CLOSE

 

 

There are many local farms in our area.  Schedule a field trip and visit a local farm in your area. 

 I will share a funny. 

 One year we went to a dairy ....way....out....in the country and it was not a modern dairy.........human beings actually milked the cows.

The barn,  and areas around the barn,  were layered with manure and we all walked around and went inside the barn.  Inside the barn all the children got a chance to milk a cow sitting on a bucket. They also saw newly born kittens. 

 

 When we walked back to our cars (we could car pool in the old days) there was a mother with a garbage bag for each child's shoes.  She did not want manure in her car...........I still laugh because when we took the shoes out of the bag ............they were covered with manure.

 

So, we let the children go home without shoes and gave the bag to our parents.  It was a wonderful trip touching all 5 senses.

 

Wright's Berry Farm

 

 

 

 

This visit is filled with vegetables, fruits, flowers, tractors and all the things children need to experience first hand.

 

AUDUBON ARTS DAYThis event is for the Special children and adults in the Henderson, KY area.  Ms. Kim McGrew has received a national award for putting this event together.  It lasts for 3 days and hundreds of people are involved.  Kim has the camera in the bottom picture.  A musician, potter, camera man, balloon man, bubble lady, t-shirt maker and myself the storyteller are blessed to be asked to be part of this event.

This year they had a fancy chair and crown just for the storyteller.  It was wonderful to sit in the chair and see the expression on the visitors faces. 

 

This blog is longer than I had planned but when you get started it is hard to cut things off.  The pictures below are from St. Joe Child Care Center and I have permission to share them with you.  It is truly a kid friendly atmosphere.

 

 

Plant some corn, tell lots of stories, sing songs and enjoy the magic of the season.

 

Check out my new web site at www.storytellin.com and stay tuned for new and exciting adventures.  Sign up for my newsletter.............which will come out 4 times each year as the seasons change.

God has blessed us all with a special connection to a child's world.

Next month I am featuring a special book and the author just in time for the Christmas holiday.


NAEYC - Come to Washing, DC Nov. 20 - 23

Mary Jo's  workshop Sat. 10:30 a.m.  ROOM 146

You ALL come and also check out the Kaplan Booth on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
and Check out the FROG STREET booth for date and time of presentation.

 

 

 

Fall Fun: Leaf Explorations!

Hi! I'm Ayn and I am a Ga. Pre-K teacher, serving 4 and 5 year olds in an inclusive setting. I share my classroom adventures on my blog, little illuminations.

Fall has begun here and it's the perfect time to explore nature. We've recently discovered the book, "We're Going On A Leaf Hunt" by Steve Metzger written similarly to the favorite "We're Going On A Bear Hunt".

We enjoy taking nature walks and collecting interesting leaves, acorns, gumballs, pine cones and other natural items along the way. We often bring items back to class to put in our science center for independent exploration, as well as in our art center. 

We measure our leaves, both with standard and non-standard measures. Of course, as a true scientist would do, we hypothesize about what we think our results will be. (This is a great time for me as a teacher to ask questions and try to prompt critical thinking.)  We use math cubes to measure length.

We cover the leaf with pennies and try to guess how many it will take to cover it completely.

We explore the properties of buoyancy. Do leaves sink or float? What if we weight it down with pennies? How many pennies will make the leaf sink?

We explore how the leaves travel through the wind to land in various locations on our playground and recreate the wind with a fan.

On the playground, leaves and natural items are an integral part of our play. 

Gumballs are everywhere this time of year, and feature prominently in our outdoor play. The children often call them "meatballs".  

Sometimes, they are featured in our art, as well. 

In our art center, we make leaf rubbings.

After I saw this idea on Pinterest, we painted the back of leaves and made leaf print paintings.

Some of the kids made nature wreaths with found items.

Sometimes, we take the art materials outside to create with what we discover there.

One of our favorite fall books is "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert. 

The "Leaf Man" book often inspires the children to create their own "leaf people".

Leaf explorations are often a great way to help children begin to notice the world that surrounds them.  I get as excited as the kids when I hear, "Hey, Mrs. Ayn, guess what I found?!" They are always excited to share their finds.

There are so many ways to explore the nature that surrounds us. Sometimes, a simple nature walk can lead to so much more! 

Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook!