Hip! Hip! Hooray! Election Day in Pre-K!

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.

^^^Parts of this post are reprinted from an earlier post on little illuminations.

Tomorrow is ELECTION DAY here in the U.S.! Politicians will be campaigning, citizens will be voting. The children will have the day off, as most of the schools in our area are voting precincts. By Wednesday, we will know who will lead our country for the next four years. I've already voted, and was proud to take my youngest daughter with me to the polls for her very first time! I want my vote to be counted. I won't tell you who I voted for---that's personal, and quirky as it may be, I don't even share that with my husband or children. It's serious business, much too serious for kids. Or is it? While many of the political issues may be WAY over their heads, many will stand at their parents' side as ballots are cast. Children are curious about what is going on. I think voting (and making our individual voices heard and counted) is one of the MOST important things we can do as American citizens, and it is never too early to help the children understand how important voting is.

Lately, we've had a couple of discussions about politics. We talked about the reason we vote, and how that is our chance as a citizen to let our voice be heard. I relate it to the children's jobs at school, and how different people might do a job differently, using simple terms in a way they might understand. We vote on a variety of things in preschool, so they got the basic idea. 

We've set up a voting booth so the children can vote on who they think will win the election. These are pictures from one of our previous election booths in Pre-K.

We converted our puppet theater, using shoe boxes, pictures of the candidates, and index cards with a big sticker for the ballot. 

The children will go into the booth, away from where the other waiting children can see, and "cast their ballot". 

After voting, they'll even receive a sticker to show they have voted!

When all the ballots are cast, we will count and re-count the votes together, which makes for a fantastic little math lesson. 

I can't wait to tally up the children's votes later today and compare them to the actual winner of our Presidential Election. We'll see how accurate their predictions are when the final count is in tomorrow!

There are some great books about the democratic voting process for children. Here are a few of my favorites:

      

                                  

Please get out and VOTE!!!! Your vote counts! 

 Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook! And be sure to check out PreK+K Sharing EEE!

Veterans Day and the National Anthem

Hi! It's Carolyn from Kindergarten: Holding Hands and Sticking Together. I found this wonderful idea for Veterans Day and wanted to share it with you.  If you didn't want to write "pray" for your public school, you could say "thank" or "think of" a Veteran.  But I just loved it- and I love to remember to pray for those wonderful people protecting our country.

Here is our Veterans Day Wall that my sweet friend Lorri, who teaches first grade across the hall from me, organized last year. We all sent a letter home with our students asking for names of relatives who were Veterans.  Families sent in the names, and we made stars to honor them on our wall.  I love how it turned out.  You should have heard the chatter of all the kids talking about the Veterans they knew. It was really wonderful, and a great way to teach children to respect what the Veterans have done to make our country what it is today.  

I always LOVE teaching my class our National Anthem, and always want to jump right in with it first thing in September, but I've found that waiting until about this time of year actually works out better. There seems to be so much to cover the first few weeks of school, that I don't want to throw it in with everything else. I love this to be special. We learn the Pledge of Allegiance right away and talk about our flag. I like starting the National Anthem about this time of year so we know it well by Veterans Day.   

I begin our lesson asking the children if any of them have heard our National Anthem.  Most have heard it at baseball or football games.  I give them this quick little history about the song.

During the War of 1812- 200 years ago- American men on a ship kept watching to see if our American flag was still flying during a battle with the British.  If the Americans saw the flag, they knew that we had won the battle.  The bombs that were exploding (like fireworks) lit up the sky, and the men saw our flag flying, so they knew we had won.  A man named Francis Scott Key wrote a poem about what happened that night, and it became a very special song for our country.



After this mini history lesson, lots of the children have questions.  Some seem really concerned wondering if the "bad guys" from that fight are now dead or at least really far away.



Next I sing the song as I show the pictures from Peter Spier's  The Star Spangled Banner book. I love his illustrations. So do the kids.

 (On a side note-every single time I sing it, I try to start in a lower range because when I get to "and the rockets red glare" it is WAY too high for me- and sounds ridiculous. Luckily the kids are five... so no one judges.)

After I sing us through the book, I go back, and we focus on one page at a time so we can delve into some fabulous vocabulary.  Here is a paper I made (just for me) with a quick history of the song (that I condense for my kids) and the vocabulary and phrases we discuss.  If you would like a copy, just click on the picture.

The children learn it so quickly- and we review it every time we sing the song, so they really know what the song means.  I think that's important for them- and they love knowing it. I remember having to look up "rampart" the first time I decided to teach this vocabulary years ago- so I tell them that maybe they can teach their mom and dad some new words, too.

I found this AWESOME Star Spangled Banner Freebie at the Crafty Classroom blog!  It is wonderful. I laminated the pages and made a couple classroom books. The illustrations are wonderful and really help with the vocabulary.

  

I also printed out these pages they have so the children can make mini books.  I wait to make these until the children really know the song and can take them home and sing it!

After our song and vocabulary lesson, we watch lots of different versions of the song sung by different artists.  I put some different versions together on this Back to School Prezi. Just click on the picture if you would like it. It is free at my TPT store!  It is part of my Fun in the Fall Prezi , but this one has more versions of the song.  The Fun in Fall Prezi got too big for any more videos, so I put them on this one.  The last four white stripes have different artists singing the National Anthem.  I sort of organized them by history, then young children singing it, then the "girls," then the "boys," as my kids call them.

You can hear a pin drop when I play the videos!  They love to hear the different people sing.   We get to talk about why people stand up when it is sung and why people take off their hats to show respect for our country.




A few years ago, one of my student's dads was stationed in Iraq.  Our class wrote notes and sent packages to his troop ( twenty six of them!) all year long.  They were awesome about writing back and sending pictures.  They sent us this very special flag that flew on Easter day in Iraq with a picture some of the men and women we wrote to holding a big THANK YOU banner.  My classes love studying this picture.

During free choice, I see MANY ramparts being built and the army guys are now a favorite.

I hope you have fun teaching the National Anthem in your classroom, too.
Have a wonderful day and thank you for stopping by.  And thank you, Veterans, for all you've done.

Stop Telling Preschoolers to "Share" and "Take Turns"

by Cheryl Hatch
Preschool Plan It

"Take Turns! Share!" Words we use every day.

A few months ago, I shared information about challenging preschool behavior and how we, as teachers can approach it.  But what about every day preschool behaviors?  

They feel pretty challenging even if they ARE developmentally appropriate, for sure! 

And we need to remember that it is our role, as the adult in the room, to help guide our children through the situations they face in the classroom each day--no prevent it or punish for it.

Sure, we certainly should know what triggers children to react negatively and do our best to provide an environment that does not create negative behavior.

We can provide multiples of popular toys and materials.  We can provide a space in the classroom to build that super high block structure that is not in the middle of the room and, therefore, in the major path of traffic.  There are many other areas we can observe, assess and do.  

Today, though, I want to make a suggestion about something you should STOP doing.

Stop using words like "Take Turns" or "We share the toys in school" and start showing them what that actually means!

We tend to think they know what it means to share or take turns, mostly because we or their parents have said it day in and day out!

But really, have we ever taken the time to really explain and show what those words mean?  Have we taken the time to think about what those words mean versus how we apply them to children?

What we sometimes have shown them is that sharing means relinquishing what they have to another child and that a person's turn is over when an adult says so, not because a person is done using an item.

I mean, let's face it, if you have 12 cars in front of you, you can share with me.
If you have 1 car in front of you, short of cutting it in half, you can't share it!

And, if you have the one car I want to use, we can take turns.  

However, what does that mean?  Usually the teacher sets a timer for 5 minutes and tells you that when the timer goes off, it's my turn.

But what if you are having that car go up that crazy, awesome block ramp you just built and it has to drive through the (imaginary) snow and mud to get to the top.  Now....you must decide......will it go down the ramp or will it use it's transformer wings to fly out of the snowstorm?  

Right when you are decided the fate of this car, the timer goes off and you are told that it's MY turn to use it.  BUT--YOU WEREN'T DONE USING IT YET!   

I used the timer method for a long time until I realized that it's not up to me to decide when or how long a child's turn is.  It is up to the person using the item!

Real life comparison:  

Let's say another adult in your home is using the one laptop in the house.  They are sending an email or writing a paper.  If you ask them if you can use the laptop (aka: have a turn) when they are done, what happens?  

Most likely they respond with "Sure!", they finish their email or paper and let you know when they are done, right?

Would you ever set a timer for 5 minutes and, when the timer goes off, go over to that person, take the laptop out of their hands and say "Timer went off--my turn."?

Of course not!! The person who is using the laptop knows when they are done.

It should be the same for children.  

You:  Playing happily with potential flying car in the block area.

Me:   I want to use that car.

You:  But I'm using it right now.

Me:  But you've had it for a gazillion minutes.  MISS TEACHER!  She won't let me use the car!!!!

Teacher:  You need to share (or you need to take turns)!

You:  Well, it's my turn right now!

Me:  But I want a turn!!

Teacher:  We'll set the timer for 5 minutes and then it will be Cheryl's turn.

This is the typical approach.

Instead, it is my belief that we need to let the child decide when their turn is over.  It might be in 5 minutes, it might be at clean up time.  If that happens, you can always put a note on the toy or item that says "Cheryl's turn is tomorrow" and let me use it first tomorrow.

We need to approach every challenge as an opportunity to teach problem solving skills, including what sharing really means.  And what taking turns really means.

Children can not learn to negotiate problems if they are not allowed to have them.  

Some Resources To Provide Tips and Techniques

I have an article on the website about Behavior Guidance for other behavioral challenges we see day to day in the classroom.  It helps go over 4 steps to take to help decide HOW to approach different behaviors.

Click here to read the 4 Steps to Behavior Guidance in Preschool.

And if you missed my previous article on Challenging Preschool Behaviors, you will find that here.

About the author

Cheryl Hatch has taught and directed preschool programs for over 20 years.  She is the Creator and Owner of Preschool Plan It, a website dedicated to sharing preschool themes, activities, articles and training with early childhood educators.  She volunteers as the coordinator and teacher of the MOPPETS program in her town (a preschool program for the M.O.P.S.--Mothers of Preschoolers Program).  She has her undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education.  Cheryl has been an active, integral member and leader within the Teachers.Net Early Childhood community for many years, moderating live chats and providing peer support on the Preschool Teachers Chatboard.  You can read Cheryl’s articles, activities and themed preschool lesson plans at www.preschool-plan-it.com 

Celebrate Without Guilt!

Celebrate Without Guilt! 

Maryann “Mar.” Harman, MA Education

Founder Music with Mar., Inc.

I have always been a proponent of multiculturalism.  It is one of the things about the US that I hold so dear - the mixture (and welcoming) of all kinds of people.  Ever since I was a little girl growing up in Newark, NJ, I was fascinated by the homes of my friends who came from different countries.  It was so interesting to hear their names, listen to their languages and share their food.  I embraced all their traditions and enjoyed sometimes being invited to share in them.  It was reciprocal.  My friends enjoyed learning the US traditions as their families became citizens.

In recent years, the holidays that I grew up with and hold so dear have been questioned and sometimes even eliminated from schools.  This is wrong.  Although we should never cram our religious beliefs onto anyone else, we should still be allowed to celebrate ours - and openly - WITHOUT GUILT.  It is possible to respect and acknowledge other holidays and still celebrate ours.  If we respect others' rights to celebrate, then in turn, others should be happy to have us do the same.

During this season, I always try to assess a person before saying "Merry Christmas".  Many times, if I am not sure, I say "Merry Christmas - or whatever is it you celebrate!"  It has become a season, a season that everyone celebrates whether just for the traditions (lighting a tree, giving money to a Santa to help others or singing traditional songs) or for the religious aspect.  Everyone takes from it the part they feel attached to.  I even recorded a song – “Everybody Loves Christmas Time”.   Just recently, a woman from another culture said to me, “Don’t be silly.  We all enjoy taking part in the season.”

How sad that we aren't supposed to say "Santa Claus" or "Christmas" in school.  When a child comes into class and asks, "Who is that man outside in the red suit ringing a bell?”, is the response "I'm not allowed to tell you."?  Shouldn't we be teaching children about everyone and ask "What do you celebrate in your home?"  Instead of a useful teaching tool, we are eliminating anything that may insult someone.  By doing this, we are insulting all of those who have been freely celebrating their traditions for years.   Instead of educating our children, we remove the things we believe may be offensive and miss a great opportunity to teach valuable lessons. 

At one school in which I taught, the holidays lined up one year, being all near the end of Nov into Dec.  At morning assembly, each morning we had a different group of children come up and tell about their holiday without getting religious.  Indian children spoke of Diwali.  Muslims about Ramadan and Eid.  Jewish children talked about Hanukah and then some of the parents cooked latkes in the classrooms.  Last, we spoke about Christmas.  A mom from Egypt kissed me in the hallway and said "Thank you.  No teacher has ever acknowledged our Muslim holidays before."  As a music teacher, to me, it was the natural thing to do.  The children absolutely loved sharing their traditions and the other children found it very interesting.  That is what education is – expanding minds.  (A side note: Ramadan is not always the same time every year.  It is based on the Muslim year.  It is the same with Hanukah.)  Diwali is usually in October or November. 

A good resource for learning about different holidays is "Celebrations Around the World" by Carole S. Angell. 

Remember to share your traditions and celebrate them proudly.  You can do that and respect other's traditions as well.  

Next month's blog will be all about "The Reindeer Dance" and an updated version of the "Twelve Days of Christmas".  Be sure to check November 25!

Maryann "Mar." Harman

For daily brain facts on the importance of music, please like and share :

                                                       

    Music with Mar., Inc Brain Facts

DIY Feel Box

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

I like easy ideas...and ideas that are little cost. That's why I love this feel box.

You need an oatmeal box and a large NEW men's athletic sock. Slide the sock over the oatmeal box = and the feel box is ready.

Put in anything that you want kids to feel--small toys, nature items, magnet shapes, anything.

Kids reach in through the sock and feel the items. They can easily pull them out.

This is a great activity for all ages of kids. I've used it with one-year-old toddlers and kindergartners. With younger kids, I just put in 1 or 2 items. With kindergartners, put in several items and lay similar items beside the box. 

They can feel one of the items they can see and then find items that feel the same inside the box. 

Another advantage - no cheating! Kids cannot see inside the box, even when they reach inside it.

I like this activity. The box is recycled and the sock can be purchased at the dollar store. The items that go in the box are things you already have. Easy. Little cost. 

And fun!  

Pumpkins, Wind and More October Music!

Where is Miss Carole of Macaroni Soup today?  I’m in Los Gatos, CA at the annual Children’s Music Network Conference – singing and dancing with people who make music with and for children! 

         Yes, I’m in my “Happy Place!” 

PLUS for the past two months every spare minute has been devoted to making a new recording! “WELCOME!” will be released in early December!  Look at the “Macaroni Soup Singers” for this year – they were adorable plus plus!

What does that mean for this month’s blog?  Well – I’m asking you to take a look back at some October offerings from the past 5 years that I’ve been contributing here on PreK and K Sharing!

OCTOBER 2015– “Pumpkins!”  

OCTOBER 2014- “Windy Songs from the Windy City!”

OCTOBER 2013-  “Blow the Wind!”

OCTOBER 2012 -  “Making BOO Fun!”  sorry - this one seems to have disappeared!  Talk about "BOO!"

…and one of my most-read blogs: “Creating an Obstacle Course”  Make a slightly spooky, wonderfully fun course of challenges that children will enjoy over and over!

Now – back to my own singing and dancing!  For more information about The Children’s Music Network you can email me or go to www.cmnonline.org   It’s a fantastic organization for teachers, musicians, librarians, parents – heck, anyone who makes music with kids of all ages!

 

Yours for a Fall Song!

“Miss Carole” Stephens

Macaroni Soup! Active Music for Active Learners!

Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Language Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now 

Dinosaurs are such a fun, high-interest topic that I just had to take a break from all the holiday activities to focus on dinosaurs. I'm sharing ideas for free dinosaur printables and Montessori-inspired dinosaur language activities. 

I've had posts here before with other dinosaur activities. But these are new, different, and focusing on hands-on dinosaur language activities. My post at Living Montessori Now has a long list of free dinosaur printables. 

You'll find many activities for preschoolers through first graders throughout the year along with presentation ideas in my previous posts at PreK + K Sharing. You'll also find ideas for using free printables to create activity trays here: How to Use Printables to Create Montessori-Inspired Activities. 

At Living Montessori Now, I have a post with resource links of Free Printables for Montessori Homeschools and Preschools. 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you. 

Letter D Object Basket and Writing Tray

Free Printables: Dinosaur Letters for Letter D Object Basket and Writing Tray (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber) 

For the letter d basket, I used a basket with small objects beginning with the /d/ sound. I like introducing the cursive letter along with the manuscript one, so I included the cursive d card. I used a variety of objects starting with /d/. You could just say the phonetic sound as you or your child removes an item from the basket: for example, "/d/ dog, /d/ doll..." Some of the objects are ones I had at home (such as Safari Ltd. TOOB objects and a miniature wooden doll I had), although many are from Montessori Services (they have individual phonetic objects or a whole set available). 

For the letter d sand tray, I used the wooden tray from the Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace Shapes. You can use whatever tray or container work best for you, though. For the sand, I sterilized sand from outdoors by baking it for 30 minutes at 200F. You can also buy sand on Amazon. 

Dinosaur Letter Tile Cards (Beginning Sounds) 

 

Free Printable: Dinosaur Letter Tile Cards (Beginning Sounds) by Karen Cox from PreKinders at TeachersPayTeachers. There are 3 levels to this printable, so it's very versatile. I'm showing the middle version with the missing initial sound.  
Free Printable: Montessori Movable Alphabet (1 Inch Letter Tiles). You could purchase letter tiles if you prefer rather than printing them out. For this activity, I used a Multicraft tray and small Bambu condiment cup to hold the letters.
    

For our floor work, we always use a Montessori Services hemmed work rug.

Dinosaur Syllables 

 

Free Printable: Dinos TOOB Key by Safari Ltd., hosted at Living Montessori Now. I just printed it out and cut it apart, using the 8 dinosaurs that were in both the Dinos TOOB and dinosaur syllable cards.  

Free Printable: Dinosaur Syllables from Dinosaur Unit Language Printable Pack 1 by Renae at Every Star Is Different 

For this activity, I used a Multicraft tray, Safari Ltd. Dinos TOOB (the ones that matched the printable cards), Montessori Services basket to hold the dinosaurs, dinosaur syllable cards, Bambu large condiment cup, small Bambu condiment cup, and miniature clothespins. You could use glass gems like Renae did at Every Star Is Different. I just used the miniature clothespins because my almost-3-year-old granddaughter has been especially excited about them lately.

You could place a small control dot on the back of the card where the clothespin should go for a control of error (instant self-check).



Dinosaur Sight Words (Puzzle Words) with Clothespin Letters

 

Free Printable: Sight Word Dinosaurs from Classy Kinders by Jamie Aguilar at Teachers Pay Teachers 

For this activity, I used a Multicraft tray containing a Montessori Services basket with clothespins with the letters for the puzzle words written on them with a permanent marker.   
      

When I first teach puzzle words, such as "the," I say something like: "/t/, /h/, and /ĕ/ together say the word 'the.'  You can't sound out 'the.' You just have to remember it." 

Dinosaur CVC Word Families 

 

Free Printable: Dinosaur CVC Word Mats from Royal Baloo 

This activity was super simple to prepare. It just used a small Montessori Services basket and Multicraft tray to hold everything.



There are a number of word families in the printable pack. I would generally put out one word family (such as the "at" family), letting the child make and read each of the words before putting out another word family. 

Dinosaur Bones Punctuation Game 

Free Printable: Dinosaur Bones Punctuation Game from 123 Homeschool 4 Me 

For this activity, I used a Multicraft tray and small Bambu condiment cup to hold the markers (for up to 4 players). 

think this would make a nice cooperative game if everyone took turns moving the same piece. Of course, it works well as a traditional game, too. This is a fun way to reinforce punctuation skills. 

More Free Dinosaur Printables 

Go to my post at Living Montessori Now for links to free dinosaur printables from around the blogosphere: Free Dinosaur Printables and Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Language Activities. And be sure to subscribe to my email list if you'd like to get an exclusive free printable each month (plus two more awesome freebies right away): Free Printables. 

More Dinosaur Posts and Resources: 

Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Unit, Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Fun with Printables, Water Beads, and Glass Gems, Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Activities Using Dinosaur Replicas, Make Fossils from Montessori at Home!, Free Dinosaur Printables and Montessori-Inspired Dinosaur Math Activities, Literature-Based Dinosaur Activities for Preschoolers, Dinosaur Ice Melt Science Experiment for Toddlers and Preschoolers, Dinosaur Unit Study Pinterest Board

Helpful Post with Animal Classification 

Montessori Animal Classification

If you'd like to focus on manners with children, please check out my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy! It's written for anyone who'd like to feel comfortable teaching manners to children ages 2-12. I'm also one of the coauthors of the book Learn with Play – 150+ Activities for Year-round Fun & Learning!

I hope you found some ideas for your classroom or home. :)

Deb Chitwood is a certified Montessori teacher with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies from Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England. Deb taught in Montessori schools in Iowa and Arizona before becoming owner/director/teacher of her own Montessori school in South Dakota. Later, she homeschooled her two children through high school. Deb is now a Montessori writer who lives in San Diego with her husband of 41 years (and lives in the city where her kids, kids-in-law, and toddler granddaughter live). She blogs at Living Montessori Now.