Orange You Ready? Color and Shape Weeks: Orange

Orange the color associated with pumpkins, carrots and oranges is our first theme of our Colors and Shapes unit. While I'm not thrilled that I will have to become a walking pumpkin on Monday by wearing this Halloween-inspired hue, I am psyched about presenting my orange and triangle lesson plans below.

Orange Paint Can Challenge 

Subject: Math: sorting and recognizing color categories and understanding the color properties of the color orange.

To Do: Sing "Orange" to open activity.Teacher places the orange paints and not orange paints paint cans in front of children. She either passes her "paint chips" (either gotten from a home improvement store or created from card stock) to each child or holds up to the class. The children or individual child will decide if the "paint chip" should be placed on the orange paints or the not orange paints paint can and identify the color (ex. pink).

Song to Sing to Open Activity: Orange (Tune: "Three Blind Mice") (Source: Kidsparkz.com)

Orange, orange, orange,
Orange, orange, orange,
What is orange? What is orange?
An orange, a cantaloupe, and a peach,
pumpkin, a goldfish, and cheddar cheese,
The carrot that my little rabbit eats,
They are orange.

Read before Activity: Orange by Mary Elizabeth Salzman

Shape of the Day: Triangle

Songs that can be sung before triangle activity:

"Triangles, Triangles" (Tune: "Jingle Bells") (Source: Preschoolexpress.com)

Triangles, triangles,
Triangles I see.
Count the points and count the sides,
Count them 1, 2, 3.
Triangles, triangles,
Just for you and me.
Count the points and count the sides,
Count them 1, 2, 3,.

Liz Ryerson

Hold up a triangle and count the points and sides with you children.

"Found a Triangle" (Tune: "Clementine") ( Source: http://stepbystepcc.com)

Found a triangle,
Found a triangle,
Found a triangle with three sides.
It can't roll,
It can't bowl,
It just sits there where it lies.

Triangle Hold Up Activity (Can be used with any shape (s) or color (s) (Source: Kidsparkz.com)

Subject: Math: Recognizing triangle shape, Gross Motor: Performing triangle movement activity, and Language Arts: Following directions and participating in a group activity

To Do: Cut out orange triangles or other shapes and colors. Teacher chants the following movement activity and performs movements with children. Continue with other shapes, if desired.

Put your red (changed to orange) shape in the air
Hold it high and leave it there.
Put your red (orange) shape on your back
Now please lay it in your lap.
Hold you red (orange) shape in your hand
Now everyone please stand.
Wave your red (orange) shape at the door
Now please lay it on the floor.
Hold your red (orange) shape and jump, jump, jump.
Throw your red (orange) shape way, way up!

(Change red to other colors and repeat)

Color My World: Dramatic Play Ideas for a Colors Unit

Next week, we will begin our colors unit. To celebrate this hue-happy event, the children will be wearing many of the brilliant colors of the rainbow including orange, red and green.

The one center I am really biting at the bit to design is the dramatic play area. This is one of the most talked about, bustling centers of an early childhood classroom. Concepts learned in this center include social skills including taking turns, early language development, interest in occupations and the world around them (social studies), and increased imagination.

For our colors unit, our ho-hum center will become a paint store. Props in the center include an artist's dream of supplies: paint brushes, smocks, paint chips, and much much more. It will surely be a "masterpiece" for our little artistes-in-training.

If a paint store is not up your ally, try the following ideas:

Interior designer's studio: paint chips, wallpaper and carpet samples, tape measures, home design magazines and catalogs

Artist's studio - Paint brushes, palette, easel, smock, berets, posters of works of art

Fashion designer's studio - Fabric and ribbon, scissors for children to cut fabric and ribbon, tulle, tape measures, old patterns, children's sewing machine, mannequin

Floral designer's studio - Fake flowers, vases, gardening tools, aprons, gardening catalogs, watering cans, ribbons, small greeting cards to place in vases, cash register

Photographer - Old cameras, film canisters, bins to "develop" the photos, photos in frames and those which children can look at (ex. clip pictures of people from old magazines and place in a photo album to create a photographer's portfolio)

You Know You're A Preschool Teacher When....

You know you're a preschool teacher when....

•  you begin to hoard items such as plastic bottles, toilet paper tubes, newspaper and other recyclables "just in case" you need them for a creative art project or fine motor activity. 
• your ring tone is "Mary Had a Little Lamb." 
• instead of dressing for success, you dress for the world's biggest mess. 
• it becomes perfectly normal for a grown woman to be coloring with crayons and markers. 
• you frantically rush to the library at 8:30 in the evening to pick-up the latest picture book phenomenon.
• educational toy stores know you by name. 
• the glitter on your shoes is from a crafting malfunction rather than a crazy night on the town. 
• chicken fingers and fries are considered a delicacy of monumental proportions. 
• your favorite dances include the "Hokey Pokey" and "If You're Happy and You Know It'. 
• a stain on your favorite shirt becomes a badge of honor. 
• Lakeshore Learning and other teacher stores are on your speed dial. 

You're Getting a Little Test-ty: Preschool Teacher Style Test

Preschool Teacher Style Test 

There’s no need to sharpen your number two pencils anytime soon. Take this quick and easy test to determine your teaching style.* 

You would describe your teaching style as: 

A. Extremely structured, detail-oriented and teacher-directed
B. Laid back, unstructured, and child centered
C. Child-friendly, allows children to question and answer freely, but sticks to lesson plan
D. What is a lesson plan? 

Your lesson plans are: 

A. Purely skill-based

B. Encourages discovery and questioning

C. Builds on knowledge previously acquired

D. Off the cuff, but based on the unit topic 

Which center do you enjoy planning for the most?: 

A. Math 

B. Science/Discovery 

C. Dramatic Play 

D. Sand and Water 

Mostly A’s: Old Fashioned School Marm: You are a firm believer in facts and figures. Structured lesson plans give your students important information which allows them to understand the fundamentals of the subject you are teaching. While rote learning is extremely crucial in this profession, make sure to add a touch of silliness and whimsy through props such as puppets, messy activities and “unexpected” joys such as a simple movie about the topic. 

Mostly B’s: 2000’s Teacher of the Year: The children are the hub of your learning environment. You try to make lessons fun and invite children to learn and explore, but sometimes your lack of structure can be your downfall. Make sure to provide children with circle-time rules to create an orderly environment instead of an all out circle-time free-for-all complete with screaming and frantic hand waving. Don’t worry, they will still love you even if you tell them no sometimes. Give it a try! 

Mostly C’s: Miss Middle: You’re teaching style is in the middle of the road. While you feel that obtaining knowledge and skills is essential in order to advance to new and exciting subjects, you take the slower and less followed route. 

You acknowledge your student’s previously acquired knowledge and incorporate it into your lesson plan, instead of around it. Children can better comprehend your lessons through monitored question and answer sessions throughout the lesson. 

The one key factor is that you as the teacher are in complete control of all the components of the lesson. Encourage students to continue their learning by providing information to their parents/caregivers such as websites or books to give your lessons that extra sparkle. 

Mostly D’s: "But I Want to Be Their Friend": Teachers who believe that students should see them as a friend rather than a kind authority figure will always be one step behind the pack. The line of friend and teacher is a slippery line to cross. 

I myself have found myself losing my grip and swinging to the “I need them to like me” scenario. One thing is clear: You are the teacher and they are the students. 

Preschoolers need rules in order to feel comfortable with their changing environment (so remember to be firm). The little dynamos will forever be some of the best at trying to wiggle their way out of doing their job or putting away their toys. 

Ways to reduce this scenario, are creating transitions. Transitions such as morning songs, clean-up songs, and lunch/snack time rituals tell children that you are the teacher and have scheduled and organized your room to set clear limits and goals for them. 

*I have created this test for fun. Please do not take it so seriously. All of the suggestions included are ways to reduce teaching stresses and enhance your teaching style.*

Cool, Calm and Collected: Bath and Body Work's Stress Relief Body Lotion Takes You To a Happy Place

We've all had those kind of days: Molly had a meltdown in the block center, you spilled paint on your new shirt and someone just cut you off in traffic. Watch out as aromatherapy whisks you away to a calm and serene state of mind. Try Bath and Body Work's Stress Relief Body Lotion which soothes your driest skin and lifts the spirits with hints of eucalyptus and spearmint. The scent is crazy good and is always a remedy for one of those dizzying preschool days.

Source: Bathandbodyworks.com

The Sound of Music: Welcoming Our New Music Teacher

And a one, and a two, and a three, and a four it's time to boogie to a piano beat once more!

Music is a rather touchy subject for many in early childhood education. I myself cannot go one day without breaking into song. Move over Laurie Berkner, there's a new queen bee in town.

Movement and song are one of the most educational and energetic activities which we can introduce children to. Not only does it allow students to unleash their creativity, but can also be used as an  introduction to subjects such as math (patterning using musical notes), social studies/history (learning about America's past through patriotic songs), science (understanding the use of sound in our world, how sound travels, and topics such as pitch, vibration and tone) and social/language skills through two part harmonies and so on.

Today was a very special day at the daycare. Our new music teacher arrived to  see before him a sea of new faces. He was also burdened with an overload of children's songs that would make the most seasoned pro quiver in their boots.

All in all, he did very well with only a few hiccups and bumps along the way. Being new is truly one of the most confusing, unnerving and disconcerting situations to be in. He handled it remarkably well. I am sure he will give our music program a new perspective and a fresh new start.

Tickle those ivories, Sachamo!

Front and Centers: Subjects/Skills Learned In Learning Centers

As a preschool teacher, I am concerned with the skills and subjects that my children learn and use on a daily basis. Even though the majority of preschool programs are play-based, learning skills is the foremost factor in selecting manipulatives in the centers. 

I recently read a tip in my Mailbox Magazine e-mail newsletter about placing signs alerting parents to the skills facilitated in centers. Underneath you will find some of my ideas of skills that are used in each of the following centers: 


Housekeeping/Dramatic Play 

• Social skills and peer interaction
• Imaginative play
• Independent thought
• atypical use of manipulatives to develop dramatic play experiences 

Interest Table (Science and Math)

• Exploration
• Interest in one's physical environment and our world (animal and plant life) 
• Cause and effect through manipulation of objects
• Sensory experience
• Logical thought
• Pre-math skills 
• Independent understanding of selected concepts (Colors, Counting, Shapes, The Five Senses) 

Water Table 

• Fine motor 
• Cause and effect
• Weight and measurements such a as volume 
• Peer interaction 
• Sensory experience 
• Exploration

Block Center 

• Peer interaction 
• Judgement evaluation (How many blocks will it take before my tower falls?)
• Logical thought and mathematical concepts such as non-standard forms of measurement using blocks or cars
• Imaginative play 
• Atypical use of manipulatives to develop dramatic play experiences (Building a garage out of blocks for their cars or using a block as a telephone) 

Easel

• Creative art experiences
• Developing an eye for color and physical beauty 
• Fine motor 
• Facilitating patterning, use of color theory and mixing, shape recognition and identification
• Spacial concepts (How much paint can fill up my page?)
• Use of art to explore one's emotions and development of self-concept 
• Individual thought

Just Say the Words.... An Acrostic Poem about Preschoolers

There are many words to describe the emotions and characteristics of preschoolers. The following acrostic poem features my personal opinion of the little whirlwinds we call preschoolers. 

Preschoolers by Jennifer Hatcher 

Persnickety 

Rambunctious 

Exhausting

Strong - Willed 

Caring

Helpful 

One - of - a - kind 

Opinionated 

Loving 

Excitable 

Resilient 

Silly