Team Work

Team work can be a challenging concept for preschoolers. They want to be independent. They want to do things their way. They don't want to share. 

We actively work on being a team in class. We clean up as a group and talk about how we are being a team and working together. If someone spills something, I will ask other kids to help them pick it up to encourage caring for each other. If one of the kids is having a hard time with something, I might ask one of the other kids to help them when it's appropriate. 

At the beginning of the year, I like to do a lesson about working together. In the past we have made a picture together or talked about how we all have things we are good at. Each year we use the book, The Crayon Box That Talked because it is great book about working together. 

This year, we did some activities together as a group. The kids did a giant puzzle together.

Then we went outside and did some parachute games where the kids worked together to make the parachute move in certain ways or make the balls bounce in certain ways. We talked about the importance of listening and doing things as a group. 

Cooperative Crayons

I can't believe how much fun we had this week for our first week of school! We read another one of my favorite books, The Crayon Box that Talked by Shane DeRolf.

Can you imagine what it would be like confined in a small area, surrounded by people you don't like? That's what happened to the crayons in this story. Stuck in a crayon box and detesting the person next to them. One little girl decided that there was a better way for them to live so she took that box home and drew a beautiful picture with it. When they finally saw eachother's strengths they were able to become better friends. "We are a box of crayons each one of us unique, but when we get together, the picture is complete." 

After reading the story we talked about how we can work together and help each other in class. Each child colored and cut out a crayon. Then we wrote on it what our strengths were.

Esteban "I'm good at writing."

Owen "I'm good a designing."

Lexi "I'm good at cleaning messes."

Kaitlin "I'm good at singing."

F is for Friendship

High five for good friends! We read the book Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes. It is a great book about making new friends and treating each other kindly.

After we read the book, we made a list of five things that good friends do. After we made our list, each child gave a high five to the paper with paint.

Working Together

We talked about cooperation and working together this week. We used the book The Crayon Box That Talked to discuss how everyone is happier when they are nice and work together. We made a puzzle together as a class. Each child colored their own piece and then we worked as a class to put it together.

F is for . . .

We worked on the letter F this week in school.

Art: F is for fish.
We made coffee filter rainbow fish after reading the book Rainbow Fish.
How to Do It:
You Need:
markers
coffee filters
tin foil
spray bottle
glue

To Make:

1. Color the filter completely with the markers.
2. Spray with the water bottle and let dry completely.
3. Cut out fish shape.
4. Decorate with cut pieces of tin foil.

Science: F is for float?During science time, we predicted whether certain objects would sink or float in water and then tested our hypothesis. This activity will keep kids of all ages busy for a long time, just be ready to clean up a lot of water off your floor!

Social Skills: F is for friendship
After reading the book Rainbow Fish, we talked about how to be a good friend. We came up with three things that good friends do:

1. They play with each other.
2. They talk nicely.
3. They share.

The kids then looked through magazines to find pictures of people being good friends and cut them out.

Literacy: F is for Fall
Season Books
We read the book Leaves by David Ezra Stein. We talked about the different seasons of the year and how we are starting the season of Fall. The kids made books for the seasons of the year. Each book had 5 pages: Cover, Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer. Each season page had a picture of a tree with no leaves and the name of the season at the bottom for the kids to trace. Here is the tree that we used:

How to Do It:

You Need:
book pages printed for each student that have a bare tree and the name of a season at the bottom of the page to trace over
pinto beans
fruit loops
red, orange, and yellow small tissue paper squares
cotton balls
glue

To Make:

1. Have the students decorate the cover for their book. Our cover said, "My Book of Seasons, By: ____________." It also had a small picture to represent each season that the students colored. (Leaf, Snowflake, Flower, Sun)
2. Have students create the season pages of the book. Have the students trace the name of the season at the bottom of the page.
3. Decorate each tree with the following: Spring - pinto beans for the buds on the trees, Summer - Fruit loops for the fruit on the trees, Fall - tissue paper squares for the fall leaves, and Winter - torn up cotton balls for snow.