Issue 912: December, 2009

Holiday Greetings!

We here at PreschoolFirst wish you a holiday season filled with warm smiles and all things beautiful. We hope you enjoy a variety of seasonal celebrations with the children in your lives.

Did you visit us at the NAEYC Booth?

Thanks to all our PreschoolFirst friends who stopped by our booth in Washington, DC last week. We had some terrific feedback and conversations about meaningful assessment and hugged some smiling dedicated users. If you came by the booth and signed up for the PreschoolFirst mailing list, this monthly newsletter is just one benefit. Watch your mail...in the next few months you just may receive another poster! Be sure to open it up to see hands-on learning activities for every age level.
 
The presentation by (The Source for Learning, Inc.) SFL staff titled "Time for check-up? Assessing your center's capacity to meet the challenges of change and economic stability" on Wednesday, November 19, 2009 was full of early childhood program administrators interested in improving their programs. During the session we asked participants to discuss their challenges and to fill out a survey that ranked their concerns. 

Participants were asked to rank each set of factors in the four categories below according to how much of a challenge they pose to their early childhood program. We've included the "unscientific" results of our survey collected during the NAEYC presentation-- we think you'll find them interesting!

At the Saturday, November 21 presentation titled "I Don't Know What to Do! Overcoming the challenges of infant/toddler assessment, " SFL had a surprisingly good crowd at this last session of the 2009 NAEYC conference. We in the field know the most dedicated and often the most overlooked early childhood educators are those who care for infants and toddlers every day. These committed participants not only stayed to the end of the conference just to attend this session; they also shared thoughtful ideas, frustrations, and suggestions to help make observing the youngest learners more effective for everyone. We know we learned from them! If you missed it--we'll be presenting it again at the CAEYC conference in the spring.

This Month's Activity: Give the World A Birthday Hug!

The short dark days of December bring a time of many celebrations in many cultures... but as we well know...not all people celebrate the same holidays. This year have a celebration that children from every culture can enjoy.  Throw a birthday party for the world!  Here's an age appropriate way to introduce your classroom to New Year's Day - the day we celebrate the world's birthday.

Here's what you'll need for older toddlers and preschoolers:

Materials:

• Pie Tin
• Tempera paint
• Few small paint rollers
• White glue
• Natural colored tissue paper
• A ball of string
• A stapler
• A globe
• Book, Earth, Our Planet in Space, by Seymour Simon, ISBN: 0689835620
• A tarp or newspaper

Here's How:

You'll need two paper plates for each child, a pie tin filled with blue tempera paint mixed with four tablespoons of white glue, a few small paint rollers, several sheets of various natural colors of tissue paper (scraps are fine), a ball of string, a stapler, a globe and the book Earth, Our Planet in Space, by Seymour Simon, ISBN:  0689835620 (or any book with large photos of the earth from outer space). Cover a work table with a tarp or newspaper and place the paint, rollers and tissue paper in the center. Place the globe and the book on a clean table nearby. You may wish to cover the book with clear plastic to protect it as the children refer to it while they paint.

Invite a small group of children to the worktable and show them the globe and the photos of the world. Say, "The world is so big that we'd have to fly higher than a bird or an airplane to see it. But if we could fly up in a rocket, we could see the whole wide world. It would look like a giant ball."  Encourage the children to describe what they see in the pictures. Point out the blue areas on the globe or in a picture in the book and explain that these are oceans filled with water. Point out the green and brown and explain that these are land areas. Point out the white areas and explain that these are clouds.

Say, "A holiday called New Year's Day is coming right after Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah. Do you know why we celebrate New Year's Day?" Listen to the children respond to the question. Explain that New Year's Day is the day people celebrate the earth's birthday and the world gets another year older.
 
Say, "Let's make a birthday party for the world. First, we need to make some decorations." Place two paper plates upside down in front of each child. Allow the children to roll the rollers in the blue glue paint and paint the bottoms of both paper plates. Encourage the children to look at the globe and the photos of the earth as they paint the oceans.  
 
Next ask the children to tear small pieces of tissue paper and stick them on the wet bottom of the paper plates to create the land areas and clouds. Allow each child to work on the project as long as he/she remains interested. Every plate will look different, just as the world does from different angles in space. Place the plates in an area where they can dry. Repeat the activity with small groups of children until everyone in the class has had a turn. Ask the children to make one for you also.
 
After the paper plates dry, ask each child to hold his/her two paper plates face to face so the edges align. Staple around the edges and carefully attach a 4 in. piece of string to the each artwork.

 
New Year's Day Rhyme & Play

Now you're ready to extend the experience and create a magical activity that helps young children learn about the movement of the earth. Prior to the activity, prepare a writing table with a set of large colored markers and a variety of large sheets of colored construction paper. You may wish to print the words to the song 'Happy Birthday to the World' on a sheet of poster board so the children can 'read' along as you sing together. Darken the room and set a table lamp without a lampshade in the center of the rug area. Carefully masking tape the cord to the floor so the children will not trip over it as they walk by. Closely supervise all children when you use any electrical appliance. Set the lamp safely on the shelf out of the children's reach when not in use.

Invite the entire class to sit in a circle around the edges of the rug. Hand each child his/her world decoration. Ask the child to hold the decoration in his/her arms and give it a birthday hug. Turn on the light and instruct the children not to touch the lamp or the electrical cord.
 
Hold a world decoration up by the string so it can spin around freely. Touch the artwork gently to make it spin around. Say, "The world is so big we'd have to fly higher than a bird or an airplane to see it. But if we could fly higher than a rocket, we could see the whole wide world. It would look like a giant ball and we could watch it turn around and around. It takes a whole day and night to turn around in a circle."  Ask each child to hold up his/her world artwork by the string and let it gently spin. Each time the world spins, say, "There goes another day!" With the older children, point out how one side of the world is bright when it faces the light and one side is dark. Explain that when one side of the world faces the sun, it is daytime and at the same time it is nighttime on the dark side of the world. "
 
Say, "As the world turns around and around each day, it also travels in a BIG circle around the bright and shining sun." Demonstrate how to spin the world decoration as you walk around the edge of the rug in a circle. Say, "Every time the world makes a full circle around the sun - it gets a year older! We celebrate the world's birthday on New Year's Day." Ask the children to practice spinning the world decoration and walking around the edge of the rug in a circle.

Say, "Let's sing Happy Birthday to the world! I know a special song, listen carefully and move your world to match the song." Sing the following words to the tune of the song 'Happy Birthday.'

 
Happy Birthday to the world! Happy Birthday to the world!
 
Happy Birthday to the world! Happy Birthday to you.
 
*(As you sing this second verse, ask the children to hold the world artwork by the string and turn it around and around in place.)
 
The world turns around. The world turns around.
 
It takes one whole day and night, for the world to turn around.
 
*(As you sing the third verse, ask the children to spin the world artwork and walk around the rug in a circle as if rotating around the sun.)
 
The world goes around the sun. The world goes around the sun,
 
It takes a whole year, for the world to go around the sun.
 
Happy Birthday to the world! Happy Birthday to the world!
 
Happy Birthday to the world! Happy Birthday to you.

Once the children finish singing, ask them to close their eyes, make a birthday wish for the world, and blow hard! Turn out the light in the center of the rug as the children blow together. Quietly say, "What was your special wish for the world?" Listen to the children share their ideas. Say, "I've heard many wonderful wishes. Let's write them down so we can share them with everyone we know."
 
Ask the children to take turns and sit down at the writing table. Trace each child's arms on a piece of colored paper of his/her choice. Say, "What was your birthday wish for the world?"  Write each child's words exactly as he/she says them in large letters up the traced arm shapes OR encourage the child to "write" the wish for him/herself and then carefully transcribe each word below the child's. Accept any marks the child makes and do not attempt to correct his/her efforts. If a child hesitates, use a yellow marker to write the letters and allow him/her to trace over each letter with colored markers to make the wish his/her "own."
 
Help each child cut out both arms and staple them around the world decoration as if they arms are hugging the world. Hang each decoration in a place where the children can see and spin them. Hang your decoration with the words to the song near the class reading area so children can visit it and pretend to 'read' it with friends. Encourage parents to visit the room and bring a healthy birthday snack for the party. Reenact the New Year's Day Rhyme & Play and read the birthday wishes.

This Month's Infant & Toddler Activity:

Here's what you'll need for infants and younger toddlers!

Materials:

• Flameless Tea-light Candles - available at a local craft store
• A clean clear plastic hamster ball - the kind that opens so you can place the creature inside
• Large scrap pieces of transparent colored plastic wrap - use two different colors!

Here's How:

Brighten up the next dark dreary December day in your class! Turn the flameless tea candles on and place them inside the hamster ball with crumpled pieces of transparent colored plastic wrap. Securely close the hamster ball and supervise the infants and toddlers closely as they play with it, do not let them put it into their mouth.

Dim the lights, and sit on the floor in a large circle with the infants and toddlers. Roll the ball to each child and sing the children's song "This Little Light of Mine." Insert each child's name into the verses as you help children push and roll the ball around. Play and sing until each child gets a turn to "catch" and push the ball. For example:

This little light of mine! Jenna's gonna see it shine.
(Roll ball to Jenna and her care teacher)

Oh, this little light of mine! Sammy's gonna see it shine.
(Roll ball to Sammy and his care teacher)

This little light of mine! Nathan's gonna see it shine.
(Roll ball to Nathan and his care teacher)

See it shine, see it glow, see it roll!

Play and sing with the group until each child gets a turn to "catch" and push the ball. This might be good activity to do when children wake up from naps.

Highlights of Our Stories & Rhymes Theme

Our Stories & Rhymes theme is filled with original versions of old childhood favorites and hands-on activities that look at issues such as fears, cooperation, and making good choices.

Here are just a few of our favorite Stories & Rhymes Theme Activities! To locate these and other activities on our site, login, click the Your Class menu button, look under the appropriate age group, and click on Select Activities for this class by type or theme.

• The Three Little Kittens (18-24 mos.) - Children listen to an original version of 'Three Little Kittens' and play a game to help the kittens find and sort their mittens.
• Mary Had a Little Lamb (24-30 mos.) - Children pretend to be Mary's little lambs and play a special version of 'Follow the Leader.'
• Where Has My Little Dog Gone Poster (30-36 mos.) - Children listen to the rhyme 'Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?' and make a 'Lost Dog' poster.
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears 3 (36-48 mos.) - Children listen to a new version of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' and participate in a group discussion.
• The Farmer in the Dell (48-66 mos.) - Children help read a rebus nursery rhyme and play the traditional game "The Farmer in the Dell."
  

Non-PreschoolFirst subscribers can download a PDF version of one of these theme activities.

PreschoolFirst Classroom Tip

During the holiday season, many parents like to show their appreciation to teachers for all they do. Children's books make the perfect teacher gifts because they are affordable, help teachers do their job well, and the entire class can share them repeatedly. Teachers can print out a list of great children's books by theme from the PreschoolFirst.com web site to post as a wish list for the holidays. Parents can then choose a book from the list and know their gift will be enjoyed throughout the year and for many years to come.

Head Start Connection:

Our Stories & Rhymes theme has a special focus on familiar tales, but presents them with a new twist. This theme directly supports all of the Book Knowledge and Appreciation, Music, and the Print Awareness & Concepts Indicators from the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework.This theme's activities are a perfect opportunity for children to practice the concept of rhyming, matching word endings and beginning sounds, further refine listening skills, and expand basic vocabulary. Activities such as Jack Be Nimble 2 (36-48 mos.) and Little Miss Muffet's Spider (48-66 mos.)provide many opportunities for teachers to observe the Approaches to Learning: Engagement & Persistence, and Gross Motor Skills Indicators.

New PreschoolFirst User Resources!

In-depth Implementation Guide:
 
Have you checked out the Implementation Guide? Look under Your Resources for this new button on the drop down menu. It's worth a browse! You'll see answers to all kinds of user questions and find detailed information about everything PreschoolFirst. Other PreschoolFirst users have reported they love having all this material in any easy to use PDF that has bookmarks for quick navigation.
 
Teacher Tutorials Online & On-demand:
 
Keep checking under the Your Resources menu button! Any day now you'll see a new Tutorial Modules button. We're adding a set of updated, easy to watch modules to help teachers learn to use each step in the PreschoolFirst User Cycle! These modules are based on the webinars we offered during the fall, so if you missed them you can still see them now on your schedule. Now it's even easier to learn how to use this dynamic system. 

Any Suggestions?

We're always looking for more ways to make your job easier. PreschoolFirst continues to improve its site for our subscribers. If you have any specific ideas or requests about themes, we'd be happy to hear them! Click here to send us an email. Keep watching the site as we improve our functions. Remember all PreschoolFirst upgrades, improvements, and new basic features are available to all our subscribers at no additional cost. Your annual subscription gives you access to every basic site improvement PreschoolFirst has to offer, now and in the future.

PreschoolFirst Accounts purchased with the Interactive State Standards Alignment and Multi-site subscriptions receive ALL improvements and new features -- including comprehensive reporting are available at no additional cost!

PreschoolFirst is always happy to answer all your questions. Call us weekdays at 1-866-584-2900.