1. JAMBOREE (Teresa Hanak, Linden, MI)
The first Monday of each month all kindergarteners and preschoolers meet for a sing along they call JAMBOREE. “Rise and Shine” is always the first song and they end with “May There Always Be Sunshine.” They sing several songs, say nursery rhymes, and retell stories using props and masks. The children look forward to starting each month with JAMBOREE, and it creates a positive community spirit!
2. Word Family Pizza (Sharon Lampman, Clawson, MI)
Make slices of pizza for each word family from construction paper and store them in a real pizza box. (For example, hot, pot, got, not, lot, tot.) The first player takes a slice of pizza from the box and reads the word. That’s the word family pizza they will be trying to build. If they select a pizza slice with a different word family they put it back in the box and wait until their next turn to choose another slice. Yummy fun!
3. Singing Words (Justina Claeys)
Sing three letter words to “Where Is Thumbkin?”
What spells the? What spells the?
T – h – e
T – h – e
T-h-e spells the
T–h–e spells the
T – h – e
T – h – e
Cheer two letter words.
Give me an “m.”
Give me a “y.”
What does that spell? My!
Learn to spell four 4 letter words with “Happy Birthday.”
T – h – a – t spells that
T – h – a – t spells that
T – h – a – t spells that
T – h – a – t spells that
Five letter words can be sung to “BINGO.”
4. Egg Letters
Use plastic eggs to make two letter words. Write one letter on each half with a permanent marker. Children put them together to make words.
5. Cheerleader
Choose one child to be the “cheerleader of the day.” That child gets to pick and lead the class in cheers throughout the day.
7. Number Monster (Jean Ochs)
If you go to my February, 2009, monthly activities you will find a pattern for making a file folder story called “Letter Monster.” Jean Ochs has adapted it to make this delightful story to help children recognize numerals.
Number Monster wanted to learn his numbers from one to ten.
He thought he would learn them if he ate numbers again and again.
On Monday he swallowed the number one.
“Mmmmm this could be fun!”
On Tuesday Number Monster munched on the numbers two and three.
“Eating numbers is yummy to me.”
On Wednesday he nibbled on number four.
“Delicious, I would like some more.”
On Thursday he feasted on numbers five and six.
“These numbers are the perfect mix.”
On Friday he swallowed the numbers seven and eight.
He smiled and said, “Numbers taste great.”
On Saturday he dined on the number nine.
“My tummy is feeling fine.”
On Sunday he slowly ate the number 10.
He fell asleep and dreamed he was eating his numbers again!
8. The Vowel Tree (Tammy George)
This song goes to the tune of “Five Little Monkeys.”
Five little vowels swinging from a tree
Teasing Mr. Alligator, “Can’t catch me!”
Along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be
And snatched that “a” right out of the tree.
/a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/
/a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/
(Make the vowel sound to the tune of “Now you’ve got to kiss me.”)
Continue singing until all the vowels have been snatched out of the tree.
9. Clothespin Pictures
Attach children’s pictures to spring clothespins. Use for name songs,
games, transitions, etc.
10. Teaching the Alphabet (Jennifer Felty, San Antonio)
Here is a description of how Jennifer Felty at Park Village Elementary uses “Alphardy” to develop alphabet knowledge:
I used Dr. Jean's downloadable book with her “Alphardy” abc song to teach the alphabet to my pre-k inclusion class. A multi-sensory approach was needed to meet the needs of my regular ed pre-k kiddos as well as special needs with autism, language delays, and visual impairments. The leader of the day helped me point to the book as we sang the song along with the CD. Special needs kiddos had their own modified copies of the book to keep them fully engaged. After the book, we all stood up in a circle and sang the song again using actions.
One copy of “Alphardy” was brailed for the visually impaired student. One copy was laminated with a picture of the student on the front so that he knew which book was his. That one was for the student with autism. Both students could get their books out at circle time. Copies were placed in the ABC and Reading Centers.
In December, I copy a book for each student and send them home for Christmas practice. By that time, most of the students know the actions that they can replicate at home with family members. They also have individual craft stick pointers so they point and sing with an adult, and then do the actions with an adult.
I plan to use smaller versions of Dr. Jean's “Alphardy” book for my classroom word wall to further reinforce the letter names and sounds. I also hope to put an “Alphardy” alphabet flip ring in the ABC Center for the new school year 2009-2010. I use “Alphardy” in conjunction with student names to teach the alphabet .
Check this month's Downloads for the new Alphardy
cards. |
