Learning Stations/ Centers

When the children are in centers, that is my time to pull students that are struggling with different skills or even excelling in skills and  give them one on one attention.  Before pulling students for that extra help or enrichment, I must teach the children to direct their play for learning on their own.  Once I feel the students can work in stations/centers independently, I can begin to pull small groups.

This is the block center. We will be learning lots of new centers in the near future. It's great to see the depth of the children's imagination, and what the can build with the blocks. Also, blocks are another great tool for working on fine motor skills.



This is the Playdoh center. Student work on fine motor skills and letters in this center.

Computer Lab

We will start to visit the computer lab at least once or twice a month.  I have also opened the computer learning station in our classroom.  Students will be working on previously taught skills as well as working on fine motor skills.  You would be surprised how hard it is to get the mouse to where you want to click!  Lots of had eye coordination, and practice is needed.

Some of us are already experts.  Others need a bit of practice.  The website we usually visit is www.morestarfall.com. You have to have a membership to use MORE starfall, but you can access the regular www.starfall.com at home.

Letter Bags

I would like to put together little letter bags that are filled with items that begin with that letter. For instance.  In the Mm bag, I would like to have money, a magnet, a mint, a monkey, etc.  If you have a small item that you can donate to the class that begins with the letter Mm, please send it to school.  Next week we will be focusing on the letter Ff.  If you would like to have a head start on next week and send Ff items, that will be appreciated as well.  Remember, this item will not be returned.  We will be using these things all year in our learning stations.  THANKS!

Playdough!

My daughter and I experimented with making playdoh yesterday!  It was so much fun...especially adding different colors to it.  Playdough is such a wonerful tool for so many things.  It's great for building fine motor skills, practicing letters and numbers, and pure creativity.  If you would like to make a batch of playdough with your child, I have provided the recipe down below.

Playdough

1 cup flour

1 cup warm water

2 teaspoons cream of tarter

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/4 cup salt

food coloring

1. Dissolve the salt in the water

2. Pour all ingredients (except food coloring) into a large pot

3. Stir constantly over medium heat until a ball forms by pulling away from the sides.

4. Knead the dough mixture until the texture matches playdough

5. Add some food coloring if you wish, and knead the color into the dough.

Wish List

Because I have transitioned from Kindergarten to PreK, there are a few items that I would like to add to our classroom.  If you would like to donate these items to the class (new or old) I would gladly appreciate it...and so will the kids!

3M White Hooks
Pencil Boxes
Prize box items (party favors)
Dry erase markers
Paper plates
Cardstock
Glitter
Tissue Paper
Pom poms
Googly Eyes
Smiley Face Stickers

Sight Word Practice

Today we practiced our sight words with playdoh.  Please be sure you are going over the 35 sight words with your child EVERYDAY.  This will help their reading and writing.

Dry Erase Markers

We do lots of writing when we are in centers.  Because of this, I have stopped using paper and started using dry erase boards and markers.  If you are able, please donate dry erase markers to our classroom.  They don’t last very long, and we have less than a class set at the moment.  Thanks in advance for your donation!

Learning Stations

Our learning stations are up and going!  I am so proud of all the kids and their work in their learning stations (centers).  Here are some pictures of them workin gin their stations.





Lyla in the Work on Writing Station

Jonathan in the ABC Station

Giselle and Elijah in the Creative Station

Costello in the Listening Station

Jessica in the Write around the room Station

Zarian and Joseph in the Big Book Station

Alex and Elijah in the Creative Station