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Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Guidelines for Preschool Learning Experiences

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS: Participate in activities that generate response (Five little umbrellas), share their ideas and experiences in small groups (ideas about rainbows), create representations (drawings/paintings of rainbows, clouds or rain) about their ideas and describe them to others, explore a wide variety of printed materials about subjects that interest children (story books, dictionaries, factual and informational books), use finger plays, games, poems and stories that include rhyme and alliteration to develop an awareness of differences in spoken words, syllables and sounds (songs about rain, clouds and rainbows), take home a class-made book and describe the story and illustrations to family members, explore themes that grow out of children's interests/experiences, describe something learned about a topic (rainbows, clouds, rain) verbally or through representations.
MATHEMATICS: Follow visual or rebus recipes (rainbow toast and rainbow pizza), participate in finger plays and action rhymes that associate number concepts with concrete action (umbrellas, finger plays, Rainbow colors), eat snacks cut in various shapes, create represent shapes (using Popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners), follow or use directional language related to daily routines and activities, take part in creating and discussing surveys (child's favorite color in the rainbow).
SCIENCE: Ask questions about materials and the environment (Why do we have rainbows? How come the rainbows have that shape? Where does rain come from?), test predictions through concrete experience to confirm or refute them (use eyedroppers to mix food colors with water), create representations to illustrate what they learned about materials or the environment (a rainbow, a rainy day picture), explore the properties of water in its natural state as found in the daily environment (puddles), observe characteristics of clouds and make representations using finger paint, easel paints, shaving cream, walk in the rain, record observations about the weather (cloudy/rainy days, number of rainbows seen after the rain), observe colors created by sunlight through a prism hung in the window, experiment with "magic mixtures" of common materials (flour, baking soda, cornstarch, water, salt, vinegar, food coloring).
HISTORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE: Identify positive characteristics observed in classmates' behavior in daily routines, discuss what could happen when children are not considerate of one another when a situation arises, talk about the consequences of negative behavior, take responsibility for cleaning up after their own activities.
HEALTH EDUCATION: Use materials on vertical surfaces, use a hand hole punch on materials of increasing thickness to punch as many holes as they are able; squeeze squirt bottles (to make a rainbow on a large white sheet), use eye droppers to squeeze drops of colored water onto coffee filters, cut materials with a range of resistance, string beads, straw segments, cheerios (to make rainbow necklaces), create puppet shows with finger puppets, have a food tasting party with samples of a wide variety of nutritious foods (Rainbow Salad), act out what can be done if someone hurts your feelings (Second Step).
ARTS: MOVEMENT & DANCE:
-change one part of a simple movement sequence
- play traditional games and dances
-use balls, hoops, beanbags to explore the concepts of over, under, around, in front of, behind
MUSIC:
-sing finger plays (Five little umbrellas)
-create hand-made instruments (rain shakers)
-explore the sounds make by various rhythm instruments
-use musical instruments to enhance story telling
-make up songs about their experiences or make up new words to familiar songs
THEATER ARTS:
-use movement, gesture, voice and facial expressions to convey characteristics or roles of a character
-create group constructed murals (paint on a large piece of paper) for use as a backdrop
VISUAL ARTS:
-use a variety of painting techniques and tools (various size brushes, sponges, cotton balls, Q-tips and finger painting)
-combine primary colors to discover secondary colors using tempera paints, watercolors, or food coloring
-talk about how different colors make them feel

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