Today is Friday! Today, read If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff to your class and change your song to "Do You Know the Pancake Man?"....then make “pancakes” as your art activity.
Use the tan circles and yellow square that you had your students cut out yesterday in fine motor. The students will glue the circles to the paper plate, then glue the yellow square on top to look like butter. Once they have completed this portion, they will pour “syrup” on top of their “pancakes”. To make the syrup, mix brown paint and white glue, then funnel it into squeeze bottles, like the ones you use for ketchup and mustard at a picnic. Have your students squeeze the syrup all over the top of the pancakes. The syrup will dry shiny and look like real syrup!
For fine motor, make a batch of pumpkin playdough. Make a batch of pumpkin playdough, adding pumpkin pie spice to the dry ingredients and orange food coloring to the wet ingredients. Your playdough will, of course, be orange, and it will smell like pumpkin pie. You could also make a batch and add cocoa powder to it to make chocolate playdough. Let your students pound, roll, and cut the playdough (they can even use scissors to cut the playdough) and give them cookie cutters to use as well.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Food Curriculum, Day Four
Today is chocolate chip cookie day! Of course, you are going to read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and sing “Do You Know the Cookie Man” during your story time. At art time, you will make chocolate chip cookies! I love to make them from scratch so that the children can see the process from start to finish, and they come together rather quickly. Cooking activities are not only a science activity, but also a math activity, since students get to measure all of the ingredients. Make a poster showing the ingredients, measurements, and steps to the recipe. Let your students request a turn using verbalizations or vocalizations, signs, or PECS. Let them do all of the measuring, mixing, and scooping! One of my favorite adapted classroom tools is a device that holds a measuring cup that can be turned using a switch so that students with physical disabilities can help to measure and pour the ingredients. If you have access to a stand mixer, you could plug this into a PowerLink. A PowerLink allows you to adapt any electronic device so that it can be powered by a switch, and cordless switches are available to allow students to access devices from a distance. You can switch-adapt your stand mixer!
Make a set of “counting cookies” to put into your math center. Cut a large set of small-to-medium circles from tan construction paper or cardstock. Make two sets of “cookies” with “chocolate chips” on them-drawn on or made with brown dot stickers or chocolate chip stickers. Put a specific number on each cookie, from 0-10, and make 2 sets with no chips on them but with the numeral 0-10 on them. Students can match the cookies with the same number of chips, with the same numerals, or match numerals to the cookies with the same number of chips on them.
Today, for fine motor, have your students cut our 2 medium (pancake) sized circles from tan cardstock or construction paper and a small square from yellow cardstock or construction paper. These will be used for pancakes and butter in tomorrow’s art activity.
Make a set of “counting cookies” to put into your math center. Cut a large set of small-to-medium circles from tan construction paper or cardstock. Make two sets of “cookies” with “chocolate chips” on them-drawn on or made with brown dot stickers or chocolate chip stickers. Put a specific number on each cookie, from 0-10, and make 2 sets with no chips on them but with the numeral 0-10 on them. Students can match the cookies with the same number of chips, with the same numerals, or match numerals to the cookies with the same number of chips on them.
Today, for fine motor, have your students cut our 2 medium (pancake) sized circles from tan cardstock or construction paper and a small square from yellow cardstock or construction paper. These will be used for pancakes and butter in tomorrow’s art activity.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Food Curriculum, Day Three
Day three starts a new book: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, also by Laura Numeroff. Her books are so much fun! Read the book at story time, but continue reading Today is Monday by Eric Carle for morning meeting. I was never able to find a great song about cookies, and I always liked to sing songs that were familiar to the students, so I like to change the words of “The Muffin Man” to ask “Do you know the cookie man?”
For today’s art activity, you will make chocolate chip cookies using the paper circles cut out during yesterday’s fine motor activity. You have 2 choices for how to do this activity: (1) use white price dot stickers colored brown….students will peel the stickers off and stick them on their “cookie”; (2) use torn brown paper-glue to the “cookies”. You can have them color the dots or tear the paper today while they are doing art, or you can have them do it the day before as part of their fine motor activity.
For math today, count the “chocolate chips” on each student’s cookie. Write the numbers on the board or on a piece of chart paper and talk about who has the most and who has the least. Line the cookies up in order from greatest to least or vice versa. If you are feeling especially adventurous, you can graph the number of chocolate chips that each student has on his/her cookie.
For today’s art activity, you will make chocolate chip cookies using the paper circles cut out during yesterday’s fine motor activity. You have 2 choices for how to do this activity: (1) use white price dot stickers colored brown….students will peel the stickers off and stick them on their “cookie”; (2) use torn brown paper-glue to the “cookies”. You can have them color the dots or tear the paper today while they are doing art, or you can have them do it the day before as part of their fine motor activity.
For math today, count the “chocolate chips” on each student’s cookie. Write the numbers on the board or on a piece of chart paper and talk about who has the most and who has the least. Line the cookies up in order from greatest to least or vice versa. If you are feeling especially adventurous, you can graph the number of chocolate chips that each student has on his/her cookie.
Food Curriculum, Day Two
Today is your first cooking activity for this theme! Of course, you will still be reading the book If You Give a Moose a Muffin. Make blueberry and strawberry muffins from a mix (you could make more if you want; I just usually do these two). I love to make a poster when I am doing cooking activities showing all of the steps of my recipe in writing as well as in a picture. Boardmaker is great for doing this! Have the students help you read the recipe, dump the muffin mix in the bowl, add the milk, stir, put in the muffin cups, and scoop the batter into the cups. Once the muffins have baked, let each student sample half of each variety of muffin. After the students have sampled their muffins, get out your classroom graph-programmed with the different flavors of muffins, of course-and let each student come up and stick a muffin pattern or a Post-it with his/her name on it in the column of the variety of muffin that he/she liked best.
Just a word about science and cooking activities: don’t forget that cooking is science! There are many different types of changes that take place in food when you mix ingredients together, stir, cut, crack, heat, etc. Have your students predict what they think will happen. Write their predictions on the board or on a sheet of chart paper. After the recipe has been prepared, compare their predictions with the actual result of your cooking activity, then determine if their prediction was correct or not.
For today’s fine motor activity, give each student a large circle drawn on a sheet of tan paper and have them cut it out. Students with physical disabilities can use adapted scissors if needed. These will be used for tomorrow’s art activity. Depending on how you decide to do tomorrow’s art, you could also have your students tear some brown paper or color some white price dots with a brown marker.
Just a word about science and cooking activities: don’t forget that cooking is science! There are many different types of changes that take place in food when you mix ingredients together, stir, cut, crack, heat, etc. Have your students predict what they think will happen. Write their predictions on the board or on a sheet of chart paper. After the recipe has been prepared, compare their predictions with the actual result of your cooking activity, then determine if their prediction was correct or not.
For today’s fine motor activity, give each student a large circle drawn on a sheet of tan paper and have them cut it out. Students with physical disabilities can use adapted scissors if needed. These will be used for tomorrow’s art activity. Depending on how you decide to do tomorrow’s art, you could also have your students tear some brown paper or color some white price dots with a brown marker.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Food Curriculum, Day One
Okay, this theme is absolutely my favorite of all time! You will read lots of books and do lots of fun things during this theme. There are so many cute art activities that go along with my food curriculum, and you and your students will also get to cook lots of yummy things!
For your morning meeting theme set, you will read Today is Monday by Eric Carle for the duration of the theme. Your books for storytime will change every couple of days. We will start the theme off with the If You Give a ______ a _______ books by Laura Numeroff. On Monday and Tuesday, you will read If You Give a Moose a Muffin. For art, provide each student with either a precut muffin shape (if they are not able to cut it themselves) or with a muffin pattern on white cardstock to cut out. Once all of the muffins are cut, give the students a choice between strawberry and blueberry (red or blue paper) using your Boardmaker symbols. Have the students paint their muffin pattern with tan paint (if you do not have any or can’t find any, mix brown and white paint together). Have your students tear the red or blue paper and stick it into the wet tan paint to make “strawberries” or “blueberries.”
For your science activity today, pass around scent jars. Soak cottonballs in something strawberry-scented and blueberry-scented (e.g. strawberry extract, blueberry potpourri oil, etc. ) and put the cotton balls in baby food jars, film canisters, or tiny plastic storage bowls. Talk about which sense you use to smell. You could also talk about how the sense of smell and the sense of taste are connected. Pass around the scent jars and have your students choose which scent they like best (you may need to have them choose as the jar comes around to them). On your board or a sheet of chart paper, make a t-chart with one side showing who likes blueberry and the other side showing who likes strawberry, then list the students on the side of the scent they choose. At the end, have the students help you count how many chose each scent, then talk about which number is larger/smaller.
For your morning meeting theme set, you will read Today is Monday by Eric Carle for the duration of the theme. Your books for storytime will change every couple of days. We will start the theme off with the If You Give a ______ a _______ books by Laura Numeroff. On Monday and Tuesday, you will read If You Give a Moose a Muffin. For art, provide each student with either a precut muffin shape (if they are not able to cut it themselves) or with a muffin pattern on white cardstock to cut out. Once all of the muffins are cut, give the students a choice between strawberry and blueberry (red or blue paper) using your Boardmaker symbols. Have the students paint their muffin pattern with tan paint (if you do not have any or can’t find any, mix brown and white paint together). Have your students tear the red or blue paper and stick it into the wet tan paint to make “strawberries” or “blueberries.”
For your science activity today, pass around scent jars. Soak cottonballs in something strawberry-scented and blueberry-scented (e.g. strawberry extract, blueberry potpourri oil, etc. ) and put the cotton balls in baby food jars, film canisters, or tiny plastic storage bowls. Talk about which sense you use to smell. You could also talk about how the sense of smell and the sense of taste are connected. Pass around the scent jars and have your students choose which scent they like best (you may need to have them choose as the jar comes around to them). On your board or a sheet of chart paper, make a t-chart with one side showing who likes blueberry and the other side showing who likes strawberry, then list the students on the side of the scent they choose. At the end, have the students help you count how many chose each scent, then talk about which number is larger/smaller.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Fifteen
Friday=cooking day! Today’s activity is a simple one: pumpkin pudding. Start by having your class make a batch of vanilla pudding. You can do this the traditional way-with a bowl and whisk/electric mixer-or you can pour the ingredients into a zipper bag and pass it around and have the students shake it. You will need a few boxes of pudding-one regular-sized box serves 4, so you will need a box for every four students. Give each student a cup/bowl of pudding. Allow each child to scoop out a spoonful of pumpkin pie filling into their bowl, stir, and eat!
Today is a great day because you get to do a second cooking activity! Hopefully, when you cut the pumpkins earlier in the week, you saved some seeds. You will want to thoroughly wash the seeds and let them dry, then make roasted pumpkin seeds. Give each student a sandwich bag and let them get a large spoonful of pumpkin seeds to put into their bag. Help each student measure about ½ teaspoon of vegetable oil into their bag, then a slight shake of salt. Seal up the bags and give them a good shake, then dump them onto a cookie sheet. Bake them at 350 for about 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. These are a great, healthy, crunchy snack!
For science, pass around an orange pumpkin and a white pumpkin. Have the students predict what the inside of the white pumpkin will look like. Cut both pumpkins open and compare them (if you have never seen the inside of a white pumpkin, the flesh is a light orange color, and they smell like cucumber-melon!). If you’d like, fill out a Venn diagram to write the similarities and differences between the two.
Today is a great day because you get to do a second cooking activity! Hopefully, when you cut the pumpkins earlier in the week, you saved some seeds. You will want to thoroughly wash the seeds and let them dry, then make roasted pumpkin seeds. Give each student a sandwich bag and let them get a large spoonful of pumpkin seeds to put into their bag. Help each student measure about ½ teaspoon of vegetable oil into their bag, then a slight shake of salt. Seal up the bags and give them a good shake, then dump them onto a cookie sheet. Bake them at 350 for about 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. These are a great, healthy, crunchy snack!
For science, pass around an orange pumpkin and a white pumpkin. Have the students predict what the inside of the white pumpkin will look like. Cut both pumpkins open and compare them (if you have never seen the inside of a white pumpkin, the flesh is a light orange color, and they smell like cucumber-melon!). If you’d like, fill out a Venn diagram to write the similarities and differences between the two.
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Fourteen
3-D art today! You will need to plan ahead for this one….so hopefully you have a supply of “trash treasures” or you are planning ahead. You will need a milk jug-half-gallon or gallon, it doesn’t matter-for each student. Make sure that they are thoroughly rinsed and dried before you use them! You will also need either a set of cut-out Jack-o-lantern facial features or a set for each student to cut out.
Put plates/dishes of orange paint on the table and let the students paint their milk jugs orange, them have them paint the cap green. At this point, you can either let the students stick the Jack-o-lantern facial features into the wet paint, or you can let the paint dry and then let them glue the features on.
For math today, measure a small, medium, and large pumpkin. To do this, you will need a ball of yarn. Pass the pumpkins around again and have the students compare the sizes and weights. Wrap yarn around the pumpkins and cut it off to the length of the circumference of the pumpkins, then compare the lengths of the string and talk about the concepts of long, short, etc.
Put plates/dishes of orange paint on the table and let the students paint their milk jugs orange, them have them paint the cap green. At this point, you can either let the students stick the Jack-o-lantern facial features into the wet paint, or you can let the paint dry and then let them glue the features on.
For math today, measure a small, medium, and large pumpkin. To do this, you will need a ball of yarn. Pass the pumpkins around again and have the students compare the sizes and weights. Wrap yarn around the pumpkins and cut it off to the length of the circumference of the pumpkins, then compare the lengths of the string and talk about the concepts of long, short, etc.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Thirteen
Today is a great day to make thank-you notes or special pictures for parents. There is a little less control for the students today, but this makes a really cute picture for keeping. You will be making pictures of “pumpkin patches.” Give each student a sheet of green (preferably light green so the orange paint will show up) paper and a dish of orange paint. Have the students dip their fists into the orange paint and press them onto the paper so that the lines of their fingers show up-they will look like pumpkins. You can use green raffia or string to make vines, and if you would like you can have the students go back and glue or draw on faces for Jack-o-lanterns.
For science, today review the words that your students listed describing the pumpkins that they passed around yesterday. Ask the students what they think the inside of the pumpkin will be like. Make a T-chart (line across the top, line down the middle) with one side showing predictions and one side showing what the pumpkin was actually like. List the words that the students give you to describe the inside of the pumpkin. You can lead them by asking them questions or give them pictures to choose from (cold/hot, wet/dry, etc.). Cut open a pumpkin and let the students touch the inside and describe it. Put the insides into your sensory table for students to touch. Tell them to pay special attention to the seeds-you will make roasted pumpkin seeds later in the week!
For science, today review the words that your students listed describing the pumpkins that they passed around yesterday. Ask the students what they think the inside of the pumpkin will be like. Make a T-chart (line across the top, line down the middle) with one side showing predictions and one side showing what the pumpkin was actually like. List the words that the students give you to describe the inside of the pumpkin. You can lead them by asking them questions or give them pictures to choose from (cold/hot, wet/dry, etc.). Cut open a pumpkin and let the students touch the inside and describe it. Put the insides into your sensory table for students to touch. Tell them to pay special attention to the seeds-you will make roasted pumpkin seeds later in the week!
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Twelve
For art today, you will be using a pumpkin to paint. Give each child a baby pumpkin (they can be bought for a very low price at a produce stand or grocery store this time of year). Let the students use Boardmaker symbols to choose the color of paint that they would like to use. Put a sheet of construction paper into a shirt box then put a small amount of paint onto the paper. Let the students roll their pumpkins around in the box to make a “rolled pumpkin painting.”
For a math activity today, let the students vote on whether they like big, medium, or small pumpkins the best. Of course, you will use your classroom graph for this activity. Provide at least one pumpkin in each size for the students to use as a visual. Color in the squares on the graph or have your students stick a Post-it note in the column of their choice. Alternately, you could let your students vote on whether they prefer an orange pumpkin, a white pumpkin, or a gourd.
Science this week is so simple! Today, let the students just feel the outside of the pumpkins. Talk to them about the shape, size, weight, color, texture, and temperature of the pumpkins; list words that your students use to describe the pumpkins. Tell them that tomorrow they will get to learn more about the pumpkins!
For a math activity today, let the students vote on whether they like big, medium, or small pumpkins the best. Of course, you will use your classroom graph for this activity. Provide at least one pumpkin in each size for the students to use as a visual. Color in the squares on the graph or have your students stick a Post-it note in the column of their choice. Alternately, you could let your students vote on whether they prefer an orange pumpkin, a white pumpkin, or a gourd.
Science this week is so simple! Today, let the students just feel the outside of the pumpkins. Talk to them about the shape, size, weight, color, texture, and temperature of the pumpkins; list words that your students use to describe the pumpkins. Tell them that tomorrow they will get to learn more about the pumpkins!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Eleven
This is one of my favorite weeks of the year-pumpkin week! If you haven’t already, pick up some pumpkin buckets for your classroom. These are great to put in your sensory table, homeliving and block center, as well as to hold things for your circle time. You can put different objects in them and have the students put their hands in and try to guess what’s in the bucket, or you can give each student a small pumpkin to hold. Real baby pumpkins are also great to have around.
Day one, have your students make their own Jack-o-lantern. Give each student a pumpkin outline and have them cut it out, either independently, with assistance, or using switch-operated scissors. Provide a variety of shapes cut out of black paper and have the students glue them onto the pumpkin to make a Jack-o-lantern. Add a green stem as well.
For fine motor, cut out a pumpkin outline for each student and glue it to a sheet of waxed paper. Have the students cut or tear pieces of orange tissue and glue them to the center of the cut-out. Students who have less dexterity can use Con-tact paper rather than glue/waxed paper. Once the art work has dried, run it through the laminator or stick Con-tact paper to the top of if.
Make a variety of patterns on strips of cardstock and put them in your math center-I used clip art from the internet to make patterns in Word of pumpkins and candy corn. Laminate them for durability and let your students use cream pumpkins and candy corn to complete the patterns. It will help to discourage your students from eating the candy if you give them a few in a cup to eat while they work.
Day one, have your students make their own Jack-o-lantern. Give each student a pumpkin outline and have them cut it out, either independently, with assistance, or using switch-operated scissors. Provide a variety of shapes cut out of black paper and have the students glue them onto the pumpkin to make a Jack-o-lantern. Add a green stem as well.
For fine motor, cut out a pumpkin outline for each student and glue it to a sheet of waxed paper. Have the students cut or tear pieces of orange tissue and glue them to the center of the cut-out. Students who have less dexterity can use Con-tact paper rather than glue/waxed paper. Once the art work has dried, run it through the laminator or stick Con-tact paper to the top of if.
Make a variety of patterns on strips of cardstock and put them in your math center-I used clip art from the internet to make patterns in Word of pumpkins and candy corn. Laminate them for durability and let your students use cream pumpkins and candy corn to complete the patterns. It will help to discourage your students from eating the candy if you give them a few in a cup to eat while they work.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Ten
It’s Cooking Friday! Today, make “bat salad.” Many bats are herbivores and eat mostly fruit. Read a book that discusses this fact, then have your students make a fruit salad. Provide soft fruits, such as bananas, kiwi, orange sections, and strawberries. Have your students use plastic knives to cut the fruit into chunks. You can either assemble the fruit into one large salad, or you can put each fruit into its own bowl and allow the students to choose the fruit that they want to put in their own salad.
For fine motor, make a Halloween necklace or bracelet. If your licensing allows, you could use Oreo Os and the orange pieces from Apple Jacks cereal; if not, use medium-to-small orange, white, and black beads. Thread them onto pipe cleaners or stiff lacing material. You can use visuals to let your students choose whether they prefer to make a bracelet of a necklace. Everyone gets to wear their jewelry home!
For fine motor, make a Halloween necklace or bracelet. If your licensing allows, you could use Oreo Os and the orange pieces from Apple Jacks cereal; if not, use medium-to-small orange, white, and black beads. Thread them onto pipe cleaners or stiff lacing material. You can use visuals to let your students choose whether they prefer to make a bracelet of a necklace. Everyone gets to wear their jewelry home!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Nine
Today’s art is pretty straightforward. Just paint the 3-D art from yesterday! Let your students choose the color of paint that they want to use, either verbally or using Boardmaker symbols. Remember to have them use their Boardmaker symbols to request the items that they will need for painting, too! Provide a variety of paint colors-don’t limit your students’ choices based on what is “normal” or “real.” Remember that this is preschool land, and kids don’t see everything through our eyes!
For math center today, provide your students with strips of paper showing patterns of pumpkins, spiders, bats, candy corn, etc. You can use stickers or clip art to make the patterns. You can have the students extend the patterns using laminated cards, concrete objects (spider rings, cream pumpkins, etc.) or you can have them create a work sample by using stickers to extend the pattern.
For math center today, provide your students with strips of paper showing patterns of pumpkins, spiders, bats, candy corn, etc. You can use stickers or clip art to make the patterns. You can have the students extend the patterns using laminated cards, concrete objects (spider rings, cream pumpkins, etc.) or you can have them create a work sample by using stickers to extend the pattern.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Eight
Today’s art activity is a fun 3-D art activity. It is so easy to get stuck on the things that you can do on paper, and there are so many cool 3-D activities that you can do!
The day before or morning of, mix up a batch of baking playdough. If you have a favorite recipe, by all means, use it. If not, just mix together 2 cups of salt, 2 cups of warm water, and 5 cups of flour. When ready to bake, just bake at 300 for an hour.
Provide materials for your students to make bat or Halloween-themed creations (such as Halloween cookie cutters)….but don’t make them use them. Let this be their creation! If they want to make a puppy….let them make a puppy. If they want to make a blob, let them make a blob! After everyone has made their sculpture, bake them. I like to put a square of waxed paper with each child’s name or initials on the cookie sheet for them to put their sculpture on. You will paint the sculptures tomorrow!
For a fine motor activity today, have the students cut out a large pattern of a bat (or pre-cut the pattern for students who are not able to do it themselves). Give them a variety of collage materials in brown and black to paste onto the bat. Some ideas are paper, felt, beads, bits of cloth, and Oreo Os cereal (check child care licensing rules).
The day before or morning of, mix up a batch of baking playdough. If you have a favorite recipe, by all means, use it. If not, just mix together 2 cups of salt, 2 cups of warm water, and 5 cups of flour. When ready to bake, just bake at 300 for an hour.
Provide materials for your students to make bat or Halloween-themed creations (such as Halloween cookie cutters)….but don’t make them use them. Let this be their creation! If they want to make a puppy….let them make a puppy. If they want to make a blob, let them make a blob! After everyone has made their sculpture, bake them. I like to put a square of waxed paper with each child’s name or initials on the cookie sheet for them to put their sculpture on. You will paint the sculptures tomorrow!
For a fine motor activity today, have the students cut out a large pattern of a bat (or pre-cut the pattern for students who are not able to do it themselves). Give them a variety of collage materials in brown and black to paste onto the bat. Some ideas are paper, felt, beads, bits of cloth, and Oreo Os cereal (check child care licensing rules).
Monday, October 12, 2009
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Seven
Today’s art activity will be less structured than yesterday. I think that children should be given structured art activities so that they learn to follow directions, but opportunities for less structured activities for more artistic expression. However, I think that even the structured activities should be a child’s own artwork. I never provide models for my students to follow, and I never direct a student as to how to complete his or her art. Let your students put the “pieces” of his or her artwork wherever they want to!
Today, provide a variety of Halloween-themed cookie cutters and plates of paint in Halloween colors, such as black, orange, and yellow. Provide large sheets of construction paper in Halloween colors as well, and let the students dip their cookie cutters in paint and stamp away! For students with fine motor delays, the large stamps with thick handles may work better, providing a thicker handle. Don’t forget to use Boardmaker symbols to help your students make requests for their art materials!
For science/math, put an assortment of toy bats in a variety of sizes on the table. Have your students sort the bats by size and verbalize whether they are big/small, bigger/smaller, heavier/lighter. Have the students line them up from largest to smallest, smallest to largest, etc. Have them create patterns of big/small bats.
Today, provide a variety of Halloween-themed cookie cutters and plates of paint in Halloween colors, such as black, orange, and yellow. Provide large sheets of construction paper in Halloween colors as well, and let the students dip their cookie cutters in paint and stamp away! For students with fine motor delays, the large stamps with thick handles may work better, providing a thicker handle. Don’t forget to use Boardmaker symbols to help your students make requests for their art materials!
For science/math, put an assortment of toy bats in a variety of sizes on the table. Have your students sort the bats by size and verbalize whether they are big/small, bigger/smaller, heavier/lighter. Have the students line them up from largest to smallest, smallest to largest, etc. Have them create patterns of big/small bats.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Six
It’s Bat Week! Start the week off making a “colony” of bats (yes, I looked it up, and a group of bats is called a colony!). Each student, of course, will make his or her own bat.
On the Friday before beginning Bat Week, take a picture of each student’s face. Print the photos out in a fairly large size-large enough to fit on the bat’s head. Cut out the face but not the hair, ears, etc. Give each child a pair of wings, a head, and a pair of feet cut out of black or brown paper (let them, of course, choose their color)-have the students who are able cut out their own, and students who are not able can either have theirs pre-cut or a peer or adult can help them cut using switch powered scissors. Also, don’t forget that for students who are not yet independently proficient using regular scissors, there are hand-over-hand, loop, and other types of adaptive scissors.
Trace each child’s foot and cut it out (or, of course, have them cut it!). Turn it upside down and have the students glue on the head, wings, and feet. Glue each student’s face to the head of his or her bat. Once they have dried, hang them (upside down, of course). If you want to get really cute with this, you could make a large tree and hang the bats from the tree. You could also attach the wings with brads instead of gluing them so that they fold up.
Today, put shredded paper in your sensory table along with pumpkin buckets and rubber bats.
For science, read a nonfiction book about bats. Show the students some pictures of bats and talk about the bats’ body parts. Provide some magazine pictures of bats and have the students make collages out of them.
On the Friday before beginning Bat Week, take a picture of each student’s face. Print the photos out in a fairly large size-large enough to fit on the bat’s head. Cut out the face but not the hair, ears, etc. Give each child a pair of wings, a head, and a pair of feet cut out of black or brown paper (let them, of course, choose their color)-have the students who are able cut out their own, and students who are not able can either have theirs pre-cut or a peer or adult can help them cut using switch powered scissors. Also, don’t forget that for students who are not yet independently proficient using regular scissors, there are hand-over-hand, loop, and other types of adaptive scissors.
Trace each child’s foot and cut it out (or, of course, have them cut it!). Turn it upside down and have the students glue on the head, wings, and feet. Glue each student’s face to the head of his or her bat. Once they have dried, hang them (upside down, of course). If you want to get really cute with this, you could make a large tree and hang the bats from the tree. You could also attach the wings with brads instead of gluing them so that they fold up.
Today, put shredded paper in your sensory table along with pumpkin buckets and rubber bats.
For science, read a nonfiction book about bats. Show the students some pictures of bats and talk about the bats’ body parts. Provide some magazine pictures of bats and have the students make collages out of them.
Bats Lesson Plan Form
Printable Lesson Plan for the week. Pull down menu and choose "download or share."
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Five
Today is Friday! That means it’s COOKING DAY! Today’s cooking activity is not quite as healthy as the last couple of weeks, but that’s okay. You can’t be sugar-free 100% of the time! Today you will make “haystack spiders”. All you need is a bag of chocolate chips and a bag or can of chow mein noodles. Have your students pour the chocolate chips into a microwaveable bowl and microwave them for 30 seconds at a time at 50% power to keep them from burning. Alternately, you can use a double boiler on a hot plate/electric burner, but be very cautious to keep your students away from the heat! Melt the chocolate chips, stirring occasionally. Have the students stir in the chow mein noodles carefully, then let each student scoop out a spoonful or 2 of the mixture onto a piece of wax paper. Once they cool, they are ready to eat!
For fine motor, make paper-plate webs. You can use black paper/foam plates or even Halloween-themed plates. Ahead of time, punch holes all the way around the edges, spaced about 1 ½ to 2 inches apart. Tie a piece of yarn into one of the holes then have the students lace the yarn across the paper plate to make a web. Lace a spider ring into the yarn; tie off the end when the students have finished lacing.
For fine motor, make paper-plate webs. You can use black paper/foam plates or even Halloween-themed plates. Ahead of time, punch holes all the way around the edges, spaced about 1 ½ to 2 inches apart. Tie a piece of yarn into one of the holes then have the students lace the yarn across the paper plate to make a web. Lace a spider ring into the yarn; tie off the end when the students have finished lacing.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins-Day Four
Today is more of a “free art” day. Provide a supply of plastic spiders and let the students use their Boardmaker symbols to choose a color of paint and a color of paper. They can then dip their spiders in paint and use them to paint their paper, whether by walking or rolling their spiders across the paper or using them to splatter paint across the paper.
A great fine motor activity for this theme is to make spider lacing cards. Simply print a large spider pattern on a piece of cardstock, cut it out, and laminate it. Punch several holes around the edge of the pattern. Have the students use laces, yarn, or plastic beading thread to lace the spider. This activity can easily be adapted to fit any theme.
A fun literacy extension is to make your own classroom “very busy spider” book. Put the characters from the book onto the All-Turn-It (see the picture above), available from AbleNet, and have each child spin the wheel to see which character they will be. Paste a picture of the child’s head onto the body of the type of animal that they land on, and assemble your pages into a binder or folder to make a book, substituting the child’s name for the animal. You could even have a separate version of the board book that you can tape the children’s faces to. The students will love to look at themselves in the book!
Spiders-Lesson Plan Form
Here is an entire's week worth of lesson plans. More details will be given in the blog. To better view the document, click "menu" then "download or share." You will be able to view, print, etc.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Three
Today, you will make a paint “spider web.” There are two ways to do this.
(1) Put a piece of black paper into a shirt box, or cut it into a circle and place it inside a cake pan. Put a small dab of white paint into the center of the paper and have the students roll a marble around in the paint.
(2) Use a switch-operated paint spinner, available from Ablenet (or you can buy one at a discount store and have it switch-adapted if you have access to this service). Cut squares of black paper to the correct size to fit into the spinner. Position them in the spinner and put white paint on them, then have the students hit the switch to spin the paint. This allows students with physical disabilities to more fully participate in the art activities.
Once the paint has dried, the students can place a spider sticker “into” their spider web.
Put a giant spider web-a bag of cotton fiberfill-into your sensory table. Put plastic spiders or spider rings into it. Have the students pull the “web” apart to try to find the spiders. Count how many spiders they find; sort them by size, color, etc.
For math, have your students create, copy, and/or extend patterns with spiders. They could even string the spider rings onto a piece of string or yarn to make a necklace.
(1) Put a piece of black paper into a shirt box, or cut it into a circle and place it inside a cake pan. Put a small dab of white paint into the center of the paper and have the students roll a marble around in the paint.
(2) Use a switch-operated paint spinner, available from Ablenet (or you can buy one at a discount store and have it switch-adapted if you have access to this service). Cut squares of black paper to the correct size to fit into the spinner. Position them in the spinner and put white paint on them, then have the students hit the switch to spin the paint. This allows students with physical disabilities to more fully participate in the art activities.
Once the paint has dried, the students can place a spider sticker “into” their spider web.
Put a giant spider web-a bag of cotton fiberfill-into your sensory table. Put plastic spiders or spider rings into it. Have the students pull the “web” apart to try to find the spiders. Count how many spiders they find; sort them by size, color, etc.
For math, have your students create, copy, and/or extend patterns with spiders. They could even string the spider rings onto a piece of string or yarn to make a necklace.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day Two
Today, make paper plates spiders. Let the students make their spiders as “wild and wooly” as they would like by choosing different colors of paint. You can precut black legs by cutting strips of construction paper…a paper cutter (guillotine) is the best way to do a large supply of these. Give each child eight legs, of course, plus a paper plate and cutout eyes and mouth (the object here is to look cute and silly, not realistic!). Let them use their Boardmaker symbols to request the color of paint that they would like to use, as well as using their PECS to request the tools that they need to complete their project. Have them paint their paper plate and glue on the legs and facial features. It sounds simple, but you will truly get some unique renditions of a spider! Remember; don’t direct the students to put their spider body parts in certain places. It’s important that each child’s art is his or her own, not yours! For students who have physical disabilities, this is a little more difficult as they usually do require hand-over-hand assistance, but my motto in doing art with my students has always been “let the chips fall where they may.” You will be amused by all the adorable, if slightly wonky, results that you will get!
For science today, bring in a large toy spider, as realistic as you can find. If you can get more than one, that’s even better. Pass the spiders around in a shoe box with a hole cut in the top that is large enough for a child’s hand to fit through; have the students reach into the box and try to guess what’s inside. Once they have all had a chance, take off the top to reveal your creepy-crawly friend. Have the students count the legs and examine the spider. Talk about his different body parts and the way that he looks. If you can obtain a hanging web, you could put a spider in the web for students to look at throughout the day. Show pictures of some of the things that spiders eat (you can read a book about them if you would like). Have the students cut out pictures of spiders and make a spider collage; this also addresses fine motor skills.
For science today, bring in a large toy spider, as realistic as you can find. If you can get more than one, that’s even better. Pass the spiders around in a shoe box with a hole cut in the top that is large enough for a child’s hand to fit through; have the students reach into the box and try to guess what’s inside. Once they have all had a chance, take off the top to reveal your creepy-crawly friend. Have the students count the legs and examine the spider. Talk about his different body parts and the way that he looks. If you can obtain a hanging web, you could put a spider in the web for students to look at throughout the day. Show pictures of some of the things that spiders eat (you can read a book about them if you would like). Have the students cut out pictures of spiders and make a spider collage; this also addresses fine motor skills.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins, Day One
October is one of my favorite months in preschool land! There are so many fun things that you can do this time of year. I always start with bats and spiders, then finish off with pumpkins, since pumpkins go along with Halloween and Thanksgiving…I usually teach the pumpkin theme the last week of October and extend it into the first week of November.
For day one, read a book telling facts about spiders. Of course, you have to sing “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider” this week! Use your classroom graph* to have your students vote about whether they like spiders or not. You could print a spider pattern onto a small piece of paper for each student, write their names on their paper, and have them stick it to the graph with tape, or just write each student’s name on a Post-it.
For fine motor today, you will make a 3-D spider. Obtain a paper egg carton ahead of time (foam will not work, because the paint won’t stick). Cut a cup out for each student and punch 4 wholes into opposite sides of the cups. Have the students paint the cups black, thread black pipe cleaners through the holes (to make eight legs), and glue on googly eyes. When they have dried, you can hang them from the ceiling or stick them onto a classroom web.
For art, have the students dip white yarn into glue and lay it on black construction paper in crazy patterns. When they are done, they can stick a black pompon onto the “web.” When it is dry, it will look like a spider in a web!
For day one, read a book telling facts about spiders. Of course, you have to sing “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider” this week! Use your classroom graph* to have your students vote about whether they like spiders or not. You could print a spider pattern onto a small piece of paper for each student, write their names on their paper, and have them stick it to the graph with tape, or just write each student’s name on a Post-it.
For fine motor today, you will make a 3-D spider. Obtain a paper egg carton ahead of time (foam will not work, because the paint won’t stick). Cut a cup out for each student and punch 4 wholes into opposite sides of the cups. Have the students paint the cups black, thread black pipe cleaners through the holes (to make eight legs), and glue on googly eyes. When they have dried, you can hang them from the ceiling or stick them onto a classroom web.
For art, have the students dip white yarn into glue and lay it on black construction paper in crazy patterns. When they are done, they can stick a black pompon onto the “web.” When it is dry, it will look like a spider in a web!
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins Overview
Please exercise caution with this theme. I have not named it “Halloween” because many families are sensitive about the topic of Halloween. I have, however, included Halloween topics. Please be aware of any concerns families may have about this topic and plan accordingly.
Books about Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins (this is not an exhaustive list….there are so many great books about all of these topics!)
From Seed to Pumpkin (Lets-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 1) by Wendy Pfeffer (illustrated by James Graham Hale)
Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz
Five Little Pumpkins by Iris Van Rynbach
Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks
Spinning Spiders (Lets-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) by Melvin Berger (illustrated by S.D. Schindler)
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats by Ann Earle and Henry Cole
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat by Lucille Colandro and Jared D. Lee
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins Songs
“The Itsy-Bitsy (or Eensy-Weency) Spider”
I am not going to insult your intelligence by typing the words here!
Finger Play for “Five Little Pumpkins” (I always do this while reading the book)
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate (hold up 5 fingers)
The first one said, “Oh my, it’s getting late!” (look at watch)
The second one said, “There are witches in the air!” (look up in sky)
The third one said, “But we don’t care!” (shake head)
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run!” (pretend to run)
The fifth one said, “We’re ready for some fun!”
Then Ooooooo went the wind (swirl arms around)
And OUT! went the lights! (clap hands, have someone turn out the lights)
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight! (roll hands around)
“Looking for Dracula” from 10 Carrot Diamond by Charlotte Diamond
This is an awesome CD all around. “Looking for Dracula” is a fun, “Going on a Bear Hunt” type song that your kids will love…and it mentions bats! They will also love “I am a Pizza,” “Octopus,” and “10 Crunchy Carrots.” Trust me, I know! You can also buy books to correspond with the songs.
"Little Bats"
1 little bat was trying to behave.
He hung upside down from his feet in a cave.
Another bat flew in, and said, "How do you do?"
The second joined the first, and then there were 2!
2 little bats were trying to behave.
They hung upside down from their feet in a cave.
To help pass the time, they sang "Do re me"
Another bat joined the song, and then there were 3.
3 little bats were trying to behave
They hung upside down from their feet in a cave
From their cave perch, they looked down at the floor,
A new bat joined the game, and then there were 4.
4 little bats were trying to behave.
They hung upside down from their feet in a cave.
One little bat zoomed inside and did a dive.
He stayed to take a rest, and with him there were 5.
Center Modifications
Tactile/sand/water table:
*Mini pumpkin buckets (the kind you buy as party favors) with colored water
*Spider rings
*Mallow crème pumpkins (check childcare licensing rules)
*Yellow, orange, and black shredded paper
*Rubber bats and pumpkins
*Colored sand (orange)
Homeliving/Dramatic Play Center:
*Halloween costumes
*Pretend candy
*Toy apples
*Fake pumpkins
*Pumpkin buckets
Block Center
*Large and small pumpkin buckets
*Buckets of shredded paper
*Unit blocks
*Toy bats and spiders
Art Center
*Orange, black, and yellow paint
*October edition of children’s or parenting magazines
*Playdough in a variety of fall colors with “fall” scents, such as pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, vanilla
*Stencils, sponges, and cookie cutters shaped like pumpkins, bats, and spiders
*Black, yellow, and orange construction paper and shredded paper
Boardmaker* Symbols to Print (or pictures to search on Internet if you don’t have Boardmaker) and Sign Language to Learn*
*pumpkin
*bat
*spider
*candy
*trick-or-treat (I always used “candy please” as the sign for this)
*Costume
*Colors: Yellow, black, orange
*cat
*If you do not have the Boardmaker-Dynamically Speaking Pro software by Mayer-Johnson available at your school, I recommend that you speak with your principal/school director about obtaining it. It is not terribly expensive and is absolutely irreplaceable for making visual symbols, picture schedules, and social stories-both for children with disabilities and without.
*For simple preschool signs, I recommend the book Sign With Your Baby by Joseph Garcia
Books about Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins (this is not an exhaustive list….there are so many great books about all of these topics!)
From Seed to Pumpkin (Lets-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 1) by Wendy Pfeffer (illustrated by James Graham Hale)
Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz
Five Little Pumpkins by Iris Van Rynbach
Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks
Spinning Spiders (Lets-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) by Melvin Berger (illustrated by S.D. Schindler)
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats by Ann Earle and Henry Cole
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat by Lucille Colandro and Jared D. Lee
Spiders, Bats, and Pumpkins Songs
“The Itsy-Bitsy (or Eensy-Weency) Spider”
I am not going to insult your intelligence by typing the words here!
Finger Play for “Five Little Pumpkins” (I always do this while reading the book)
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate (hold up 5 fingers)
The first one said, “Oh my, it’s getting late!” (look at watch)
The second one said, “There are witches in the air!” (look up in sky)
The third one said, “But we don’t care!” (shake head)
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run!” (pretend to run)
The fifth one said, “We’re ready for some fun!”
Then Ooooooo went the wind (swirl arms around)
And OUT! went the lights! (clap hands, have someone turn out the lights)
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight! (roll hands around)
“Looking for Dracula” from 10 Carrot Diamond by Charlotte Diamond
This is an awesome CD all around. “Looking for Dracula” is a fun, “Going on a Bear Hunt” type song that your kids will love…and it mentions bats! They will also love “I am a Pizza,” “Octopus,” and “10 Crunchy Carrots.” Trust me, I know! You can also buy books to correspond with the songs.
"Little Bats"
1 little bat was trying to behave.
He hung upside down from his feet in a cave.
Another bat flew in, and said, "How do you do?"
The second joined the first, and then there were 2!
2 little bats were trying to behave.
They hung upside down from their feet in a cave.
To help pass the time, they sang "Do re me"
Another bat joined the song, and then there were 3.
3 little bats were trying to behave
They hung upside down from their feet in a cave
From their cave perch, they looked down at the floor,
A new bat joined the game, and then there were 4.
4 little bats were trying to behave.
They hung upside down from their feet in a cave.
One little bat zoomed inside and did a dive.
He stayed to take a rest, and with him there were 5.
Center Modifications
Tactile/sand/water table:
*Mini pumpkin buckets (the kind you buy as party favors) with colored water
*Spider rings
*Mallow crème pumpkins (check childcare licensing rules)
*Yellow, orange, and black shredded paper
*Rubber bats and pumpkins
*Colored sand (orange)
Homeliving/Dramatic Play Center:
*Halloween costumes
*Pretend candy
*Toy apples
*Fake pumpkins
*Pumpkin buckets
Block Center
*Large and small pumpkin buckets
*Buckets of shredded paper
*Unit blocks
*Toy bats and spiders
Art Center
*Orange, black, and yellow paint
*October edition of children’s or parenting magazines
*Playdough in a variety of fall colors with “fall” scents, such as pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, vanilla
*Stencils, sponges, and cookie cutters shaped like pumpkins, bats, and spiders
*Black, yellow, and orange construction paper and shredded paper
Boardmaker* Symbols to Print (or pictures to search on Internet if you don’t have Boardmaker) and Sign Language to Learn*
*pumpkin
*bat
*spider
*candy
*trick-or-treat (I always used “candy please” as the sign for this)
*Costume
*Colors: Yellow, black, orange
*cat
*If you do not have the Boardmaker-Dynamically Speaking Pro software by Mayer-Johnson available at your school, I recommend that you speak with your principal/school director about obtaining it. It is not terribly expensive and is absolutely irreplaceable for making visual symbols, picture schedules, and social stories-both for children with disabilities and without.
*For simple preschool signs, I recommend the book Sign With Your Baby by Joseph Garcia
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Fall Curriculum, Day Ten
Today is a sensory extravaganza! First, you can do a cool fine motor and sensory activity with your students. Trace different leaf shapes onto sandpaper. Have the students feel the sandpaper and talk about the texture. The students can choose which shape of leaf they would like to have, then cut out the leaves. I haven’t talked about this yet, but did you know that you can get switch-operated scissors? Ablenet sells them! They are battery-operated scissors that you hook up to a single-hit switch (such as a Big Red or Jellybean). Students with physical disabilities can hit the switch to power the scissors while an adult or another student holds the scissors and the paper. This allows the student to be involved with the cutting of their own art project! I digress…..once the students have cut out their leaves, give them a cinnamon stick. Talk about the smell of the cinnamon stick, then have them rub the stick all over their sandpaper leaf. The cinnamon stick will leave a light coating of brown color on the sandpaper, as well as a wonderful smell!
For a cooking activity today, you will extend your cinnamon smell theme. Make oatmeal from scratch (it doesn’t really matter if you use old-fashioned, quick-cooking, or instant oatmeal). Work together to pour and mix the ingredients and talk to the students as you cook the oats (if you have a hot plate or access to a stovetop-if you don’t, you’ll have to settle for a microwave!). When the oatmeal is cooked, let the students look at it and stir it and discuss how it has changed from before it was cook. After it has had time to cool a bit, put some in a bowl for each student then let them top it as they would like-with brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins or fruit (check your child care licensure guidelines-there are some restrictions about raisins, etc. due to a risk of choking), canned pumpkin, butter, maple syrup….the sky’s the limit! Talk about the smells and tastes of the oatmeal.
Connect your sensory table to your activities by filling it with cinnamon or apple pie scented potpourri. You can also make sensory jars with film canisters (does anyone still have any of those?), baby food containers, or tiny food containers. Put a little bit of cinnamon oil or cinnamon potpourri oil or spray on a cotton ball and place it in the jar. You can also use vanilla, lemon, orange, strawberry, peppermint, and other extracts, scented home oils, and even “stinky” things like garlic and onion powder. Store them in a baby wipes container or a small box. Pass the jars around and let the students decide which ones they like the best!
For a cooking activity today, you will extend your cinnamon smell theme. Make oatmeal from scratch (it doesn’t really matter if you use old-fashioned, quick-cooking, or instant oatmeal). Work together to pour and mix the ingredients and talk to the students as you cook the oats (if you have a hot plate or access to a stovetop-if you don’t, you’ll have to settle for a microwave!). When the oatmeal is cooked, let the students look at it and stir it and discuss how it has changed from before it was cook. After it has had time to cool a bit, put some in a bowl for each student then let them top it as they would like-with brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins or fruit (check your child care licensure guidelines-there are some restrictions about raisins, etc. due to a risk of choking), canned pumpkin, butter, maple syrup….the sky’s the limit! Talk about the smells and tastes of the oatmeal.
Connect your sensory table to your activities by filling it with cinnamon or apple pie scented potpourri. You can also make sensory jars with film canisters (does anyone still have any of those?), baby food containers, or tiny food containers. Put a little bit of cinnamon oil or cinnamon potpourri oil or spray on a cotton ball and place it in the jar. You can also use vanilla, lemon, orange, strawberry, peppermint, and other extracts, scented home oils, and even “stinky” things like garlic and onion powder. Store them in a baby wipes container or a small box. Pass the jars around and let the students decide which ones they like the best!