Valentine Cards

Today we made Valentine’s cards, of course.

I had two objectives with this lesson. The first was writing with a purpose with an audience in mind. The second was to use fine motor skills.

I wrote a few possible messages with the students but most of them opted for the one you see below. I think they liked the little pink heart. I left the models at hand if they needed to copy.

It was interesting to observe how each student did the writing. Most would write ‘I’ then glue the heart and finally write ‘U’. The student below decided to write the two letters first and then stick the heart.

I pre cut small hearts so the whole process would not take too long as I have 3 year olds in the group. I gave them four different colors of tissue paper pre cut in small squares. Students could also choose to make more than one card, which very few did.            

Crumpling little pieces of tissue paper is a great fine motor exercise.

It was also a great opportunity for me to observe how the students organized their own workspace and materials as they carried on with the project.

It was nice to see how different they turned out.

Happy Valentines to all! 

Amelia Mello, M.Ed.

Bubble Paint! Always Fun!

I used bubble paint today with the Kindergarten and First Grade students who come weekly for an afternoon Fun Club with me. We had lots of fun bubble painting!

I finally got a recipe that worked. The others were really too faded or did not work at all.

Mix:

50 ml water

120 ml dish soap 

40 ml food coloring (the children liked the colors strong)

The secret is to put lots of dish soap and lots of food coloring but it will depend on the quality of the soap and the food coloring. So the best you can do is to try before you give it to the students.

Blow through a straw until the bubbles overflow

 Press the paper on the bubbles.

 Lift the paper to see the bubble print and continue until you are happy with the results.

It will get messy!

Some students wanted to use only one color.

 

Others used all three colors available.

I also liked it that some children decided to touch the paper to the rim of the bowl. It added some nice round patterns.

Careful with the clothes as food coloring stains clothing, so use an apron!

This is a great weekend project!

Amelia Mello, M.Ed.

P is for Popcorn! Pop Pop Pop!

Whenever possible I like to make something special for the letter of the week. This week was the letter “P” and I made POPCORN for the students. We had already made popcorn when we investigated our senses. Making popcorn with the students is a wonderful experience because you use all five senses. But as I said I had done it before and did not have much time. I went straight to the connection between letter P and the beginning sound of ‘popcorn’ and ‘pop’.

I made the popcorn at home and brought a big bowl to school. I gave each child a paper plate with the capital letter P written on it. The activity I proposed was to use the popcorn to make the letter P and after that the student could eat the letter P. Picking up one piece of popcorn at a time it is also a great fine motor skill activity.

First I introduced the activity on the big circle talking about the letter sound, what begins with that sound, trace it in the air, when was the last time we did popcorn and why, etc.

I showed them the paper plates with the capital P on it and where to start placing the popcorns as if they were writing it. I said I could not lift the plate because I did not want the popcorn to fall and one student said, “Well you can if you use glue!” Then I challenged him by asking “And why would I bother to do this?” I swear I could see his brain ticking and it took him a few seconds to say, “Because then you can teach better”.  And he looked at me with his smart look.

Then I did it. As this was early in the morning and it is HOT and DRY here the popcorn was firm on the plate in no time.

 

Now we can lift the plate. We pinned it on the board.

 First trace the letter P with your finger.

 Pick up one popcorn at a time

 Make the letter P with Popcorn

 Now they are ready

 And the best part according to the students was to eat your letter P.

We did the activity in two groups as I have 22 students. The older group who was working with me finished quickly and asked me for more popcorn. “Why should I give you more popcorn?” I asked them. They quickly bombarded me with all sorts of answers like, “Because we are good”, “Because we are hungry”, “Because it is delicious” and “We want more!”

The younger group was working in groups of 3 and 4 at a time with my assistant. They were finishing at different paces. One particular boy who is only 3 but very expressive and active looked at my assistant very seriously after he finished eating his first P and asked, “Can I… can I …can I … make another letter P?”.  How adorably clever is that?

I’m telling you, if the amount of popcorn they ate reflects their learning they surely know how to trace the letter P.

Amelia

I Know a Little Hero

I believe most people know about the CNN hero’s. CNN define those heroes as everyday people who are making a difference, changing the world. Individuals who are giving back to the community, people whose selflessness and personal stories inspire us.

I have a little EC hero story to tell you that happened last week.

My little hero is Amy Sherr.  I am publishing this with her parent’s permission.

I saw Amy coming to school one day with a box and I saw her mother talking to Floriana who volunteers in my classroom for the love of learning and children.

Floriana who is over forty years old said Amy gave her a box of reading glasses to choose one that would help her see better. Floriana was moved by her act and told me what happened almost in tears, “How did she know?” she asked me.

I asked Amy, “How did you know Mrs. Floriana need glasses?”

“Because one day she was going to read a book to me and she could not see the little letters and had to ask Mrs. Amen to read it” she said.

           

Amy went home and told her mother that Floriana needed glasses to read small letters. Let me explain. Amy’s parents are Homeopaths and they do an amazing work in Africa. One of the things they do is to collect second hand glasses from patients and friends in the west to distribute in Africa. They take those glasses to villages where people live in very harsh conditions, so you can imagine reading glasses are a luxury to them. They are also making a big difference!

The amazing thing is that little Amy, inferred that Floriana needed reading glasses. Did not forget this fact went home and asked her mother if she could take the box of glasses to school so Floriana could get one. Amy made a difference in Floriana’s life and in mine. Floriana and I were so touched by her act. She is an inspiration!!! 

OWL handprints - More than a craft

When I first saw this owl print craft on Pinterest I thought, ‘How adorable!' Then I realized that with this project I could work on visual perception, math, language and sensory skills.

Celebrating the Japanese Festival SETSUBUN

Today we celebrated Setsubun “The Bean Throwing Festival” with our dear Japanese friend Nina and her mother Mie. Setsubun is the celebration of the beginning of Spring in Japan and many families perform “mamemaki” a ritual to cleanse away all the evil of the former year, drive away all the evil spirits for the year to come, bringing good luck to all. The ritual consists in throwing baked soybeans on the head male of the household wearing and Oni mask.  As we were in school we invited the head of our school to be Oni and he gladly agreed.

Sorting and Classifying Every Day!

Sorting and Classifying Trays

Sorting and Classifying are skills that everyone uses every day. We just do not think about them as such. When we put our clothes away, put the dishes in the cupboard, choose words about a topic in a conversation, set the table, and many other things we are sorting and classifying. We are finding common characteristics among a group of objects.

SEED TRAY: an option for SAND TRAY

Seed trays work as well as sand or salt trays. The smaller the seeds the better. Actually salt trays do not work in humid climates like in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Believe me I've tried that.

 

The red tiny seeds I used for my Seed Tray are called “ulezi” in Kiswahili. I have no idea what they are in English, neither in Brazilian Portuguese. Ulezi is sold in bulk in the local market. You buy the seeds, grind them and use the flour to make porridge, or to mix usually with maze porridge, as a local told me.

 As with sand or salt we have to test the amount of seeds we put in the tray so you can see the bottom of the tray as you trace something. If the seeds and the tray have contrasting colors it’s even better. I chose a green tray, which gives a nice contrast with the color of the seeds.

The students are having fun with the new seed tray and it gives them a totally different texture than sand. It has been working great for tracing letters and numbers.

After you trace something, give it a little shake and the seeds cover the tray again.