A day in Pre-K is fast moving, action packed and fun! In the state of Florida we have FREE VPK (Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten) in both private and public schools.  I teach in a public school and have a morning session and an afternoon session; each lasting 3 hours.

To start our day we make the mile hike (ok, maybe an exaggeration) out to our portable.  It is amazing how these little people have grown in just 3 short months and thrive on routine.  We start our day with our morning circle time. It is always fun to see what the  weekly calendar pieces will be for the month and my pre-k friends are growing in confidence as they lead the calendar time.

After we have danced, sang and introduced a skill or 2, we head to small group for more specific instruction.  I am very blessed to have a full time para in the room with me so we are able to reach each child during this hour.  She is my right hand and can't imagine my day without her.

We have worked hard and its time to move, jump and play.  Most days this means playground time.  Sometimes, it means music and movement in the classroom with some GoNoodle fun! Our afternoon group always asks, "Can we do points?" They might be a LITTLE competitive! (Yes, the letter P is missing because it is part of an Interactive Alphabet Activity.)

Back in the room we go for a water break and story time.  Story time is time to share a thematic book, teach a literary skill and work on our poem of the week.  We definitely have our favorite books and characters and love hearing new stories.

Their favorite part of the day has arrived!  Its center time.  Students choose from a variety of activities that have been planned to enrich the theme of study we are working on as well as student interests!

Its time to wrap up our day and yes, I get to do all this again with my afternoon group!

Its now time to head over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to see what everyone else is up to...

My little people are working on counting and one to one correspondence.  We have used TONS of counting activities from a giant number line to counting manipulatives to games and songs.  Variety is the key to keep their attention!

There are so many activities that we take for granted that children need developed fine motor skills for.  Cutting is one of those skills that needs fine motor strength.  At the beginning of the year, we work on holding the scissors correctly, how to hold the paper that you are cutting with the other hand and then yes, put is all together and as they try to move the scissors to cut.  It is not as easy as it sounds!

As I follow our pre-k pacing guide, we have a letter or two to focus on throughout the week.  I am not a "letter of the week" type of teacher as I believe students need to have meaningful experiences to make the letter /sound connections.  We are always looking to poems, big books, environmental print, our word wall  and yes, our "letter of the week" for meaningful connections.  This magnetic game is a class favorite and  can be found in Interactive Alphabet Activities HERE. 

 

I love the dramatic play area and girls AND boys practice home living skills and use their imagination to role play various scenarios.  This little guy is the FIRST one to ask for dramatic play EVERYDAY and ALWAYS goes right to the baby.  He is going to make an AMAZING dad!

 

I hope you had a great week and are ready to jump into October later next week!  I can't believe fall is upon us (even though it is still ninety something degrees here in Florida)!

We have been counting to ten this week.  We used manipulatives, manipulatives and more manipulatives!  We then traced our hands, the teachers cut them out and my kids practiced moving and counting each finger.  We then took it one step further and numbered the fingers too!

 

Five Little Monkeys is our absolute favorite song so far this year.  The boys especially love when we take out the hats and act it out!

 

Jack and Jill was our first poem of the year I charted it and we followed along whole group all week.  I modeled tracking, we discussed and acted out vocabulary words and we  identified letters in the poem.  On Friday, they received their own copy for their poetry notebook and were thrilled!  The illustrations were adorable. 

As we continued working on recognizing and writing the letters in our names, we used BINGO dabbers, rainbow writing, dry erase boards and made a class book with I see _____. 

 

I saved the best for last!  Pete the Cat was a life saver this week!  We listened to Pete's books SEVERAL times only to hear, "Again, again!" We made a Pete craft and ventured onto cutting whiskers at the art center.  It was the first time scissors were brought out.  This was definitely a small group project and they did great:)

 

Pre-K has been an adjustment for me coming back down from first, but I am loving all the hands on learning and conversations that take place during small group time.  These kids are FUNNY!