Take Home Literacy Kits for School/Family Connections

Take Home Literacy Kits are a great way to enrich the curriculum. These activity bags give students an opportunity to practice and show off some of the important skills they are learning at school. These are great tools to provide parent/child communication, build reading and writing skills, and provide home opportunities for fun and learning. It also gives me one more input for assessment. These are generally sent home on Fridays and due back on Mondays.

Each kit generally consists of a book or two, a couple of activities, manipulatives (often, but not always) and a journal for assessment. Originally, we purchased 8 kits from a school supply company. The kits are generally sold from $65-$100 a piece. This year, our Pre-K regulations stated that we needed one for each child. With all the other expenses of starting the school year, this simply wasn't in the budget, but I had to come up with 12 kits somehow. I decided I could make them fairly inexpensively, using existing classroom materials, books I had on hand, and some toys and a few bags from the dollar store. I ended up spending about $5 per kit. I hope to change out the books as I go along, putting better titles by popular authors in as I acquired them. As this was sort of something I had to put together pretty quickly, the activities are not quite what I want, but they'll do for now!




A Day At The Beach Take Home Kit
Contents:
Books:
Six Fine Fish Shell Shopping A Starfish Wish
*Journal with directions
*Bag with sand, shells and beads
*Sea Animals
* Magnifying glass

Activity 1: Read Shell Shopping and A Starfish Wish. Ask your child to tell you something that is found at the beach.
Activity 2: Help your child to explore the shells and sea creatures in the activity kit.
Activity 3: Read Six Fine Fish.
Activity 4: Have your child draw a picture of something they have done/seen or would like to do/see at the beach. Have your child dictate a sentence to you about their drawing and record it in the journal next to his/her drawing.

Extra Activity for Added Fun!

Make an edible aquarium in a cup. This is a great party treat you can make with your child. You will need:

blue Jello
gummy fish (or fruit-flavored sharks)
clear plastic cups.

Make blue Jello according to the directions on the box. Pour into clear plastic cups. Let them cool in the refrigerator until partially set - about an hour. When they're partially set, place a few gummy fish in each cup. Put them in the refrigerator until they're completely set.

Eat and enjoy!



Backyard Explorer Take Home Kit
Contents:
books:
Creepy Crawler A-Z Bugs! Bugs!
*Journal with directions
*Exploration tools
*Plastic bugs

Activity 1: Read Creepy Crawlers A-Z and Bugs!Bugs!. Ask your child to tell you about the insects that can be found in his/her backyard.
Activity 2: Help your child to explore outdoors with the exploration tools in the activity kit.
Activity 3: Have your child use the plastic bugs to interact with, count, sort and pattern.
Activity 4: Have your child draw a picture of something a bug that they have seen. Have your child dictate a sentence to you about their drawing and record it in the journal next to his/her drawing.



On The Farm Take Home Kit

Contents:
Books:
Giggle, Giggle Quack Farm Flu Little Rabbit’s First Farm Book
*Journal with directions
*Farm Animals

Activity 1: Read Giggle, Giggle Quack, Quack, Farm Flu and Little Rabbit’s First Farm Book. Ask your child to tell you something that is found on the farm.
Activity 2: Help your child to explore the farm animals in the activity kit.
Activity 3: Sing Old MacDonald. Have your child suggest animals and sounds for the verses.
Activity 4: Have your child draw a picture of something that is found on a farm. Have your child dictate a sentence to you about their drawing and record it in the journal next to his/her drawing.




Dinosaurs Take Home Kit
Contents:
Books:
Now I Know More About Dinosaurs
Curious George's Dinosaur Discovery
*Dinosaur flash cards
*Dinosaur figures

Activity 1: Read Now I Know More About Dinosaurs and Curious George's Dinosaur Discovery. Ask your child to tell you some interesting facts about dinosaurs.
Activity 2:
Help your child to explore the dinosaurs in the activity kit. Have your child use the plastic dinosaurs to interact with, count, sort and pattern
Activity 3: Help your child look through the dinosaur cards. Ask them what they’ve learned about dinosaurs.
Activity 4: Have your child draw a picture of their favorite dinosaur. Ask them why they chose that dinosaur. Have your child dictate a sentence to you about their drawing and record it in the journal next to his/her drawing.



Colors and Shapes Take Home Kit
Contents:
Books:
Round Is a Mooncake Colors With Crocodile
Shapes with Apes
• Journal with directions
• Color/Shape flashcards
• Pattern cards
• Pattern blocks

Activity 1: Read Round Is A Mooncake, Colors With Crocodile and Shapes With Apes. After reading, point to shapes in the book and have students identify them. Do the same with colors.
Activity 2: Use pages of the book to play “I Spy”. For example, “I Spy a green circle. Can you find it?”
Activity 3: Help your child use the pattern cards to complete the patterns with the provided shapes. Have them explore combining smaller shapes to make larger.
Activity 4: Ask your child what they enjoyed most about this activity. Have them trace some of the shapes to make a picture. Have your child dictate a sentence to you about their drawing and record it in the journal next to his/her drawing.






The Way I Feel Take Home Kit
Contents:
Book:
When Sophie Gets Angry
• Journal with directions

Activity 1: Read When Sophie Gets Angry. Talk to your child about when they feel happy, sad, angry and scared. What makes them feel that way? What helps them feel better?
Activity 2: Sing “If You’re Happy An You Know It”. Add other emotions for different verses and make faces to mimic the emotion.
Activity 3: Have them draw a picture of themselves at a time when they were very happy. Have your child dictate a sentence to you about their drawing and record it in the journal next to his/her drawing.
Activity 4: In our school family, we work hard to spread sunshine every day. A wave, a smile, holding a door open or even holding a hand, are all simple ways to make the world a brighter place. One of the best ways to make ourselves feel good inside is to do something nice for others. Ask your child to pick one nice thing they can do to brighten someone else’s day and do it.



Numbers and Counting Take Home Kit
Contents:
Books:
My First Counting Book Counting With Kitty
*Journal with directions
*Numbers and Counting Wipe off Activity Book
*Pegboard
*Pegs

Activity 1: Read My First Counting Book and Counting With Kitty . After reading, have your child count items in the book.
Activity 2: Have your child work some of the practice pages in the book. Your child may use the pegs and peg board to help work out some of the math problems in the last few pages.
Activity 3: Allow your child to explore with the pegs and peg board and to use to count, sort and pattern.
Activity 4: Ask your child what they enjoyed most about this activity. Have your child dictate a sentence to you about their drawing and record it in the journal next to his/her drawing.



Corduroy Take Home Kit
Contents:
Book:
Corduroy
• Journal with directions
• Ted the Bear
• Large buttons and shoelace

Activity 1: Read Corduroy. While reading, your child may snuggle with “Ted the Bear” included.
Activity 2: Have your child practice lacing with the buttons to “sew” Corduroy’s button.
Activity 3: Allow your child to use the big buttons to count, sort and pattern.
Activity 4: Ask your child what they enjoyed most about this activity. Have your child dictate a sentence to you about their drawing and record it in the journal next to his/her drawing.






In The Jungle Take Home Kit
Contents:
Books:
Who’s In The Jungle Saggy, Baggy Elephant
• Journal with directions
• Jungle Animals

Activity 1: Read Who's In the Jungle and The Saggy, Baggy Elephant. Ask your child to tell you about some of the animals that are found in the jungle.
Activity 2: Help your child to explore the jungle animals in the activity kit. Encourage them to sort and count them. Talk about how they move and the sounds they make.
Activity 3: Sing The Animals In The Jungle. Have your child suggest animals and sounds for the verses.
The Animals In The Jungle
(Sung To: "The Wheels on the Bus")
The parrots in the jungle say squawk, squawk, squawk,
Squawk, squawk, squawk, squawk, squawk, squawk,
The parrots in the jungle say squawk, squawk, squawk, all day long.

The monkeys in the jungle say ooh, ooh, ooh, all day long.
The monkeys in the jungle say ooh, ooh, ooh,
ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,
The monkeys in the jungle say ooh, ooh, ooh, all day long.

The tigers in the jungle say grrr, grrr, grr,
grrr, grrr, grr, grrr, grrr, grr,
The tigers in the jungle say grrr, grrr, grr, all day long.

Activity 4:
Have your child draw a picture of something that is found in the jungle. Have your child dictate a sentence to you about their drawing and record it in the journal next to his/her drawing.



Counting Frogs Take Home Kit
Contents:
Book:
Five Green and Speckled Frogs
• Journal with directions
• Frog counters


Activity 1: Read Five Green and Speckled Frogs. Ask your child to tell you something about frogs, for example how they move, where they live, what sound they make, etc.
Activity 2: Help your child to explore the frogs in the activity kit.
Activity 3: Have your child draw a picture of a frog. Have your child dictate a sentence to you about their drawing and record it in the journal next to his/her drawing.




Mystery Backpack Take Home Kit
Contents:
Journal with directions
Empty backpack

This is a favorite! Kids get to pick one item from home and with parents' help design 4 clues that will help the class guess what the student has chosen. Clues are written in the journal, the item stays in the backpack. After taking turns guessing, the student may show the item to the rest of the class.


Mr. Scruffy Take Home Kit
Contents:
Mr. Scruffy stuffed dog
Journal

This is like a class mascot that travels home with the child. The student and his/her parents record Mr. Scruffy's activities and often pictures of his adventures!

(Sadly, no pictures at this time. Mr. Scruffy was having so much fun with one of our families, that he hasn't come back to school yet!)

Yay! He's finally back! I guess he's been having a lot of fun!

Sample letter on the front of the journal:

Dear Parents:
Our Take Home Kits are designed to give you and your child time together to enhance learning in new ways. Please take this opportunity to help your child with the following activities to enhance learning, independence and exploration.

Activity 1: Read Five Green and Speckled Frogs. Ask your child to tell you something about frogs, for example how they move, where they live, what sound they make, etc.
Activity 2: Help your child to explore the frogs in the activity kit.
Activity 3: Have your child draw a picture of a frog. Have your child dictate a sentence to you about their drawing and record it in the journal next to his/her drawing.

Please place all contents back into the backpack and return the Take Home Kit to school on Mondays so other children may share this experience. If there are any lost/ missing items please notify the teachers, so we can replace them.
Have fun and thank you for your involvement!


I hope to work on a few kits at a time to really improve them. I would like to get quality books, but right now, I had to use books I could spare in case they became missing from the kits. I am searching for sales on Scholastic so I can put titles I know the friends really enjoy!

Copyright (c)2009 littleilluminations.com

Abe Lincoln Was His Name-O!

(sung to the tune of B-I-N-G-O)

There was a man
In history
Abe Lincoln was his name-o

Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Abe Lincoln was his name-o!

There was a man
Who led our land
Abe Lincoln was his name-o

Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Abe Lincoln was his name-o!

Abe Lincoln was
Our President
and sixteen was his turn-o

Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Abe Lincoln was his name-o!

There was a man
Who freed the slaves
Abe Lincoln was his name-o

Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Abe Lincoln was his name-o!

There was a man
Who’s on the penny
Abe Lincoln was his name-o

Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Abe Lincoln was his name-o!

There was a man
Called “Honest Abe”
and Lincoln was his name-o

Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Abe Lincoln was his name-o!

There was a man
Who we now cheer
Abe Lincoln was his name-o

Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Lincoln, way to go, Abe Lincoln was his name-o!


Written by Ayn Colsh 2003

Paper Plate Dancing

Earlier this year, I went to a Pre-K training and came back with some fantastic ideas. I love these trainings---I am always amazed by the plethora of ideas I'm able to incorporate into my already jam packed days! Upon my return, I passed out paper plates to the friends at circle time--one for each hand. I put on the theme song for "Hawaii 5-o" and began to dance! I started with the old dance, "The Swim" and just went free style from there. My friends joined right in. The plates seemed to give us a little bit different range of motion than we typically use when dancing. First of all, with the focus on the plates, little arms become a very active part of dance. This has become a highly requested activity for our large group time. We now "paper plate dance" to all types of music. We have used large plates and small dessert plates. Although both work well, for limited carpet space and smaller hands, we like the dessert plates. I take them up after the activity and save them for the next time. A very economical "prop" for large motor movement!

note: A few weeks ago, I wrote most of this post in my head. Just before I went to actually type it out, my friends discovered the "Black Eyed Peas" and the post, Do You Dance? morphed into something else completely.

What Are You Reading Now? Books about writing!

With the addition of the Post Office center and the Valentine's Day activities we've just completed, it has been the perfect time to focus on various purposes for writing. We have read some wonderful books about writing letters and diaries to promote the idea of a purpose for writing.

A few times a week, we have"journal time". Each student has a little composition notebook that they may draw a picture and write or dictate a story. These are fabulous for assessment! We are able to clearly see how each student's writing and drawing have progressed throughout the year! Two of my favorite books about journaling are Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin. Both of these books provide hilarious glimpses into the lives of the worm and spider and are always a big hit with the friends.

Diary Of A Worm
by Doreen Cronin

Diary of A Spider
by Doreen Cronin

I have a few favorites about letter writing that I like to read:

Don't Forget To Write by Matina Selway is a sweet story with beautiful watercolor illustrations that chronicles a young girl's first trip away from home without her parents. At first she is apprehensive, but as the letters go on, her feelings about being away begin to change.

Don't Forget To Write
by Martina Selway

Dear Mr. Blueberry by Simon James is cute little story about a little girl exchanging letters with her teacher about a whale living in her backyard pond.

Dear Mr. Blueberry
by Simon James

One of my favorite books that showcases letter writing is Dear Peter Rabbit by Alma Flor Ada and illustrated beautifully by Leslie Tryon. All of our favorite characters from Story Book Land are sending letters back and forth to each other. This wonderful book weaves threads connecting Peter Rabbit, Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood, and more! As a kid, I always knew there was an awesome land where all of these wonderful characters lived and interacted!

Dear Peter Rabbit

by Alma Flor Ada

Plantzilla, written by Jerdine Nolen and fantastically illustrated by David Catrow is such a fun book to read. Mortimer brings the third grade class plant home for the summer and corresponds with his teacher as the plant takes on a life of it's own. Even Mortimer's mother gets involved in the letter writing! After the first reading, my kids will request this one over and over! I have to give in----I enjoy it, too!

Plantzilla
By Jerdine Nolen
Illustrated by David Catrow

We are also reading Toot and Puddle and Toot and Puddle: Wish You Were Here by Holly Hobbie. Toot's worldwide travels are chronicled via postcards to Puddle.



I'd love to know what books you use to promote purposes for writing. Leave a comment and share a book! Thanks!

Ratfink!

I love the dynamics of preschool friendship. In order to foster friendship and a sense of community, I refer to my students as "friends". They all are friends, for the most part. Many of my twenty have been together since infancy. Several friends joined our school this year upon entering into the lottery Pre-K program. Those friends have been graciously welcomed into the fold. It's hard to tell who has been here forever and who is a relative "newcomer". All of my twenty play and interact well together. They stand up for each other, care and empathize with one another and save each other's spot.We don't have a lot of "he's not my friend" whining like I have seen on occasion in years past. Generally, a great group!

Okay, that being said, there is another dynamic to preschool friendship, "The Rat Fink". It always amazes me that the two friends who will defend each other to the death, will rat each other out in a heartbeat! Often, in a very helpful way: "Mrs. Ayn, I saw CULPRIT doing so-and-so, and I reminded him to make a good choice, but look!". And almost always, CULPRIT will turn around and say something like, "Well, RAT FINK was doing it and I was going to make a good choice, but he wasn't, so...." .

The most amazing thing is that after all this, the two friends, aka RATFINK and CULPRIT will go off hand in hand, neither mad or upset that the other has reported his actions! I always tell my assistant that we had better do a great job teaching, because our friends are certainly not cut out for a tough life of crime and deceit! (Thank GOD!!!)

Pass The Squishy

I posted "Pass The Squishy" by Jennifer Medina from the New York Times before, but I don't think the link was working properly. It's such a good article about reaching behaviorally challenged foster children that I wanted to share it again! I have written about allowing areas in the classroom so children can decompress or escape for a few minutes. For the children in this article, it's especially important because this is the first school designed to serve broken families---over 1/3 of the students are in foster care!

The Beautiful Blogger Award

Miller Moments surprised me today with awarding me the Beautiful Blogger award! As I am very new to the entire blogging world, I have just discovered hers, but I am enjoying going back and reading old posts to see some of the neat things they've done! Thank you so much Miller Moments! I love your blog, too!

Here are the rules to receive the Beautiful Blogger award:

Thank & link to the person that gave you the award.

Pass this award onto 15 bloggers you have discovered & think are fantastic.

Contact said Blogs & let them know they've won.

State 7 things about yourself.

So to begin with.....here are 7 things about myself:
1. I teach Pre-K in a state funded program open to every four year old in the state of Georgia. I have taught and worked with children for about 18 years now.
2. I have been blogging since January and am in awe of some of the fantastic places I go and people I am meeting in the blogging world!
3. I have been married to my great husband for 21 years (and we were together for 5 years before that)!
4. I have two beautiful daughters, ages 19 and 12.
5. I am the mother of an autistic child and support/participate in many of the autism awareness groups.
6. I have a great big family of a brother and 6+ sisters (15 nieces and nephews) .....and we all get along!!
7. I think I have ABSOLUTELY the best job in the world. I may not get paid much, but the fringe benefits are AWESOME! Where else can you go to work each day and dance, do art, play games, have snack and get hugs regularly AND get paid for it? PRE-K ROCKS!!!!


Okay, now you know more about me than you probably will ever want to!

Here are the 15 blogs that have really inspired me that I am passing this award onto:

1. Excellence in Early Childhood Education. One of the first blogs I discovered as I entered into the blogging world. Deborah Stewart is truly inspirational!
2. Teacher Tom. Also one of my first discoveries, I have to see what he is up to daily. Our schools are so different, yet our teaching styles and philosophies are similar. Another inspiration!
3. Look At My Happy Rainbow. Definitely my feel good site everyday! I love to hear what his kindergarteners are up to.
4. Getting Messy With Ms. Jessi. I love, love, love all the things Ms. Jessi does!
5. Preschool Daze. I love to see what going on in this class!
6. Pocketful of Posies. There are lots of great ideas here---be sure to check it out!
7. Paint Cut Paste. There are some wonderful art ideas here!
8. Little FingersThat Play. Deborah Stewart is not just an amazing educator, she is a fantastic songwriter, as well.! Great little songs anyone can sing!
9. Brick By Brick. A fantastic blog about teaching preschool.
10. Room to Grow: Making Early Childhood Count! I love this blog about early childhood literacy!
11. Centers and Circle Time. I follow via blog and Facebook.
12. Kat's World. Find out what is going on in Kat's world!
13. PreKinders. Great blog and now they have a forum for discussions, as well!
14.Once Upon a Day in Preschool. Lots of fun and learning going on!
15.Kindergarten's 3 R's. Great blog!


Thanks to you all for your inspiration!

Valentine's Day Fun!

Here are a few of the things we did to celebrate Valentine's day.

I had the kids each bring in an empty cereal box. We covered them in bulletin board paper, provided a wide array of adornments, and let the kids create! They really did a great job!


We wanted to make these stained glass tealights as parent gifts for Christmas, but we had a few parents bring in ornament crafts unexpectedly, so we put these off. It was good fine motor practice. The friends had to put glue on baby food jars, then covered with tissue. We added a coat of glue at the end to secure loose ends and provide a "finish". They are very pretty when lit. I think the parents will love these! An additional activity was to wrap them for the parents. We also added cards we made earlier in the week.



For our lobby display, we made "love bugs" out of pre-cut hearts. I am so proud of my little guys---they were so creative, even coming up with bug names for their creations!



We read the fun book, The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond.



We made our own version of the Valentine Tree for our classroom door to display some of the beautiful hearts the friends have made in our art center this week. Thanks to miller moments for the inspiration...I thought I knew all the Felicia Bond books! We also read a variety of books about Valentine's Day, the post office and writing letters.



Some of our table activities included a match/memory game with Valentine cards, heart themed size seriation, and a hearts matching game with uppercase/lowercase letter on each half of the heart. We used themed erasers, pom poms and ice trays for a variety of math games and fine motor practice.

Our heart letter matching game

A twist on a matching game the friends made up. Match the shape behind your back. No peeking!

Our pom poms and ice trays for patterning, counting, dice game and fine motor practice.

This month, we also added a post office to our dramatic play area. We had a cash register, phone, keyboard, postcards, stamps and stamp pads. I used a pocket chart to make "mailboxes" for the students to deliver notes and mail to classmates. I'm proud that my center was an improvement over last year, after visiting Getting Messy with Ms. Jessi and seeing some of the great things she was doing in her post office center!

Our little post office in dramatic play.

Stamping mail

Sorting mail and delivering it. Each student has a mail slot in the pocket chart. There is even a slot for my assistant and myself!


We have had a lot of fun, but it has been hard work for both the adults and the kids in my class! I am looking forward to our upcoming winter break/furlough days!

Children's Private Speech

Thanks to Deborah Stewart at Teach Preschool who shared the latest volume of NAEYC's "Teaching Young Children". With trepidation I read the article, "How Should Teachers Respond To Children's Private Speech" by Laura J. Colker and I found it quite thought provoking. It seems that many teachers try to stifle the private speech of their students. I don't. As I was reading, I began to question my practice in the classroom regarding private speech. Have I been doing something that was not DAP? That is the last thing I meant to do.

Not only do I not stifle it, I encourage and try to facilitate it. I've always felt that the private speech affords me a glance into how students are thinking about problem solving and creating. I've learned to gently insert myself without disrupting the flow and use those moments to hear what and how my students are thinking. Now halfway through the year, I can slip in and talk about the thoughts they are expressing with my "private speakers".

When I was in college, I was fortunate to have a really fantastic professor for several of my math in education courses, Dr. Linda Crawford. Math was not one of my favorite subjects, but she made me excited about teaching it. In all honesty, she was one of my tougher professors, but I certainly learned more from her than I ever thought I could. While I learned volumes from her about teaching students math, I learned so much more about thinking about how I go about the practice of teaching. One of the things she required was for us to reflect on our teaching. (At the time, I saw it as more of a "busy" assignment, but here I am today in the blogging world, doing just that!)

In all of her classes, she promoted talking with children to learn how they are thinking. Discovering how children problem solve can provide powerful insights to us. As I put this into practice, I saw this as a tool to help with language development, as well.

When children used private speech in my classroom, I viewed it not as a disruption, but as another opportunity. I have been facilitating private speech in my room for some time now. I learn alot about my students during these moments, and I've had the great pleasure to be present during more than a few of their own "Aha!" lightbulb moments. Those moments are the greatest gifts to a teacher and as I was reading, I cringed at the thought that I might have to rethink this practice. I must say I was relieved to reach the end of the article and discover this was a practice I did not need to abandon! Freedom of speech in Pre-K----AWESOME!

Inappropriate?

This year I've got a tough bunch. A great bunch, but a tough bunch. I've had to do some fancy footwork to try new strategies. One is "treasure box" Friday. As I was calling friends to the treasure box, one of my very shy friends was examining each item carefully. Then she stopped and grabbed a children's meal toy from the movie Avitar.

"This is it! This is the one I want! Can I take this one?" she said excitedly.

"Sure," I said. "Do you know what it is?" (I didn't---I haven't seen the movie.)

"Yes! It's from Avitar! I've been wanting to get this one!"

This friend is so shy, that I wanted to keep this conversation going. "So, Friend, have you seen the movie?"

"No, my older brother has." (He's in high school. She also has a sister just a couple of years older then her.) "My sister and I haven't. We are not allowed to. Mom says it's MEN-appropriate!"

I just smiled! Kids do say the darnedest things!