Number Scavenger Hunt

Today, we had one of the most exciting and rewarding learning experience. We had a number scavenger hunt!!!!

We prepared a strip of paper for each child with numerals 1-20 written in order. Each paper strip was attached to a small whiteboard.  Then my lovely assistant teachers placed the number cards around our pre-school playground. which are easily visible to children.

I asked the children to sit in a group to give the instructions. I asked the children to look around the playground to see whether they find any written numbers, Then, I showed the class  one of the numeral strips and explained that they will go for a scavenger hunt to find all the number 1-20. Once they find a number, they were instructed to circle it to keep track of which ones they are still looking for. Each child had a numeral strip and a writing tool. 

This activity made each child busy and engaged the whole time.

I want to use this scavenger hunt idea at another subject such as alphabet hunt, sight word hunt and other reading-related skills.

 

Counting Forwards and Backwards

We often hear children counting numbers easily, but learning how to count backwards may be a little bit of a challenge.

I have been using various activities to   strengthen my students' counting backwards skills through songs, number line, number hops,  daily drill and the like. 

Then, it's time to take it outside using sidewalk chalk.We use sidewalk chalk to make a hopscotch game. My students jump on to numbers as they count loudly.For the older students you can start at 1-20 and the younger ones can start at 1-10. The rest of the class can count along as well.

 Another way to use sidewalk chalk would be to have the students create a number line in descending order. The older students can start at number 50 and the younger ones at number 20.This activity can work with both the younger  and the older students .  My students had fun jumping and counting at the same time trying to apply good body coordination. This hands-on activity allows the students to visualize counting forwards and backwards- a more meaningful and unforgettable learning experience.

Fine Motor Skills

 Fine motor skills are one of the essential foundation children need before they can actually learn how to write.Fine motor skills help the children develop proper pencil grasp and control of various writing instruments.

To make fine motor skills activities more exciting, I look inside and outside the classroom for materials which can be used as a writing instrument such as feathers, Q tip, Popsicle sticks, chalk, straw, twigs, a bundle of crayons, toothbrush, paintbrush, and the like. 

Using scissors is also a part of developing fine motor skills. It takes a lot of challenge for the students to manipulate a pair of scissors so I provide various materials for them to cut like different textures of paper, straw, clay, sandpaper, dried leaves and more.

Playdough and playdough mat never get out of style. It has been my children's favorite. 

They use their hands to roll and squeeze. This activity not only develops fine motor skills 

but also letters, numbers and vocabulary. Various playdough mats are laminated for longer 

usage.

My K2's love to dip their fingers on to a dish of paint and paint a picture instead of using a 

paintbrush. Some of the younger kids might be hesitant to do so. Constant exposure to the 

activity might help them overcome their fear of getting their hands messy.

You can be more creative using eye drops, pegs, paper clips, tweezers, tongs, toothpicks, 

linking cubes, Lego blocks, rubbers bands and more to provide more exciting activities for

 your students. Many activities can be found in kindergarten websites.

Number Sense

It is very essential to develop number concepts at early stage. Fun activities and special methods aid the young learners to develop early numeracy skills. The activities include concrete materials that they can touch, explore and manipulate in various ways. Experience and exploration is vital in their understanding of number concepts.

Many children at the age of 2 start to mimic or parrot the number words from one to ten as part of their rote counting skill. Yet, they don't have a concrete understanding what number really means.


There are many fun and exciting ways to do in the classroom to develop their numeracy concept. It is more than paper and pencil activities:)


                                                

                                                                    Dot Cards

                                                   


                                                   


                                                     
I am using dot cards for counting or comparing numbers. I also used colored bear counters to add a variety. First, the child is asked to pick a dot card to count. Once the child is finished counting the dots, he/she is asked to get the colored bear counters and place it on top of each dot as they count along. This is also a good practice to develop one-to-one correspondence. The teacher can also ask the children who has more bear counters and who has less which develops their comparing skills.

                                                                      Unifix Cubes

Usually, the children like to build towers and various objects using our unifix cubes which is ok as it is a part of their exploration. As we progress in our math skills, they have learned that there are many ways to use the cubes which help them develop their number sense. It is heart-warming to see them using these cubes more than just building towers.


                                                     

One of the center activities we have is the use of pipe cleaners with a number card attached to the other end of it. The children will pick one pipe cleaner and say the number. For those who are not able to identify the numbers yet, they can count the stars to assist them. Once they say the number, they can now pick unifix cubes from our tray and push it through the pipe cleaner. This activity develops their counting skill, 1:1 correspondence and fine motor skills.

                                                      

                                                   

                                                    

Once the above activities are introduce, you can ask the children to revisit the activities during quiet time, for early finishers and when you need a few free minutes.

Our Class Will Bow Wow Wow You

New school year is here and I can't compare the level of my enthusiasm and excitement. This year, I am teaching K2 class (4-5 years old). Our class name is The Patient Puppies. I have 22 beautiful kids under my care. I am so blessed to have two wonderful ladies as my assistants this year. They are both energetic and enthusiastic about educating young minds.

On the first day of school, we had a magic show and some exciting activities for the kids. We welcomed the students and their parents in our new classroom. I prepared a jar for parents' wish this year. I got the idea from pinterest and I can tell that this new idea is quite interesting. I had fun reading parents wishes for their children and I can feel their hearts.

Let me give you a short tour around my classroom.

This is our wreath to welcome you all:) 

Our Art Wall. This photo was taken last week so it was kinda empty.hehehe.

Our Birthday Chart. More bones for bday kids!

My favorite behaviour chart management. Thanks TpT and Pinterest. This idea is AWESOME!!! makes my class more manageable. I added smileys for good behaviour and sad faces for bad choices. We have children's names on pegs.

Love our calendar and weather chart. We also use this for counting practice.

Presenting our classroom jobs...TADAAAAA!!!!

Our wall number chart. I am glad we have ten frames included as it is very useful in achieving our Common Core standards in Math

My pocket chart. Yay! We use for our words every week and for children's name plates. The names plates allow the children to recognize their own names and their friends' as well.  Since we are still in the process of learning how to write our names, we use the name plates to achieve that goal. Whiteboards and markers are available in the writing station. The children takes their name plates and copy them on the white board. Sometimes, I encourage rainbow writing by using various colors of felt-tip pens and coloring pencils. 

Classroom Rules to observe.

And for good choices, we have sticker charts for each student.

Our daily schedule. It's not the same every day so I just use paper clips to help me in some adjustments needed.

Word Wall should never be neglected.

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So our tour ends here and I hope I can post more in the future:)

Be Back Soon

 I am sorry to write and tell you all that for I will be taking a break from my blog for the next couple of months.  My family is growing and I need to take care of this new blessing in my womb. Thanks everyone and I will be back soon.:)

Literacy Overload

I consider Literacy Month as the best school event. You can do many interesting and life-long learning experience that link to literacy. Teachers have  a vast array of ideas on how they can bring literacy awareness in to their own classrooms. 

Let's start with my class door. :0 Since we are The Reliable Super Heroes, I decorated my door with READING SUPERHEROES like Batman, Robin, Spiderman, Wonderwoman and others. It was motivational for my students to see that super heroes do actually love reading .

Each student had a reading log which served as our tool to trace how many books they read and actually made them aware about the author of each book read. 

 We had this reading wall where each student had a ladybug. A spot to their ladybug is added for every book they read.

                                         

The Book Character parade was my favorite. My little one wore the costume of Beast from Beauty and the Beast story with my sister as The Little Bee.

And more book characters joined us.

Awards were given too.

Beauty and the Beast with Little Beast and Batman. Ready to save the day:)

This is Judsen wearing his silly socks during Dr. Seuss week.

Reading Buddy is indeed a nice way for higher grades to read together with the pre-school students

My children's entry for Book Cover Competition. Oh yeah!

                                             My little authors tried to make their own books.

We had parents as our storytellers. It was an exciting and memorable week with our volunteers.