As usual, I introduced the letter at Table Time first thing in the morning. We did a fun transportation collage. Kiddos picked a form of transportation and then created a scene around them. The tables were set up with an array of dot painters, markers, glue and die cuts of planes, trains, helicopters, motorcycles, trucks, etc. I purchased a pack of 32 die cut shapes at Michael's last summer for 79¢! Love a great deal! See what other craft we did with them here! Here is what some of them came up with:
I love the clouds in the sky and the train tracks!
Look at the sinking sailboat and the dirt in the dump truck!
Simple sky and sea :)
There is a shot of all the beautiful creations! Love them!
The mural in the middle is simply freezer paper that I taped to the wall. I put a single color of paint on a paper plate, then placed the paper plate on a tray. I put a car, truck or tractor on each tray. Kiddos could pick a tray, run the vehicle through the paint and then onto the wall. T is for Tire Tracks!
That had a great time! They even used a foam truck stamp that I found at Ollie's for 49¢ and stamped it here and there on the tracks.
During circle time we defined and explained transportation and then listed all types. The kids lasted 10 minutes brainstorming and listing things! It was so fun and really got them involved in a thought process. We used question and answer, problem solving and hints to come up with all types of transportation. For instance, after they were done shouting them out, I would ask a question like this, "How do you think people got from place to place before there were cars?"
You could see the wheels (ha! no pun intended!) turning in their little brains. They came up with horse, feet, and bike.
Then I asked, "Before airplanes could take us over the water, how do you think people made it from country to country. (They understand the concept of countries and water in between because we frequently looked at the map during our World Awareness Unit.) They thought about it and came up with different types of water transportation. We did this several times before reading our book, "Emergency!" You can find it here.
By the end of the morning, I knew they understood the concept of transportation. This is why I teach. That moment. The click in the brain. If you knew how much money I made teaching, you would laugh. You would wonder why I do it. If I told you how many hours I spend planning and preparing, you would think I was crazy. But, I teach for the moments. The random hugs. The "I love you"s. The pureness of their hearts. The beaming smiles after words of praise. The privilege of being able to tell them how much Jesus loves them and watching their face as the begin to understand. The moment when some tear up hearing the Easter story. The feeling at the end of the day when I know I made a difference; I gave them a good start. That is why I teach. That is why my husband and I don't have our own house. It is why we drive old, cheap cars. It is why I don't care about those kind of things. A house and a car will loose their appeal. The car eventually will breakdown and rust, the house will need always need fixing or new paint. The kids I teach get things that will last forever. I get moments to cherish that will last forever. It is worth it. Every sacrifice I make for someone else's child is worth it.
And I pray I can teach for the rest of my life.
Those little bundles of energy are a huge blessing to me. They are a huge part of my life; a huge part of my Beautiful Chaos.
Back on track:
Here are some of the types of transportation the kiddos came up with:
Car
Truck
Train
Plane
Helicopter
Jet
Spaceship
Tractor
Bicycle
Our own feet
Horse
Bus
Van
Firetruck
Ambulance
Golf cart
Sailboat
Motorboat
Ship
Motorcycle
The mural in the middle is simply freezer paper that I taped to the wall. I put a single color of paint on a paper plate, then placed the paper plate on a tray. I put a car, truck or tractor on each tray. Kiddos could pick a tray, run the vehicle through the paint and then onto the wall. T is for Tire Tracks!
That had a great time! They even used a foam truck stamp that I found at Ollie's for 49¢ and stamped it here and there on the tracks.
During circle time we defined and explained transportation and then listed all types. The kids lasted 10 minutes brainstorming and listing things! It was so fun and really got them involved in a thought process. We used question and answer, problem solving and hints to come up with all types of transportation. For instance, after they were done shouting them out, I would ask a question like this, "How do you think people got from place to place before there were cars?"
You could see the wheels (ha! no pun intended!) turning in their little brains. They came up with horse, feet, and bike.
Then I asked, "Before airplanes could take us over the water, how do you think people made it from country to country. (They understand the concept of countries and water in between because we frequently looked at the map during our World Awareness Unit.) They thought about it and came up with different types of water transportation. We did this several times before reading our book, "Emergency!" You can find it here.
By the end of the morning, I knew they understood the concept of transportation. This is why I teach. That moment. The click in the brain. If you knew how much money I made teaching, you would laugh. You would wonder why I do it. If I told you how many hours I spend planning and preparing, you would think I was crazy. But, I teach for the moments. The random hugs. The "I love you"s. The pureness of their hearts. The beaming smiles after words of praise. The privilege of being able to tell them how much Jesus loves them and watching their face as the begin to understand. The moment when some tear up hearing the Easter story. The feeling at the end of the day when I know I made a difference; I gave them a good start. That is why I teach. That is why my husband and I don't have our own house. It is why we drive old, cheap cars. It is why I don't care about those kind of things. A house and a car will loose their appeal. The car eventually will breakdown and rust, the house will need always need fixing or new paint. The kids I teach get things that will last forever. I get moments to cherish that will last forever. It is worth it. Every sacrifice I make for someone else's child is worth it.
And I pray I can teach for the rest of my life.
Those little bundles of energy are a huge blessing to me. They are a huge part of my life; a huge part of my Beautiful Chaos.
Back on track:
Here are some of the types of transportation the kiddos came up with:
Car
Truck
Train
Plane
Helicopter
Jet
Spaceship
Tractor
Bicycle
Our own feet
Horse
Bus
Van
Firetruck
Ambulance
Golf cart
Sailboat
Motorboat
Ship
Motorcycle
Very good and it never hurts to teach them about alliteration.
ReplyDeleteThank you for actually READING The post! :) I appreciate it!
DeleteTeaching is so very rewarding!! You are a gift to many children!! We're so glad you joined us for "Strut Your Stuff Saturday." Thanks and come back soon!! -The Sisters
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