Tag Archives: Print Awareness

Flannel Friday: Make a Robot!

26 Oct

Here’s a flannel idea that includes vocabulary learning (shapes, sizes), print awareness (shape names) and a whole lotta fun! We’re gonna build a robot!

I cut a bunch of different-sized shapes out of felt. I stuck to square, rectangle, triangle and circle (because my portable flannelboard is small) but you could certainly add more. I also made labels for the four shape names in felt with fabric paint.

The first thing we did was organize our robot “parts.” I put up the shape names and then I asked the kids the name of the shape I held up and put it with its name. I only asked them about 2 or 3 of each shape, because I made lots and it would have taken too long. But we did talk about if the new shape was “bigger” or “smaller” than the other, and I mentioned that we had small, medium and large sizes.

Then the kids selected a piece for the body (if you have a small enough group you could ask individuals to come up and pick; we just did it by consensus). I asked what other parts we needed (head, legs, arms, feet) and we selected those shapes. Finally, we needed eyes, and I had a special set of those: two large googly eyes with velcro on the back. The result was something like this:

Or this:

Wheel feet!

All-in-all I think the kids had fun and if you do crafts with your storytime it would be fun to then allow the kids to put together their own robots with paper shapes and glue.

The flannel Friday roundup today will be hosted by Lisa at Libraryland. To see all past flannels organized into categories, click on the icon to the right for our Pinterest page.

Happy flanneling!

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Flannel Friday: Bug Board

16 Mar

After a week’s hiatus, I’m glad to be back with a VERY simple board idea for y’all.

A few weeks ago, I found myself browsing the $1 bins at Target (as I am wont to do ) and I discovered bags of plastic bugs. This was fortuitous, as the timing coincided perfectly with my annual bug storytime. I picked up a couple (each had different bugs) and decided what to do with them.

I put a small piece of velcro on the back of each:

I made a felt/paint label for each bug.

I told the kids we were going to figure out what the bugs are, and then put their names with them. I keep the bugs hidden and give them clues to guess what they are:

  • Likes to visit picnics. Is small, sometimes black, and sometimes red (ANT)
  • Makes honey (BEE)
  • Hops; is long and green (GRASSHOPPER)
  • Flies around our houses in summer, bothers us, and lands on our food (FLY)
  • Is long and green and arms sometimes go together like this [praying motion] (PRAYING MANTIS)
  • Flies around the water; has long skinny body and wide wings. Sometimes blue. (DRAGONFLY)
  • Has eight legs (SPIDER)
  • Red with black spots (LADYBUG)
  • Lives where it’s hot; has pinchers and a long tail with a stinger on it (SCORPION)

They don’t always guess all of them, but they guessed many. I did have a few kids who were able to guess the harder ones, even!

When we’ve guessed, we put the bug on the board and add it’s name. This was a great print recognition/awareness activity as we talked about which names were longer, which had only 3 letters (Bee, Fly, Ant) and how Praying Mantis has two words in its name. I run my finger under the words from left to right. Several kids commented on first letters (“Hey! That B is my name!”).

In short, this was a fun, easy-to-make activity that the kids really seemed to enjoy. The moral of the story? ALWAYS check the Target dollar bins.

Today’s Flannel Friday roundup is being hosted by Angela at Valley Storytime. Check it out for all the flannel-y goodness! All past flannels are pinned on pinterest (click the felt words to the right) and all of MY past posts can be found under the tab above.

Happy flanneling!

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Flannel Friday: Moo! Tweet! Meow! Animal Sounds

19 Aug

One of my go-to storytimes for the new school year is an animal sounds theme. There are a plethora of good books (I’ll post my storytime plan soon – can’t believe I haven’t done it yet!), and it’s a good topic for new preschoolers (who are on the younger, closer-to-3-years-old side). So when planning my storytimes for September, I naturally gravitated toward this tried-and-true theme. For flannelboards, I got out a set of felt animals I made several years ago. Thinking about how I could use them, I decided to incorporate some print awareness and make a “sign” with each animal’s sound on it. The kids could then help me figure out each animal’s sound, and I could show them how that sound is written in print:

This was super easy, obviously, but incorporates an extra element that just adds to the early literacy experience the kids are getting in storytime. I think that perhaps, later in the year, I will show them the words again, ask them about the first letter, make the letter sound, and then have them figure out the sound. It might work really well!

The question mark, by the way, is for the fish.

Visit Tracey at 1234 More Storytimes later today for the full Flannel Friday roundup!

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Flannel Friday! Who Uses This?

22 Apr

In today’s edition of Flannel Friday – no rhyme, no song. Just pictures, and words.

I try to include words on as many of my flannels as possible. While preschoolers generally can’t/aren’t reading them yet, I point out the words and hope they’re making the connection between what I’m saying and what is written. It’s kind of my little way of continuing what the preschool teachers do; labeling many things in their classrooms.

One of the themes that preschools often take up is “community helpers.” You know – people who make a difference in their communities, like firefighters, police officers, teachers, garbage collectors (absolutely!), LIBRARIANS, etc.   This flannel is a take-off on that theme.

I made a bunch of objects that various “community helpers” (or people doing specific jobs) might use. I picked occupations that had a specific “item” associated with them that the kids might recognize.  I freehanded them all (althought I do look at pictures online so I can get an idea of what something looks like).  I labeled them all; the kids also might learn a bit of new vocabulary:

The kids tell me what the object is, and I show them the word. I then ask, “who uses this?” When they tell me, I add the word for that occupation. These are paper, covered in contact paper, with velcro tabs on the back:

Firefighter’s hydrant; Librarian’s book (yes, that’s a picture of me on the word strip):

Hairstylist/Barber’s scissors; Doctor’s stethoscope.

Mail carrier’s letter (on the back it looks like an envelope and says “letter”; teacher’s pencil.

Can you think of any objects I should add?

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The Great Nursery Rhyme Disaster by David Conway

21 Aug

Miss Muffet is bored: bored of curds and whey, bored of the scary spider, bored of being in the same old nursery rhyme.  So what does she do?  She goes off to find another rhyme to try, of course!  She tries out “The Grand Old Duke of York”, but doesn’t like all the marching (and she completely messes up the rhythm of the rhyme).  Jumping into “Hey Diddle Diddle” is treacherous, as she greatly angers the dish when she tries to run away with the spoon herself.  She feels completely silly climbing up a clock in “Hickory Dickory Dock”.  Soon, the entire nursery rhyme world is in chaos.  Whatever will Miss Muffet do?  Melanie Williamson’s bright, silly, stylized illustrations create just the right chaotic tone. Reciting nursery rhymes is a great way to reinforce phonological skills (the ability to hear the little sounds that make up words, including rhyming sounds).  Little listeners can help the reader with the rhymes, and perhaps play at inserting Miss Muffet into other rhymes not in the story.  “Mary had a little Miss Muffet, its fleece was white as snow…?”  While the ending is a little abrupt and unsatisfying, this is, overall, a delightfully creative story.

Conway, David.  The Great Nursery Rhyme Disaster.  Wilton, CT: Tiger Tales, 2009.  ISBN: 9781589250802

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Higher! Higher! by Leslie Patricelli

26 Jun

A little girl is pushed on a swing and on each page has one request: “Higher! Higher!”  She swings so high that she sees the rooftops of buildings, a climber on a mountain summit, and even a rocketship!  At the height of her swing she encounters a friendly alien, whom she greets with a “High Five!”.  This would be a great book to share one-on-one with a young child, building language skills by talking about what the girl can see on each page.  Print awareness might also be increased by pointing out and having the child “read” the word “Higher” as it appears on most pages. 

Patricelli, Leslie.  Higher!  Higher!  Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick, 2009.  ISBN: 9780763632410

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