My students need items like a science specimen kit, puppet theater and veterinarian kit, along with counting materials, to enhance their exploration skills. They love center time! Being a first time Pre-K teacher, I would like to make their center time meaningful and fun!
I have a very sweet group of students! They are mostly 4 years old, with one student being 5 years old. Most of the students are experiencing school for the first time. Many of them cried daily and had a difficult time being away from their parents.
It is evident that many of my students have not had early interventions, such as counting and letter and number recognition.
We work tirelessly to accomplish these goals daily. We need as much as possible in the classroom to help students master these skills before moving on to Kindergarten.
My Project
Many of my students are English language learners. Many of them have not had many out of the home experiences that effectively teach them about the world around them. My hope is that these classroom items will allow me to provide meaningful experiences with highly motivating learning tools.
It is really important to engage young learners in oral language.
We use center time to allow them to interact with one another, thereby boosting their social-emotional skills. These skills might include taking turns, asking for help, pretend play, and developing gross and fine motor skills. One item I have requested is the puppet theater. My students love puppets! They love hearing what the characters have to say when I use two of our friends, Willow and Rosie during our social/emotional instructional block. We also have the letter puppets that teach them about all of the letters of the alphabet. The puppet theater will make these characters come to life in the students' hands! I have also requested a science kit that will allow students to look in-depth at insects, sea creatures, and mammals. The veterinarian kit, let's go shopping cash register, and mailbox will give students those real life experiences that will help them learn more about the world around them and develop into productive citizens. These items may even help them narrow down a potential profession!
Lastly, I have also requested counting mats and counting match-ups that will help students count and identify numbers. This is just a basic life skill and if taught early on, students will begin their journey of number sense early on.
Overall, I want my students to enjoy learning and coming to school each day. Always looking forward to what each new day will bring!
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