CONGRATULATIONS - by the time you get this email, you are either almost done, or completely finished with all of your evaluations, portfolios and conferences!  You should all be so proud of yourselves!!  YAY!!!

Espero que pasen muy buen fin de semana!!

REUSABLE MATERIALS!

What to do with all those caps from the recycling center that we always collect??? Fiorella and Teresa put them out with their playdough so the kids can make "panqueques" or "panecillos." Muy creativas!!

GET ORGANIZED!!

The staff in JP organized their gross motor materials in large bins with blown up pictures taped to it!  This can be adapted to anything you need to organize!!

BOOKMAKING IDEAS!

Creating books in Spanish is such a wonderful way for the kids to learn about literacy, turning pages one by one, "reading" from left to right, practicing their writing skills and visual representation of ideas they have.  They can learn about plots, characters, sequence of events and so many other things!!  Here are just a few samples of books that I came across in the children's portfolios across some schools!!

Maru did a book Contando Manzanas in the beginning of the year.  The kids can practice writing the numbers themselves, and cutting the apples out of paper too!

Here's a book Maru made with her class, All About Me.

Here's another book that Marcela made using a file folder and typing up the story on the computer all about opposites!!

MATH IDEA FOR PATTERNING:

The children can learn about patterns with these simple graphs that can easily be made on the computer.  This is an ABCABC pattern that Maru created for her kids.

Here's another pattern: AABBBAAB.  Notice they used a DATE STAMPER to ensure there was a date on each piece of work!! 

MATH SORTING IDEA:

Here's a great activity that Maru did with her class to practice sorting "Ninos" from "Padres" and also "Comida Saludable" y "Comida Chatarra."  This can be adapted to any theme!!

See you on Tuesday for the Bulletin Board Contest!!! 

Jacie

Get Inspired!!!

Get Inspired!!!

After reading my BLOG post about LABELING, all of the teachers in the South End took pictures of their toys and labeled their toy shelves.  I always love to hear how you have gotten inspired by the weekly IDEAS DE INSPIRACION.  Keep me posted on what is inspiring YOU!!!

MORE PORTFOLIO IDEAS

I just LOVED how Marissa in Needham used this beautiful floral paper which she picked up at The Dollar Tree to display the photographs of the children in her portfolios.  As you can see, it adds such a lovely element to the portfolio, and it adds a perfect amount of space to write a caption about what's happening in the photo underneath.  I just had to share!!

REFLECTION TIME

As you put the finishing touches on your portfolios, it's a wonderful time to review and reflect on what samples you have collected for each area of development. That way, it can help you move forward for the upcoming year. So if you only have SHAPE RECOGNITION in your math area, then next year you need to think about offering a larger variety of math activities for your children (seriation, sorting, patterning, finger plays, estimation, counting charting etc...).  Or if you only have color mixing for your science section, then it's time to think about adding more data collection, experiments, theories they may have, animal and plant exploration, the human body, the five senses, pictures at the sensory table etc...)

Patterning idea

Sorting Idea

Daily Reports Timesaver

Since Savi works alone in the classroom, she types up her Daily Reports in the morning, sends them to the printer right from her classroom, then personalizes them with a SPECIAL MESSAGE for each child.  

What a great timesaver!!

Bookmaking

I had to share this wonderful sample of some books that Savi had her preschoolers make during the Art appreciation Unit.  This could be adapted for ANYTHING!!  

"En el arte, yo veo..."

Then she printed some famous art and had the children describe what they saw and she took dictations."

The Spanglish that the kids used in their descriptions was PRICELESS!!  

"Yo veo una chica hanging out with these pollitos and there is music.  There is a skeleton too because I see it."  SOOOOO PRECIOUS!!!

Some Videos for Inspiration!!

Savi Reviewing the Alphabet with the Kids in Spanish

http://youtu.be/9Bz7zXWCLmA

100%

Savi Reviewing Numbers with the kids before counting the calendar days - LOVE

http://youtu.be/E7vqOPqNHTw

"Mami de Mis Amores" song with Maru and Patricia

http://youtu.be/e8kyIsE2Au4

Muchas Ideas!!

TRY SOMETHING NEW!!

Last week, you were challenged to try ONE NEW THING in your classroom that you learned about from the "Ideas de Inspiracion".  Como les fue?? :-)  Aqui yo comparto lo que Claudia en el South End hizo con su grupo basado en lo que vio en el BLOG!  Que divertido!!!

BULLETIN BOARD CONTEST

Remember!  May is the last month for the Bulletin Board Contest for your chance to win $250!! We'll be coming out to the schools on Tuesday, May 29th. It was so inspiring to see that even though we didn't have the "contest" in April, there were still many beautiful displays!  Here is Marilyn and Julissa's bulletin board display, "Nuestros Pequenos Artistas"  from April!!  Absolutely adorable and eye-catching!! Keep it up everyone!! 

Classroom Management Technique:

Preschool teacher, Shannon, was inspired to turn into "La Inspectora" after completing the PVP Training and Orientation!  When it's clean-up time, she turns into "La Inspectora de la Limpieza" by putting on her enormous glasses to ensure that everything has been cleaned up and put away in it's spot.  

Excellent Attention Grabber!

Getting Organized with Curriculum Boxes

As we near the end of the school year, we reflect on what worked this past year and how we can grow for the following year.  Compiling all of our thematic materials into curriculum boxes is a great way to organize everything that has to do with "Insectos", "Dinosaurios" or whatever it was that you were studying!  By compiling all of the classes materials into one curriculum box, it makes it easier for the next year to grab the box and have so much of what you need right at your fingertips!  Here are a few samples of the Curriculum Boxes from Newton!

 PORTFOLIOS:

I know that everyone is VERY BUSY putting together portfolios for the end of the year conferences.  I wanted to share some pictures of some of the portfolios that I've reviewed this month in the South End and Porter Square!  Remember, it's way more than just putting their art together in a folder!!  It's all about the documentation of the progress of the child from throughout the year. 

Check out these pictures for inspiration!

Documenting WHAT is happening in the picture teaches the parents more about the PROCESS of what the children were going through with their learning.  There are many ways to do this!!!  

As educators, it's important to put the LEARNING GUIDELINE on the piece of work or photo too!!!

Of course it's important to have CUTTING SAMPLES...

 Math activities...(this looks like it was inspired from the BLOG)

 Art...of course!!

ANECDOTES!!

Filling the pages of the portfolios with anecdotal stories about the child is pure joy for a parent to read and really shows the time that you put into knowing each and every child in your class.  

 Even if the piece of work is larger than the portfolio, it's okay!!  The portfolios are a keepsake memory of the child's experience in Pine Village that they will treasure forever.

 Lastly, Journals as a part of the portfolio process with dated entries (*like this one that Pamela put together in Porter square) is an excellent way to show the progress of the child in one simple book.

Have a great weekend!!

Jacie