Sweet Life of Teaching: themes

Here's a really fun game you can play at the end of the year with your preschoolers, or any time of the year with older students (the big Kindergarteners!). When I taught Kindergarten, I used to play this game with one of my grade level teachers, and our classes loved the friendly competition, socialization, and added physical activity during the school day.

We all know that if there is a way to make a game out of learning, your students will buy into it---creating a highly engaged group of students with a high interest activity. All you need is the baseball letter match game (which is a complete set of upper and lowercase letters), a dry erase board & marker (or something to keep score), bases/home plate and an excited group of students!

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So....once you have printed the baseballs, you will want to put a number (1, 2, or 3--to represent the value and what base they could run to) on the back BEFORE you laminate. It's up to you, but I put a 1 on easy letters, a 2 on more difficult letters, and a 3 on the letters that are typically most difficult for students to identify. Then, laminate & cut out.

Now, you are ready to take your students to the gym or outside for a game of ABC baseball! I found some great bases and a home plate at the Dollar Tree, but I've only seen them there twice in the Spring over the paste few years. You could always make your own, or borrow from your P.E. teacher!

Set up your bases and divide your class into 2 teams, or bring another class to play against you! You will not need any players in the field. Simply have your students sit on the baseline until it is their turn to "bat" (no bat needed, though!). The teacher is the pitcher! :)

Have your baseballs in hand, and call one student up to bat. They stand at home plate and you tell them if it's a single (1--1st base), a double (2--2nd base), or a triple hit (3---3rd base). Then, "pitch" the ball (show them the ball with the letter on it). If they identify it, they run to their designated base. Next batter, do it all again. Every time a player crosses home plate, make a tally mark for a run for your team.

The team with the most runs at the end is the winning team!!

Shake it up! How to vary the game depending on each child's needs. When you pitch you can:

* show only uppercase

* show only lowercase

* mix it: sometimes show a capital letter, sometimes show a lowercase letter

* ask for letter sound

* ask for a word that starts with that letter

* ask for a word that ends with that letter

* only use the letters in the child's first name

I hope this game is a HOME RUN for your class!

Have FUN!

If you are getting to know me through this blog, or already know me in person, you have come to know that organizing is a hobby of mine. My guilty pleasure. It may be a bit geeky......but that's okay. I know right where all of my belongings are, it's aesthetically appealing, and I know right where all of my belongings are! (Yes, I said that twice-----it's important!)

As an early childhood teacher, I have lots of props and extras that keep things new and exciting for the students. Again, most of my things are theme related (Forgive me, Dan Hodgins----who is speaking in my home town today---but I am home cleaning my house!) If you have read Dan's writing, or listened to him at a conference, you know that he is not crazy about themes. He says we don't live in themes---so why would we teach in themes?

Well, I don't know. I kind of sit on the fence about this. I mean, I sort of do live in themes! When I decorate my house, I have a theme in mind----it makes everything flow nicely. The main living areas of my house have a country/vintage type look...with some modern accents. My paint colors coordinate, my accent pieces all tie in the same colors, etc. In my bedroom, we went for a more modern look---shabby chic. Again, the colors coordinate, my accent pieces are carry the same modern "theme" in colors, style, etc. Each of my children's rooms has it's own theme----my youngest son likes vintage license plates. His wall decor, bedding, curtains, etc. all reflect that theme and color scheme. My oldest son has gone with a "rock star" theme, and my daughter----it's pink, pink, pink with polka dots and owls. Themes, themes, and more themes!

In a truly 4-seasons State, we decorate our house according to the seasons. I have fall decor and dishes, winter/Christmas, summer, etc. In school, we are able to see and talk about all these changes in weather. It is a great part of who we are in Northern Michigan. We see the leaves changing colors on the trees, the snow, the new growth that spring brings, and the beautiful summers. Each of these changes brings on real life experiences that our students live in their every day lives----camping, boating, raking leaves, building igloos in the snow, planting and gardening, etc.

AND----some students may never get to experience family vacations to the ocean, quality time raking leaves and talking about the science behind the color changes, planting a garden or flowers at home, etc. It depends on the family's priorities, likes/dislikes, income, ability to travel, level of education, etc.

So - basically, it's this in my mind: If students are living through so many changes that bring up a variety of related topics and interests, then we SHOULD explore them in the classroom. And if students are NOT experiencing some very interesting topics (such as a trip to the ocean, or the antarctic) then I should be able to "take"them there through a deep thematic unit of study in my classroom. Some educators say why? I say, WHY NOT?!

We teach children to read, to use their schema, their life experiences, their imagination, and create a movie in their mind. What if you are reading about the Arctic? Most children have never been there, maybe some have seen a few clips on Animal Planet, maybe a couple have seen a penguin in a zoo, but really---what other background information do they have? Probably not much. UNLESS----a certain teacher has given them opportunities (even if it's manufactured in the classroom with plastic toys and props) to explore the Arctic in a multi-sensory, cross-curricular study in the classroom. And really, isn't cross-curricular just a form of thematic study?

So again, I say....Themes---why not?! And if you do, or will in the future, how will you ORGANIZE all your thematic items and props. Think back to your first couple years of college. You probably had a class that made you create a "prop box". Mine probably looked like a joke back then....but here's my sophisticated version, and my current organizing system for thematic props.