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LETTERS: Rr, Ss, Tt

Share your ideas too. E-mail me at stormie@preschoolbystormie.com

Pre-Math: Children sort various sizes of red rectangles.

Science: Let the children weigh various sizes of rocks

Fine Motor/Eye-Hand Coordination: Children hang rings (jewelry type) on a hook board.

Art Center Activities:

*Children paint rocks.

* Do rolling pin painting: Children fold a piece of paper in half, open it and place a blob of paint on one side, refold it then roll a rolling pin over it. Open it up and see the design.

*Create rainbows

*Create robots from rectangles.

Snacks: Raisins. Red Raspberries (my very favorite fruit). Let them try red radishes too.

Sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."

Play music from a radio during Free Choice play.

Place Ranger Rick magazines in the Quiet Corner.

Gross Motor Ideas:

1. Let children take turns rolling on a mat for the letter Rr and/or play a "ring toss" game.

2. Play "Rope-A-Dope-A-Do": A rope is held on each end and placed low to the ground. Children form a line and go over the rope one at a time while saying, "The game is Rope-a-dope-a-do, and I can do it too." Each child decides how they wish to go "over" the rope (jump, hop, crawl, roll, etc). The rope can also be held high while children go "under" it.

3. Run a race. Ride a tricycle.

New Fun With Old Rhymes: Here's a verse from an old folk rhyme called "We Are All Nodding."

We are all reading, read, read, reading

We are all reading at our house at home

With a turning in and a turning out

And it's this way, that way, round about

We are all reading, read, read, reading

We are all reading at our house at home

Stand in a circle with the children and pretend to read an open book. When you come to "turning in," everyone can move toward the center of the circle, then back out when "turning out." For "this way, that way, round about," you could move left, then right, then turn around. Point out the "Rr" words. Point out words that rhyme.

Take-Home Textured R: Children glue red rick-rack, rubber bands, and red ribbon pieces on a red paper R cutout, or let them paint their R with glue then sprinkle on dry red rice. (Rick-rack is a neat new word to introduce.) (To color the rice: In advance, place rice in red food colored water. Let it soak till you get the color desired. Drain off the water and spread the rice out on newspaper to dry overnight.)

Favorite Books:

Ten Rosy Roses, by Eve Merriam; illustrated by Julia Gorton: This is a counting book.

In celebration of Ss, let children remove their shoes and go sock-footed throughout free choice play. Tell them you also want to hear them singing softly while they play.

Gross Motor Ideas:

1. When you go outside and before playing, have all the children skip around the playground and go down the slide for the letter Ss. Suggest they also take turns swinging for Ss.

2. Wiggle a rope on the floor and instruct children to jump over the snake without touching it.

3. Have children toss a rolled sock into the air then catch it.

Creative Art: Do sponge or string painting, or paint seashells

Pre-Math: Children sort various sizes of squares.

Snack: Strawberries

Have children move scarves to music.

On my March curriculum, the Multi-Cultural Ed optional theme is Music, so you could also sing songs from other cultures.

New Fun With Old Rhymes: Here's two verses from the old folk rhyme "We Are All Nodding."

We are all sewing, sew, sew, sewing

We are all sewing at our house at home

With a turning in and a turning out

And it's this way, that way, round about

We are all sewing, sew, sew, sewing

We are all sewing at our house at home

We are all spinning, spin, spin, spinning

We are all spinning at our house at home

With a turning in and a turning out

And it's this way, that way, round about

We are all spinning, spin, spin, spinning

We are all spinning at our house at home

For the first verse, you may need to define "sewing" and go through the motions. Stand in a circle with the children and pretend to sew with needle and thread. When you come to "turning in," everyone can move toward the center of the circle, then back out when "turning out." For "this way, that way, round about," you could move left, then right, then turn around. Make the second verse especially fun by sitting down and "spinning" your way through it. Point out the "Ss" words in both verses. Point out words that rhyme.

Take-Home Textured S: Children stick gummed stars on a paper S cutout and glue on straw pieces.

*From Shelli Smith, Riverton, Utah:

Stick "smiley face" stickers on the outline of the letter S. This would be a great way to review "feelings" too.

When children go to line up, have them tiptoe.

Art Center Options: Collages:

1. Children cut out pictures of animal tails from magazines and glue them on paper. Later, play "Pin the Tail On the Turtle" (played just like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey"). It's more challenging (and more fun) if you draw several small-medium sized turtles on poster board then let children (while blindfolded) try to pin the tail on one of them.

2. Children do a collage of various sizes and colors of tissue paper triangles.

Abstract Art Creations: Have children drive small toy tractors and trucks through paint then make tire tracks on paper.

Music: Let children experiment with the sound of a tambourine.

Creative Drama: Children have a pretend Tea Party in the Play Kitchen. Suggested props: tablecloth, flowers, vase, teapot and cup set, napkins, etc. Read "I'm a Little Teapot" by Iza Trapani (This is a fun extension to the song).

Snack: Tuna on Triangle Toast pieces

Here's a good eye-hand coordination activity: Children poke toothpicks through the holes of an overturned colander.

Read "Busy Toes" by C. W. Bowie; illustrated by Fred Willingham: This is a delightfully illustrated book about "toes."

Or read "A Song for Little Toad" by Vivian French; illustrated by Barbara Firth: No one can sing to Little Toad like his mother.

Take-Home Textured T: Children glue colored toothpicks on a paper T cutout.

New Fun With Old Rhymes:

LITTLE TOMMY TUCKER

Little Tommy Tucker sings for his supper.

What shall he eat? White bread and butter.

How shall he cut it without any knife?

How shall he marry without any wife?

Besides just enjoying this silly little rhyme, children can "sing" before eating a snack of white bread and butter (well, margarine). If they wish to sing individually, boys could pretend to be "Tommy" and girls can be "Tanya." They can spread the margarine on the bread themselves. Ask them how they could cut the bread in half without a knife (tear it). Also discuss the meaning of "supper, marry, and wife." Of course, don't forget to point out the "Tt" words. And if you've done the letter "Ss," there's some great words in the rhyme for reviewing those as well (sings, supper). As an extension, have each child practice their thinking skills by telling you what else she/he might have for supper instead of "white bread and butter." Further discussion might involve naming the meals we eat each day (breakfast, lunch, dinner/supper to some).

*Two great ideas from Shelli Smith, Riverton, Utah:

Tracing: Tracing is a fun activity for the letter T. Children can trace just about anything (canning jar lids, Cool Whip lids, Tupperware containers, etc). Or, buy tracing toys or templates. Tupperware and Discovery Toys both have child-friendly tracing toys.

Fun and Special T Snack: "Tarts" (actually Poptarts, but emphasize the "T"). They are even tastier after being toasted! We found a fun variety that has sprinkles that change color after toasting.

*From Lani Becker, International School of the Regents in Pattaya, Thailand:

Fingerpaint on wax paper with Tapioca pudding, then lick your fingers! Yum!

*From co-teachers Beth Robinson and Deb Sinclair:

For review/practice in cutting "strips," provide children with stiff paper that has stripes on it (like wallpaper samples). After cutting the strips, children can form "T's" with them.

*From Tamie:
We practice sounding out the letter "Tt" by listening to and repeating the rhythmic sound of a ticking clock (T, t, t, t, t, t, ...).
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Reminders from Stormie:
*I offer "Wacky Animals ABC Cards" in the "Teaching Aids" section of "Stormie's Stuff for Teachers.
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