I am going to be teaching pre-k next year. I have been teaching 6th grade for the past 9 years. I'm a bit out of my comfort zone. What books, programs, advice to you recommend? My students will be ages 3-5 (not sure which group I will have) and most will not be from English speaking homes. Thanks!!
I taught early childhood for about 5 years. 3-5 is a broad range! It would be easier to help you out if I knew which group you would have, but you will most definitely open up with circle time in the morning. Here you can greet everyone, calendar, days of the week, alphabet, etc. And I sang songs ALL THE TIME with my kiddos. When I taught 5/kindergarten, we reviewed the alphabet chant everyday. It improved their letter and sound identification dramatically. The poster for it is below but I made the chant into a book and flashcards so I could flip through each page. The chant goes (letter - picture - sound): A, apple, /a/...... B, butterfly, /b/....... C, caterpillar, /c/..... etc. Sample:
That's a big jump! I teach spec. Ed. preschool, but taught ELL when I first started teaching preschool. One strategy that I use for both groups is creating visuals on a ring that I use from the first day. I usually start with pictures of wash hands, bathroom, sit down, quiet, raise your hand, playground, bus, backpack, eat, and coat. I keep a large flip chart of them at my chair for group time and I keep small ones laminated on a ring that I wear on my lanyard. It's a great way to support students during daily routines. As for programs, curriculums, etc.that will depend on your district. My district uses the AEPS for evaluation, but curriculum planning is up to the teacher to decide. For first day activities, I practice a lot of routine and procedures. This is how we wash our hands...this is how we line up...this is how we sit at the carpet, etc. I like to use social stories to teach procedures, there are some good ones on teachers pay teachers. I also use a paper that says "I colored this on the first day of school" for students to free color when they first enter the room. This becomes the first page of their portfolio that eventually houses all their work samples. Feel free to ask any other questions!
Thanks! I just emailed my team leader as she said I would have 3-4s. I haven't been around that age group in more than a decade! The school uses/follows the Reggio Emelia philosophy, which I just started reading about. I am excited and a bit terrified.
I don't know too much about Reggio Emilia although I do remember learning about it in school. 3-4's: Definitely work on identifying letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and writing their names, copying simple words, cutting with scissors, rote counting to at least 20, counting objects using one-to-one correspondence. They can only sit for 15-20 minutes at a time, so after circle time, do some whole body movement before moving onto the next activity. Put everything into a song and they will remember it! Counting by 10s, days of the week, months of the year, .. they knew it all because it was taught to them through songs
