Educational Web Sources for Early Childhood Development

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Educational Sites for Kids

Here is an exciting kidspage full of games, puzzles, and printable worksheets Additional, children will find an over abundance of educational subjects at kidsknowit. And at learningplanet kids will find out about the earth.

Learning about Nature

For this activity, children will learn the importance of biology and ecology. First, children will engage in a field trip to the zoo to learn about conservation. Second, students will engage taking care of a butterfly habitat.

Materials:

Butterfly Habitat (with food and water feeder)
Caterpillars (at least six)
Butterfly Feeder with Nectar
Book: From Caterpillar to Butterfly
Butterfly and moth video recording (focuses on how butterflies and moth grow)
Butterfly Life cycle Poster
Butterfly Observation Sheet (one sheet)
School Bus (trip to the zoo)

Introduction:

First, the children will go on a field trip to the zoo. There, they will learn about animals and conservation. The next day, students will sit on the carpet in the gathering area. A book, “From Caterpillar to Butterfly” will be read, then the Butterfly Life cycle Poster will be presented to give a more in depth look at how butterflies metamorphosis happens. Opened –ended questioned will be addressed during this time. The teacher will ask the students to go home and think about how can take care of butterflies.

On the next day, students will see the butterfly habitat sitting by the window in their classroom. The teacher will ask students how they will implement taking care of the habitat. A plan will be set forth on a poster board. Each student will be in charge of taking care of the habitat until the caterpillars becomes butterflies and are able to be released.

During the three-week period, (this is about how long it takes for metamorphosis to happen) the children will watch a video on butterfly growth. The teacher will then explain to the students that when the time comes the butterflies must be released. The teacher continues to explain that maybe the butterflies will come around from time to time if a butterfly feeder is put outside on a tree. After that the teacher and the students go outside and hang the feeder.

Before the release of the butterflies, students will write down on the observation sheet how many butterflies will be released and their colors.

Though out the year students engage in observing the feeder. Any time a student see a butterfly; they log it on an observation sheet, noting it colors and size. Then students can compare the colors of the butterflies they let go to the ones they see on the butterfly feeder

Predictions:

The children will get excited about their field trip.
The children will be excited to see all the animals at the zoo.
The children will get excited about visual seeing the metamorphosis of the butterflies.
The children will enjoy taking of the butterflies.
The children will want to visual see the caterpillars daily.
The children will tell their friends, family and other students about their project.
The children will want to invite the rest of the school to come see their butterfly habitat.
The children will want to invite the rest of the school to come see the butterflies after they have metamorphyically changed from caterpillar to butterfly.
The children will want their family to come see that habitat too.
The children will be excited to release the butterflies.

Theories:

The children will wonder if all the caterpillars will change to butterflies.
The children will wonder if the caterpillars will be safe at night when nobody is at school.
The children will begin to care for the insects.
The children will also wonder when the butterflies are set lose will they be okay on their own.
The children will wonder if they can take care of another set of caterpillars.
The children will see how important it is for animals to have a safe environment to live in.

Questions:

When will the caterpillars change to butterflies?
What colors will the butterfly be?
Where the butterflies will go after they are released?
Will the butterflies come to our butterfly feeder?
How long do butterflies live?
Will all the caterpillars become butterflies or will some die?
Can this activity be done at home?
Can I take home a butterfly?

Transformation Activity for Elementary Students

Activity:

Students will build their own piece of artwork using a technique called Impasto. This multilayer step project teaches students about texture, colors and thickness. Students will take a white sheet of paper and transform it into a beautiful piece of their own constructivist artwork.

First, students will color the entire sheet of white paper anyway they wish using regular color crayons, then students will take the glow-in-the-dark color crayon and design something unknown of their choice (This is the twist, the glow in the dark design will be revealed in the dark). Second, students will use a paint brush to spread black paint over the entire white/colored sheet of paper. Third, students will construct another design using a feather (the feather works like a pencil), it removes the black paint. Fourth, students will write their name on the design too. Design possibilities are endless.

Materials Needed:

10 x 12 sheet of white paper (one per student)
Box of color crayons (one per student)
Glow in the dark crayons (one per student)
Black tempera paint
Paint brushes (one per student at least one inch in width)
Small cups (pour paint into the cups, give one cup per student)
Feathers (one per student)
Tape (tape the white sheet of paper to the student’s desk)
Lots of paper towels (for clean up)
Sink area (for clean up)

Introduction:

Students will be introduced to a professional artist through power point. During the art literacy presentation students will learn about the artist and his artwork. An in-depth view of the artist work will reflect texture, smoothness, and creativity. After the art literacy lecture, another brief lecture by the teacher will be given. Visual aid examples of the project to be completed will be represented in stages. Open-ended questions will be addressed during both lectures.

Predictions:

All of the children will engage with this activity and have fun.
Some students might ponder for a bit on how to create their own design.
Some students might wonder if they should impose many colors or one color on the sheet. Students will socially interact with other peers.
Some students will theory-build simple designs such as making stars, circles, or vertical and horizontal lines.
Some students will come up with more complex designs such as a sunset.
Many of the students will be anxious to see how their artwork turns out in the light and in the dark.
Students will wonder how their design will look when completed.

Theories:

Students will wonder how crayons, painting, and removal of paint can create a beautiful design. Students will wonder about the outcome of the project.
Students will wonder if they have colored the white sheet with enough colors.
Students will wonder how or if the glow-in-the-dark-crayon will show up in the dark.
Students will learn that beautiful artwork can be created with multiple textures.

Questions:

Students might ask:
How does the crayon color show up?
How do we know the glow-in-the-dark crayon will glow?
What kind of design should I make with the glow-in-the-dark crayon?
Do you think my design looks good?
Can we turn out the lights to see our designs glow?

Possible Extensions:
Instead of putting only black paint on the design, use different colored tempera paints.

Poetry in the Classroom

Poetry is an important part of every child's learning process. Below is three describable centers for preschool and kindergarten classrooms. Children will gain knowledge though poetry!

Center One: Poetry and Writing

At this center students create their own journal of poetry. Three subjects will be integrated: poetry, writing, and art. Weekly students will be given a visual prompt: apple, shape, or a weather display such as a snowflake, or a pumpkin, words written on paper such as respect, kind, smile, etc. The visual prompt will depend on the month and what kinds of elements are going on during that time. The poems will be collected and published in a book called My Poetry Book later in the school year. A Small group of students will work individually at this center, social interaction is promoted and students learn to theory-build.

At the Poetry Writing Center students will be prompted to write their poems utilizing Acrostic, Haiku, Cinquzin or free-write. During free-write children can choose any one subject they wish. How they wish to write their poem and what they would like to write about is completely up to them. Sample poems will be displayed on the wall according to the layout of the poem they are writing that week. If the children are writing acrostic poems that week, then acrostic poems will be placed on the wall. If the visual prompt is an apple that week, then the children will write about this apple using the first letters of the apple.

Acrostic Poem Example:

Apples are delicious

Plus they are sweet

Picking green apples is smart

Love the taste

Everyone eats them.

Journals for each student will be placed in cubbies. On the outside of each journal students will write, “My Poetry Book,” their names will go on the inside. On a desk students will find colored and regular pencils, and blank paper. Clip boards will be in a plastic bin on the floor. Additional bins will have an ABC dictionary and laminated editing sheets.

Once students gather their materials they can sit in a circle on the carpet at the gathering area. The visual prompt for that week (an apple) will in the middle of the carpet on a small table. While students sit with their materials they begin brainstorming on how they wish to proceed writing the poem. Two baskets with the names Conference and Ready for Journal will sit opposite side of the students’ journals. Once students are done with their first draft on regular paper and they have edited their work, they will place their poem in the Conference basket. Once the teacher edits the work, she will place it back in the basket labeled Ready for Journal, then students can pick up their poem and begin to write it in their journals. Students can also draw a picture of the topic in their journals too.

Center Two: Poetry and Word Work

At this center students Read-to-Self, Read-to-Someone or listen to poetry books on tape. Each week a variety of genre will be put in the bins. Daily students can choose which literacy activity they wish to engage in. In the reading area students can choose to sit on bean bags and or sit on the floor with carpet mats.

Each student will have their own book box on a shelf and names will write on these box boxes. Students can have up to 4 books per box. The book must contain poetry and be a good “fit” book that helps that student work on their literacy skills. Each book box will contain a journal. In the journal students can write about the characters and then make-up their own story.

Up against a wall two more book shelves hold a broad range of poetry books. The books are put in bins and labeled by category. Bins will include: animals, shapes, family, musical poems, tongue twisters, nursery rhythms, fairy tales, school is cool, funny characters, counting, abs’s, team work, respect, the four seasons, etc.

Children can listen to poetry on tape. Poetry tapes with books will sit in a basket on a small table with two chairs. The table will be pushed up against a wall. On the wall children will see poetry poems, poetry songs, and chants. The poems on the wall will differ depending on the poetry topic for that week. One week the poetry topic could be nursery rhymes, so nursery rhymes poems will be on the wall.

Next to the books on tapes there will be a couple of folders stapled to the wall. One folder will have a word list. On this word list students can write words they are having trouble saying and or understanding what the word means. Students can write the word on this list, and then at the end of the week I would convey to the students how to say the word and give its meaning. Or when students are done reading their book they can write a short summary about what they read.

Center Three: Poetry and Author Study

Every two weeks a new poetry author will be introduced to the class. Students will learn rhythm words and how to create their own poetry story from the books and poems the author has written. My example author for this assignment is Robert Pottle.

Students will learn how to build sentence puzzles. At this station students will read the author’s poems and or books and look for words that rhythm. Then students will go to the rectangle table, sit down, and begin making sentences from the rhythm words found. At the table some sentence structured words written on the index cards will be provided by the teacher. Students will write their rhythm words on index cards. Once students write out their words, they can combine all the index cards together and then form a sentence. The goal is for the students to create their own poem.

Many poems from the author will go on the wall. Each poem will be placed at eye level and in large print. Poems such as When Santa Claus Came to School, The Test, My New School, The First Day of School, The Artist, and Room Cleaning Robot are a few poems written by Robert Pottle. Poem of the Week will go in the middle of the other poems, the poems theme could revolve around school, home, family, etc. Robert Pottle wrote a poem called The First Day of School. Students could take this poem and make up their own poem about their feelings about the first day of school.

Books by the author will be found in a bin or two in the corner of the room. Books written by Robert Pottle could included: If Kids Ruled School, Moxic Day and Family, Moxic Day and the Prankster, Maine: The Way Life Should Be, Maine: The Way Life Is, I’ve Been Burping in the Classroom, Miles of Smiles, Twinkle Twinkle Little Tot, I’m Allergic to School, My Teacher’s in Detention, Dinner with Dracula, etc. Above the book bins students can find a folder with a list a list of books written author. Students can take the list and use it as a reference is case they wish to further their author study at the school or public library.

Resource:

Pottle, Robert Funny poems & children's poetry by Robert Pottle!. Retrieved July 6, 2008, from Funny poems & children's poetry by Robert Pottle! Web site: http://www.robertpottle.com/

Dr. Seuss: Literacy Learning for the Young

Theodor “Ted” Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 2, 1904. After high school he attended Dartmouth College and Oxford University. While attending Dartmouth, Ted wrote for the Dartmouth Humor Magazine and signed his name Seuss. Not long after attending Oxford University, Ted worked for The Saturday Evening Post as an illustrator designing cartoons, and then Ted began writing children’s books. Ted’s first book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” was rejected 27 times before published. Since the publication of that book, Ted has written over 40 wonderful children’s literacy books. “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” was Ted’s last book written before his death on September 24^th, 1991. Teachers can create a multitude of curriculum utilizing Dr. Seuss products with their class subjects: literacy, language arts, mathematics, safety, art, and music. Home economics, emotions, imaginations, lying, figurative journey, fairy tales, fantasy, poetry, patterns, mathematics and literacy concepts are some themes a teacher can address in the classroom.

The amount of curriculum educators can present to their students is enormous. The contents of Dr. Seuss’s publications are suitable for young children at home, preschool or kindergarten. As a child reads these book he or she will notice beautiful illustrations along with fun lovable characters. The combination of the two represents each story well.

Children all over the world enjoy reading Dr. Seuss. His books have been published worldwide and written in many different languages and well over 200 million copies have been sold. Some of his published works are: The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hat Returns, Green Eggs and Ham, Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? If I Ran The Zoo, Etc. Dr. Seuss books are divided into category according to child’s age and level of learning. Dr. Seuss Nursery: Horton Here’s a Who and Circus McGurkus 1, 2, 3! Bright and Early Board Books: The Foot Book, Hop on Pop and There’s a Wocket in My Pocket. Bright and Early Books: In A People’s House, The Foot Book, and Great Day for Up! Beginner Books: The Cat in the Hat, Fox in Socks, and Dr. Seuss’s ABC.

Academic learning is readily obtainable and simple for students. Learning literacy is fun. Dr. Seuss stories are full of rhythm and rhyming verses. This type of print sets the pace for the reader. Students will learn phonological awareness, phonics, onsets, rimes, and segmentation, letter recognition, comprehension, story retelling, story composition; students will learn about words that rhyme and words that don’t rhyme, and object classification, Learning mathematics is effortless. Students will learn basic adding and subtracting, mathematical sequence, problem solving and more. Writing skills improve. Students learn how to summarize a story, learn about characters, setting, and plots. Students can learn poetry though through music and make crafts too.

The Internet provides a broad range of curriculum ideas. Teachers can juxtaposition Dr. Seuss with Internet learning activities. Cross-curricular, cross words, plot summary, printable patterns, and more activity sheets can be found on the websites provided to you below. Bottom of FoLearning possibilities for students are endless. In addition to Dr. Seuss books and Internet resources, educators can bring to life Dr. Seuss stories with DVDs. Educators can facilitate a child’s play and learning with educational board games like Dr. Seuss ABC, and children can work on their motor skills with Dr. Seuss puzzles.

Educational institutions all over the world have chosen to team up with The National Education Association and Random House (Dr. Seuss publicist) to celebrate the success Dr. Seuss has brought to many children all over this nation. Having this author’s great works of literacy in your classroom will bring benefits to your students. Children will gain knowledge from this well-known author, Theodor “Ted” Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) for centuries to come.

Teach Today, Preserve Tomorrow: Ecological Ideas for Kids

Ecological importance can be taught in the classroom. Preserving our earth begins with education. Teacher's can teach their students how to conserve the earth's ecosystems, habitats, and species with the scientific lessons plans provided by the Teacher's Table website. Click the link below for great elementary conservation lessons.

KidsPlanet

Earthly Fun!

Learning about our earth and how to take care of its environment can be fun. DLTK has several earth day activities. Educators and parents can implement these ideas so the children of today will understand why sustainability is significant. Children will have fun when learning how to sing songs and play games that relate to our earth. Please, click the link below, then explore all the fun possibilities your children will have.

DKTK

Garbage is Destroying our Environment.

The fate of our world is in the hands of humanity. Today’s ecological problems need economic solutions. Bagging consumer products with plastic or paper is not a resolution that betters our earth’s environment. Both products use mass amounts of petroleum to produce and neither are biodegradable. When bags are no longer reusable, their new home becomes our landfills. Plastic and paper bags take up an enormous amount of space in our landfills. The consumer pays millions yearly to store their own waste and natural habitats are being destroyed. We as a community need to alter how we bag our products. Implementing sustainability can be improved when the consumer implements reusable bags.

Protecting our Earth!

Kids today need to understand their earth and how to take care of it. The Environmental Protection Agency provides a great children page full of information pertaining to our world. Environmental activities and games children can easily do at home or school. Topics include: Plants & Animals, Garbage & Recycling, and You & Your Environment. Click and have fun!

epa.govkids