You might be wondering what in the world those two things have in common, but if you stick with me for a few minutes I think I can explain it. An important part of any teacher's job is to carefully consider the learning opportunities that she offers to her students. I am constantly thinking to myself, what is the purpose of this lesson/activity. Being purposeful in the classroom and in my planning really does make a difference in the success of my learners.
So, when considering our big event today, "The 2nd Annual Sunshine Day School Pet Show Extravaganza", I went through my normal thought process. My "teacher" goal for this activity was oral language development. I say teacher goal because before I was a teacher, I would not have known what "oral language" really meant, or why it was important. This is where the cake baking comes in.
Often when we talk about emergent literacy and learning to read with young children, we talk about ABCs. The ABCs are a big part of learning to read, but they are not the only part. If you liken learning to read with baking a cake, the ABCs might be the flour. With flour alone you can not bake a very good cake! You need milk, eggs, and sugar to even get started! So, if the ABCs are the flour, language development might be the eggs. Oral language, in short, is a complex system that relates sounds to meaning. So, like the eggs, it holds it all together!
Oral language is a big part of what we do in preschool. Even though it sounds complicated, it is really not. When young children are exposed to words and conversations, and allowed to practice talking they are developing their language skills. When we get them talking to each other and adults, they are practicing what they have learned. So, today at the pet show, there was a lot of this going on.
The children were so excited about this day and event. Having the pets in today gave us endless opportunities for language development. Of course we could have had conversations about pictures of pets in a book, but it would definitely not have been the same! The children were engaging in meaningful conversations with their peers, asking good questions, and practicing the give and take that is required of a group interaction. They heard new words, and saw new things. There are very shy children in our group who forgot all about being shy, if just for a moment. Children who are not comfortable speaking in front of the group relished begin in the spotlight with their four legged/ finned companions.
I guess there are 2 ways to see our event today. Through the eyes of the children, it was a really fun day at preschool, where they got to share about their family and home life with their friends. For the teachers in the room, it was an environment rich in language and opportunities for expression. For those who stuck with me for the long post, thanks, and I hope I was able to shed a little light on why we do what we do at school! Now, please enjoy these pictures from a wonderful day at preschool...
First, we read the book "Pet Show" by Ezra Jack Keats. Then we shared in our classrooms, pictures of pets, and our stuffed animal pets. This kitty cat almost fooled Mrs. Georgia! He seems to be real, right down to his meow! He was a big hit!
Then we moved on to the dance room for the "live" animal pet show.
Bella Casey was the first contestant. She got us off to a great start.
Puppy Dog Henegar was a very good participant in our pet show!
Trixie Rich won 1st place for best kisses.
And coming in first, with the most wrinkles, was Gus Moore!
Bailey Debnam was super sweet!
TuTu Johnson won the prize for best bubbles!
Jessie Parks seems like family to us, but it was nice to finally meet her in person!
Junior Duff was on his best behavior, and won first prize for best stripes!
We loved meeting Herman Sneeden, the guinea pig. He won most healthy, for his love of nibbling fresh carrots! He didn't want anything to do with the yogurt covered pretzels that we offered on the treat table!
Josie is showing some of her tricks, which won her first place for "best tricks"!
We had a wonderful time together, I hope that everyone came home talking about our special day at preschool!
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