THIS ISSUE'S THEME: Who Am I?

WELCOME! to Education World's Early Childhood Education Newsletter. Every other week, we'll bring you activities and suggestions to give your teaching themes a boost. You'll find some new ideas -- or perhaps a new spin on an activity you've used in the past. We're happy to be a part of your teaching and hope your school year is filled with wonder, creativity, and fun-filled learning.

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Volume 6, Issue 12
August 18, 2008
Theme: Who Am I?

As young children learn to write their names, discover their likes and dislikes, and understand that they are part of a family (at home and school), they begin to realize that they are unique and very special. As you kick off another school year, we hope our activity suggestions will help you promote self-esteem and show all your students how truly terrific they are.

Susan LaBella
Editor, Early Childhood Education Newsletter

ALL ABOUT ME
Help children learn more about their families and, in turn, themselves with this project.
Give each child a sheet of colored construction paper. At the top of the page, write this phrase:
      "All about __________"
      [fill in child's name in place of the line]
Have children take their papers home to decorate with family photos, drawings, magazine pictures, and so on, that provide information about themselves. When children bring their papers back, let them talk about what the decorations stand for. Finally, laminate the pages and assemble them in a class booklet for everyone to enjoy.

LET'S SING
Help children introduce themselves to others with this simple song sung to the tune of "Frere Jacques."

      I am [student inserts his or her name], I am [name].
      That's my name. That's my name.
      I am glad to be here. I am glad to be here.
      At my school. At my school.

GUESS WHO?
Have each child bring in a baby picture and a recent picture of him or herself. Give each child a folded piece of construction paper. With the fold at the top, let each child print in large letters across the page the words Guess Who? Next to that, children can glue their baby pictures. Then have children lift the flap and glue inside their more recent pictures. Finally next to that, let them print It's Me! Display the students' "Guess Who?" cards around the room or on a bulletin board.

MAKE A GRAPH
Have children use clay or play-dough to form the letters in their first names. Place each child's name on a piece of cardboard. Let each child count how many letters are in his/her name and write that number on the cardboard. Survey the number of letters in names and create a class picture graph. Write numbers of letters down the left side of the graph. To the right of each number, place one smiley face sticker for each child who has that number of letters in his/her name. Talk with students about the graph. Ask questions such as How many students have names with six letters? and Do more students have names with four letters or five letters? or Which name length belongs to the fewest students in our class?

ME OR I
Write the words "me" and "I" on a black/whiteboard or chart. Talk with children about the words. Ask When do we use those words? Have students share sentences with the words in them. If appropriate, help children write the words on lined paper. Next give children picture cards. Pictures on cards must be of objects whose names rhyme with either me (for example, bee, flea, key, knee, sea, ski, tea, three, and tree) or I (for example, buy, cry, eye, fly, hi, high, pie, pry, shy, sky, and tie). Encourage children to sort the cards into a pile of words that rhyme with "Me" and a pile of words that rhyme with "I."

IT LOOKS LIKE ME!
Let children make Me Pizzas. Give each child an English muffin. Provide tomato sauce, shredded cheese, pepper or mushroom slices, pepperoni, carrot circles, and so on. Invite children to create their own face on their pizza. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese bubbles and edges are brown. Enjoy!

Check out the following Web sites for additional background and activities.

All About Me and School: Books and Activities
Find wonderful book suggestions, activities, and games for a "Me" unit.
http://hometown.aol.com/il2teach/meandschool.htm

Fingerplays, Action Poems, Songs, and Nursery Rhymes
These will get your kids moving and rhyming all about themselves.
http://www.teachersbookbag.com/watermelons.html

My Body & Me
Try some of these great resources and ideas.
http://www.mommynature.com/my-body-me-letter-Bb-preschool-theme.html

Skills Checklist
A nice point of reference to use as you create your own skills checklist.
http://themesforpreschool.com/SkillsChecklist.html

Teaching Ideas for Early Childhood Special Educators
Don't reinvent the wheel! Share tons of stuff here -snacks, songs, links, recipes, themes, literacy ideas and a literacy checklist.
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/pep/teach.htm

Constitution Day (September 17)

Each week, Education World spotlights books of interest to educators. This week, read a brief summary of two more of our "top 50 books for educators."

Young Investigators: The Project Approach in the Early Years
This book from Teachers College Press applies the project approach to teaching, which has traditionally been associated with the middle grades, to early childhood education. This can not only energize and focus early childhood lessons, but also lay a foundation for inquisitive thought that students can benefit from for the rest of their school years, even for the rest of their lives.
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

Teaching Science for Understanding: A Practical Guide for Middle and High School Teachers
We all know that the United States has to "play catch-up" with science and math teaching, compared to other countries, and this book is a serious attempt to contribute positively to that effort. Science may be especially susceptible to passive, direct-instruction styles, and this author instead advocates active, inquiry-based learning. A unique feature of this book is a set of excerpts from popular science textbooks along with suggestions for making the content contained in those books come alive for students.
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

Click the icon to the right to see more books and many other products that are available in the Education World MarketPlace.

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The Best of LEARNING GAMES

If you enjoy Education World's weekly LEARNING GAMES feature, you'll love this book! Education World and the National Education Association (NEA) have joined forces to create a handy, pocket-size booklet of more than 30 of our most popular learning games. PLUS an extra bonus -- ten more games for classroom fun!

These classroom games span the grades and the major subject areas -- and inject a healthy dose of fun into the serious business of teaching and learning. Looking to fill the end of a hectic day with something fun and educational? Looking for a great reward for students that will make valuable use of free time? Looking to reinforce basic skills with a fun activity? These games will fill the bill!

Included in this 80-page booklet you'll find these games and more:

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MORE FEATURES OF INTEREST!
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Printables Library You're sure to find great resources here. Hundreds of printables!
Meet Our Columnists Meet our team of columnists from many corners of the "education world."
Teaching Themes for Early Childhood Sue LaBella offers teaching ideas for popular EC themes.
Stress Relief Kit Take a deep breath. Then take a look here for great reading.
Classroom Management 101 Real teachers share what they are doing to manage real classrooms.
News for Kids News of our world written with kids in mind. Teacher's Guide included.

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