THIS ISSUE'S THEME: The Letter D

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Volume 7, Issue 15
September 14, 2009
Theme: The Letter D

Art by Bobbie Peachey, Web Clipart Guide (about.com) Used with permission

Delightful D

D is for dolphin, a kind of whale.
D is for deer with white on its tail.
D is for donut soft, sweet, and round.
D is discover -- “Look what I found!”

This school year, each of our newsletters will bring you and your children activities featuring a letter of the alphabet. We know that many of you introduce the alphabet to your children one letter at a time, sharing activities that reinforce it during the course of several weeks. We hope this format will support your teaching and give you some new ideas to enhance your alphabet instruction.

Susan LaBella
Editor, Early Childhood Education Newsletter

DIG FOR DINO BONES
Read to Children Dinosaur Bones by Aliki. Then try one or more of these activities.
--- Prepare dinosaur “bones” from a store-bought mold or purchase plastic bones at a craft store. Hide the bones in a sand table or sand box outdoors. Let children dig for the bones with shovels or use colanders to sift the sand. As an alternate activity, use brightly colored paints to paint rocks of various sizes to look like jewels or gold. Bury them in a sandbox and let children dig for buried treasure.
--- Give each child various pieces of uncooked pasta, glue, and a piece of drawing paper. After viewing pictures of dinosaur skeletons, children can create their own by gluing various pasta onto the paper.

DRINK IT UP!
Talk with children about drinks. Make a list of drinks children like including milk, juice, water, and so on. Then explain to children that a smoothie is a type of drink they might like to try. Together, use this recipe to make and enjoy smoothies.

Yogurt Smoothie
In a blender combine:
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup fruit (banana, strawberry)
1 cup milk
½ ice cubes

DUCK, DUCK, MORE DUCKS
--- Choose one child to be a parent duck. He or she covers his/her eyes. Hide a hardboiled egg somewhere in the room. Let the parent duck search for it. All the other ducklings (the class) quack quietly. As the parent gets closer to the hiding spot, the ducklings “quack” louder until the egg is discovered. Repeat game with another parent.
--- Let children make cute, simple baby ducks. On a paper plate let each child place a handful of yellow (Easter basket) grass. Gently sit two black paper eyes on the grass and a orange triangle “beak.” Place a small orange feather on each side of the grass -- and name your baby duck.
-- Gather ten small plastic yellow “bath ducks.” Write a different number from 1 to 10 on the bottom of each duck. Let children place the ducks in the correct number sequence; use them to display a number from 1 to 10; or use them to create number sentences such as 1 duck + 2 ducks = 3 ducks.

DIAMOND DESIGNS
Cut out numerous diamond shapes from different pieces of colored paper. Give each child several of the paper shapes, glue, a sheet of any color construction paper, and a small brush. Demonstrate how to create a design with the shapes. Then invite children create their own designs by dabbing glue onto each of the shapes with their brushes and pressing the shapes onto the colored construction paper.

A “BE-U-D-FUL” BOOK LIST
You might want to share one of these “D” books with your class:
D Is for Dancing Dragon: A China Alphabet by Carol Crane
D Is for Doodle by Deborah Zemke
D Is for Dreidel by Tanya Lee Stone and Dawn Apperley
D Is for Drum: A Native American Alphabet by Michael Shoulders, Debbie Shoulders, and Irving Toddy

DAISY DO
Give each child a blue sheet of construction paper. Paint the length of each child’s fingers (only) with white paint. Let each child press his/her fingers onto the paper. Repeat this until each child has created a circle of finger prints. Let children paint the middle of their circle yellow. Finally children can add a green stem by gluing on a piece of green pipe cleaner.

DELICIOUS DONUTS
With your class make this easy recipe for donuts.
--- Let children use a round cookie cutter to cut circles from refrigerator biscuit dough.
--- Place them in heated cooking oil until both sides are brown.
--- Remove and place on paper towels.
--- Dip in sugar, cinnamon, or powdered sugar.

YOUR WORD CORNER
Here are some words you will need.
See them, say them … hey, you can read!!
down
did
dog
day
Write the words on a chart and review them. Read each sentence aloud. Try each word in each sentence. Let children tell you which word fits.
Jon looked ________________ at his shoes.
Look at what I ______________!
What a nice brown ______________.
Which _______________ is the party?

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

I Spy the Alphabet-The Letter D
Your kids will love finding and clicking on all the “D” items.
http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/langearlyread/l/blispyd.htm

The Dime
Here’s a great way to begin introducing money -- especially the dime.
http://www.coe.uh.edu/archive/math/math_lessons/mathles3/dime1.htm

Dress Up!
Play the online game. Click on a drawer. Then click and drag to give the giraffe some snazzy clothes.
http://www.safe-a-rooni.org/LookoutTower/dress-up.cfm

Alphabet Match
A fun game of letter reinforcement.
http://akidsheart.com/threer/lvl1/amatch5.htm

Itsy-Bitsy Book Beginning Sounds Letter D
Print this out for a letter D lesson.
http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/learning-letters/ib-book-d.htm

COMING NEXT ISSUE
September 28, 2009
The Letter E

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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."

The Morning Meeting Book
A very practical book -- step-by-step guidelines for implementing a morning meeting in any K-8 classroom; 45 greetings; 66 group activities; and ideas for adapting the morning meeting idea to classes with a lot of second-language learners. The essential concept is to make everyone feel that it matters that he or she is in school -- including the teacher! This books comes from the folks behind the Responsive Classroom approach to teaching.
Click to learn more or to purchase this book.

Horace's Compromise: The Dilemma of the American High School
First published in 1984, this is Theodore Sizer's eloquent call to arms for school reform. In a new preface, Sizer addresses encouraging movements to create better schools, reduce class size, and improve assessment and teaching, but also points out that many of the problems that plague the American high school have remained the same over the last quarter century. This is one of the field's modern classics, and no education library is complete without it.
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LEAVE 'EM LAUGHING
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A Lesson in Suffixes

My fifth graders had finished a unit on suffixes including –ish, meaning a little bit. As we delved into reading, Tanya asked what the word debris meant. She had looked it up in the glossary and found it meant “rubbish.” I asked her what “rubbish” meant to her. She placed her hand on my arm, looked ever serious, and rubbed my arm -- a little bit!

Following in Mother’s Footsteps

An acquaintance of mine who is a physician told me about the day she was driving her daughter to preschool. She had left her stethoscope on the back seat near her daughter’s car seat, and she noticed in the rearview mirror that her daughter had picked up the stethoscope and was playing with it. “Be still, my heart,” my friend thought, “my daughter wants to follow in my footsteps.”

Then the child spoke into the instrument:
“Welcome to McDonald's,” she said, “may I take your order?”

Thesis Feedback

College Student: What's your opinion of the paper I submitted last week?
History Professor: It's absolute drivel.
Student: I know, but let's hear it anyway.

Little Johnny Strikes Again

Teacher: Can you name the capital of every state in the U.S. in 10 seconds?
Little Johnny: Washington, D.C.

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