Let's Sort!

Before I moved to pre-k, several experienced pre-k teachers described the first few days as "herding cats." I really didn't have an appreciation for exactly what they meant until school started two weeks ago! My 4's weren't too bad. Most of them were in pre-k 3, and the ones who weren't fell in line very quickly! But the 3's... Well, let's just say herding cats is a pretty accurate description! During circle time, I felt like I was playing the Whack-a-Mole game at an arcade! As soon as you get one of them down, another pops up. And, if you happen to have a nanosecond when ALL of them are down, you better bet ready because that means half of them are about to pop up at the same time!

Even with the trials of the first two weeks, I am still LOVING pre-k! They are just so stinkin' cute! I love their little voices and the things they say! I could just sit and listen to them all day long! And, when I have the world's best TA in my room, that makes it even better!!

 In the midst of settling in and establishing procedures this week, we did a quick study of colors. With my 4's, I wanted to do a quick review assess how many of them already know their colors. Good news! Only two of them don't! This made me super excited! I can work with those 2 in a small group and move on with the rest of the class. With my 3's, I wanted to start getting the vocabulary out to them. I didn't need to sit down and actually assess each one to know that only two of them already know their colors. So, we are continuing our colors study next week in pre-3.

 In my 4's class, I brought sorting into the discussion of colors. We started by talking about things that are the same and things that are different. We sorted ourselves to start with. After that, we sorted several different math manipulatives.

We sorted linking cubes. Click here to download a copy of the sorting mat!

We sorted chain links. I made these sorting mats by gluing construction paper onto cardstock, laminating it, and punching a hole in each color block.

We sorted bears. I made these sorting mats by gluing construction paper to cardstock, too.

And, we sorted Goldfish crackers. These sorting mats are just die-cut fish glued to cardstock. One thing I learned...despite what the package says, the purple fish do NOT look purple! They are the same color as red construction paper. So, I really should have had red, green, orange, and yellow fish on my mats! I also sent home a baggie of Goldfish for them to sort and eat. Click here to get a copy of the note I attached to each bag!

The really cool thing this week was that when my 3's saw the sorting mats I used with the 4's, they wanted to use them, too! I was going to bring them out later with the 3's since we are really working on same and different right now, but I gave it a try. They did great! And, they loved it! Every one of them is sorting four colors now!

We read several fun books about colors this week, too! You can get any of them from Amazon by clicking these links!

   
   
  

Stay tuned for a peek into our literacy activities for the week!