MGT request...My circle time display boards...

Hope all this info helps!  To each her own though.  You have to do what works best for you and your space...

Here is my circle time display boards.  As you can see I prefer to use my wall space for toys and shelves.  For years, I had my circle time materials on a bulletin board, but it bothered me A LOT that the children were not able to interact with the materials.  So I decided to attach everything to black tri-fold display boards.  I laminated EVERYTHING and then attached it all with Velcro.  They are hung with 3M hooks, so we take them down daily.  The kids LOVE it when I take them down, and they know that the best cleaners get to be my circle time helper. :)  When I take them down, I just lean them up against the table.  The materials have held up well all year.  I use my home Lakeshore Laminator to laminate everything.  The 5ml laminate sheets are practically as thick as a credit card!!!!  It is well worth the investment!

 This is our first board.  We sing the days of the week and months of the year song daily, so I wanted all the months posted.  The kids know how to figure out which month it currently is because they can sing our circle time song, and see which month is missing and posted above the calendar.  I chose a separate weather display, because I wanted one that taught the seasons.  I also focus daily on the weather versus how the weather feels (those are two different things in my eyes.)  You can see the black Velcro blends in to the black display board.  I like using black the best, because it makes the colors pop, and it gives the look of a school blackboard.

 This is our second board.  We sing our ABC's daily and follow with a chant of all the letter sounds.  We review our letters, sight words, numbers, color, and friendship words daily.  I point to our thematic poster and remind the kids what we are learning about.  All of this is part of our morning routine.  The kids truly love it!  I catch them singing our circle time songs throughout the day.  It sounds repetitious, but it provides a sense of stability for the kids.  They know what to expect each morning before we begin our topic for the day.

 I also created this "Bubble Gum" word set.  I purchased this on TPT.  We only do this a couple times each week, but the kids look forward to it.  They practice spelling and reading a CVC word.  I give them a random CVC word to spell (first board).  Then another volunteer chooses a bubble gum word from the basket hung on the wall.  They practice reading it and sort it in our pocket chart.  They always giggle a lot when they get a silly word.

 This is our map of the world.  This is also hung on hooks, so it comes down when we need it to.  I attach the monthly flag with Velcro, so I can switch it each month.

 You can see I had to clip my 3M hooks a bit, so the display board could come on and off easily.  It has held up perfectly all year though.

Submarines...

On Wednesday we learned about submarines!

 During circle time I took out the fish from our "Shipwreck" board game.  I had the kids sort the fish by color...

 Then a few volunteers completed a pattern with the fish.  I left these out for everyone to explore with throughout the day.

Mother Goose provided the following supplies for our submarine porthole craft...

 The kids first explored framing different objects in the room with their paper plate...

 I demonstrated how to complete a submarine window collage, but I also encouraged the kids to complete their project any way they desired.  I encouraged their creativity, by allowing them to choose the supplies they wanted.  The kids took a lot of time on this project.  You could tell they took their project very seriously! Ha!

 Cutting the cellophane paper took some serious time and dedication.  I was impressed!

 I set out paint dobbers, but also allowed for paint, markers, and/or crayons.  All of the kids chose paint dobbers though.  They love using these!

We thought the paint dobber marks looked like the bolts on a porthole!

For our next activity, I asked the kids how they think people in a submarine can see above water?  They didn't have the answer to this, but this question prompted a lot more AWESOME questions...

- How do we get in a submarine?

- How does a submarine get in the water?

- Is it wet in the submarine?

- Do we have to hold our breath when we are in the submarine?

- Does the submarine park at a dock, like a boat?

I am SO IMPRESSED!  I wouldn't have even thought to teach these things.  It just goes to show that a child's natural curiosity is their GREATEST learning tool!  They don't need to know the answer to every question, but asking questions is a LIFE SKILL that will take them much farther than we think! 

I explained that a submarine has a tool called a periscope that sticks out above the water.  It has a system of mirrors inside of it that allows people in the submarine to see above water.  We took out mirrors, our telescope, and a periscope.  We compared a telescope to a periscope.  I also encouraged the kids to look at things behind them in the mirror.

 I took down our circle time display boards, and encouraged the kids to look for letters, shapes, numbers, etc. by facing away from the boards and looking into the mirror.  The kids got a big kick out of this!  They we so amazed that they could see something behind them!

 We also explored with our new periscope!

I took out a new math game provided by Mother Goose Time.  The kids had to move the strip to reveal a number in the window of the submarine.  They counted out that many Bingo chips and placed them on the circles.  They counted the empty circle spaces to see how many more they needed to get to 8.  They chose a number card to complete the math equation.

 This took a bit of time and exploration, but I believe that most of the kids really understood the concept. 

Next, I set out a few learning stations...

First, I filled our sensory table with our Lakeshore magnetic letters and fishing poles.  I also provided a small, medium, and large water bottle.  I encouraged the kids to explore with the bottles.  When they filled the bottles with water, the bottles sank to the bottom like a submarine.  When the bottles were empty, they floated on top of the water like a boat!

 

 I also set out our Lakeshore Geoboards (rubber band boards). 

 Lastly, I set out a treasure chest counting folder game...

Later on, the kids worked on basic subtraction and addition problems in their math workbook. 

 They also cut and pasted submarines according to positional words and directions given in their literacy workbook...

 On the back of their page, they colored a picture of something they would like to see outside of a submarine porthole.

These were our books for the day...

 I also set out our Octonaut toys!!!!

 The kids loved playing with the submarine!

Fishing Boats...

On Tuesday we learned about fishing boats!

 Right away in the morning I filled our sensory table with water, our Lakeshore boats, and plastic fish.  The boats are three different sizes.  The kids can estimate how many fish they can fit in the boat before it sinks to the bottom.  I also set out a bucket with other toys for them to play in the water.  Throughout the day the kids had fun playing in the water and experimenting with different items to see if they would float or sink

 I am in LOVE with our new water smocks from Lakeshore Learning!

 I also set out a graphing sea star center...

 The kids could choose a color and then graph their sea stars.  They had to identify which sea star they had the most and least of, and how many were in each group...

During circle time Mother Goose provided us with these numbered fish...

 I put a paper clip on each fish and placed them all face down on the floor.  Each child took turns fishing for a number with our magnetic fishing rod...

 Each child showed the group what number they caught!

 Next, we placed the number fish in order and sang:

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Once I caught a fish alive!

6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go?  

Because it bit my finger so!

Which finger did he bite?

The little finger on my right."

I asked the kids how big they think a fish can be.  They replied with big numbers, but they forgot to add "inches or feet" at the end of their number.  When I asked "(60) what?"  They still didn't know what I meant, so they kept repeated their number back to me.  Lol!  I reminded them that we typically measure things in inches or feet.  I also taught them that the largest fish ever measured what a 40 foot long whale shark!  Mother Goose Time provided us with three different sizes of fish, fishing poles, and string...

 I asked the kids to take one of the pictures or string and search around the room for objects similar in size...

 Then I asked a few volunteers to place the fish and fishing poles in order from smallest to largest...

  I left out these items during free-play time.  Later on, I snapped this photo of K imagining she was fishing.  I loved that she built herself a boat out of the long blocks!

 For our next activity we first discussed what we would do with a fish if we caught one.  Next I encouraged the kids to follow two step direcitons with the fish and fishing pole props.  For example:

- Carry a fish on your head, and then set it on the chair.

- Carry a fish under your chin, and then place it under the Lego bucket.

- Pick up the fish with your feet, and then place it on the table.

- Balance a fish on your nose, and then place it between two friends.

The kids had fun exploring how to carry the fish without using their hands!

For our next activity, I gave each child a photo strip, and a bilingual book (pages were stapled together into a book).  The kids chose the matching photo for each page and glued them on.  We read the book together in English and Spanish. 

 We worked on new word puzzles with our hands-on letters we have been learning about.  We first worked on this as a group with a few volunteers and then I left these items out during free-play time.

 I took down part of our circle time display.  I placed all of our hands-on letters in a green container just under our peek-a-book letters.  I encouraged the kids to "go fishing" for letters!  I let them explore freely with this station.  I wanted to see where they would take it...

 It quickly got crowded around the letters!  The kids were so excited!  They LOVE our peek-a-boo letters!  The letters are attached to our circle time display with Velcro. They are folded shut, and stay shut by even smaller Velcro dots.  T

 The kids got a BIG LAUGH out of mixing up our alphabet!  They were able to do a "MIX and FIX" though.  (They mixed up the letters, and then fixed them again.)

A bit later the kids worked on the last page in their journals for this month.  They used the ink pads to make 18 fingerprints on their number 18 page.  They turned their fingerprints into fish and completed the sentence, "I caught a ______."

 "I caught a green fish."

 Just after lunch time we did a couple of science experiments!  The kids experimented with making waves in water with their breath!  They learned wind can make waves!

 We also learned that eggs float in salt water, and sink in regular tap water!

 I set out a fishing spool and yo-yo's!  The kids unraveled the string and practiced winding them up again!  Great for fine motor skills, and a hands-on approach to understanding how a fishing pole works!

 These were our books for today!  They were all excellent!

 Later in the day the kids played a game from their math workbooks.  They rolled a numbered die, and moved the same number of spaces on their board game.  They read the spot they land on (+1, +2, +3, -1, -2, -3).  They took the same amount of Goldfish as the number on the spot they landed on stated.  The person with the most amount of Goldfish at the end of the game won!

The kids went fishing with their snack!  They dipped a pretzel stick in the peanut butter and then stuck a fish to it.  This is always a fun snack for kids!

At the end of the day, the kids worked on a "What Happens Next?" story completion page in their literacy workbook.  I wrote each child's response for this activity.  I recently read the benefits of dictation with preschoolers.  I am going to try to balance dictation with independent writing more in the future.  The kids love seeing me write what they have to say, and they LOVE when I read their story's to the whole class!