pbs love, day numero uno

This week, we’re tackling the 5-day curriculum given to us by PBS, and we’re sharing what worked and what didn’t for my little learners. Please feel free to try bits and pieces for yourself and let me know via email or comments what you think of it. I know I have a bunch of teacher-mamas reading this!

Today we did the Pre-Assessment
and Day 1 Activities:

• Pre-assessment: You can find yours here. You will also need the Alpha Pig sheet; the Wonder Red sheet; the Princess Presto sheet; and the Super Why sheet for the pre-assessment. (Or at least I hope they’re here–I did this quickly. PBS is adding these to their site on Wednesday.)

• We did the pre-assessment before rest time, then we watched Super WHY! Three Little Pigs Episode, which you can actually get here, on the PBS site. Afterward, we got into Day 1 Activities.

• Day 1 Activities: Download the Day 1, Alpha Pig–Alphabet Day Sheet. You’ll also need an Alpha Pig mask, which is right here. You’ll also need Worksheet Activity 1 and Worksheet Activity 2.

Maddy and Owen zipped through both worksheets quickly, and they really liked hunting for the hidden letters on the one sheet. On the other sheet, they wanted to circle the letters of their names, write their names on the line, and color Alpha Pig.

We did have time for Bingo (you’ll need the cards and placemarkers) which my kiddos love in any form. It was fun for them–we used our own Bingo chips–but the game went very quickly since the boards were small. That was okay, though, because after the game, we were all ready to head outside to ride bikes.

Doing the Pre-Assessment and Day 1 Activities were too much for one day, and I should have planned better. Yesterday was busy, and I was psyched to get started today. Live and learn. . .
But I am ready for tomorrow and look forward to seeing how Maddy, Owen, and Cora like the activities. Here’s the link for the online lesson plan if you’d like it.

Overall, here’s what I think. . .

I liked:

• that a set lesson supporting a children’s tv program is even an option–how cool?!
• that there’s a pre-assessment!
• that the p/a involves a familiarity check with the story in the episode (love that we’re activating prior knowledge!);
• that the p/a involves both reading and spelling, single word and sentence reading, and opposites.
• that the Alphabet Worksheet was clear and easy to understand;
• that there was a letter hunt in the other worksheet–my kiddos love these!

I wish:

• that the pre-assessment was on one page;
• that the p/a was easier to record results;
• that the p/a followed the same format throughout;
• that the p/a had more dialogue that parents–especially those who aren’t teachers and aren’t sure where the questions are going) can actually recite (What to do after showing child the sentence?);
• that the p/a set learners up for more success (What if he couldn’t do anything at first? For kids who may not know their letters, how would they know how read words, spell words, and know opposites?);
• that the bingo game had letters to draw or letter cards to flip.

Gulp. I’m such a brat when it comes to assessing, learning, and reading. I so want to love this but I do think it can be better. I find my time with my children so valuable, that I want any directed learning to be worthwhile and fun. Let’s see where tomorrow takes us! What do you think?