Our kids love learning about animals! We worked on early literacy skills, reading, and sorting as we identified which animals live on a farm. You can use this interactive pocket chart activity with children using our free printable. It's perfect for a preschool farm theme!
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When our oldest daughter was a preschooler we did this farm animal sorting activity using a pocket chart. Now we've recreated the same early literacy center for our son but this time we made a free printable so that you can use this same set with your kids! We've also added some early literacy and pre-reading skills that I have experience teaching as a former kindergarten teacher.
Pocket charts are the perfect set up for this reading center because they allow children to separate, identify, and manipulate the words in a hands on way. We put the sentence at the top with the animal cards providing a picture cue for early readers. We also created a yes column and a no column for sorting.
I begin by pointing out that the sentence in our pocket chart is a question. We can tell because it ends with a question mark.
Next we count how many words are in the sentence. Cutting each word out individually instead of writing the entire sentence on one strip of paper serves two purposes.
Since the bright color of the pocket chart shows through between each word (in our case the color is red) it helps children understand concepts of print. In this case, preschoolers are learning that print is organized in words and sentences when we read and write.
It also allows us to easily switch out the card with the animal picture and word printed in it to change the question.
Our preschooler loved pointing to each word as he read. Then he moved the animal card to the appropriate part of the chart to show he knew which creatures lived on a farm.
As children use picture cues as they begin to read, be sure to direct them back to the printed word as well. For example, in this photo if a child read the word as chicken, we would point out that the word begins with the letter r so it must be rooster.
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FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
Farm CVC Words // A Dab of Glue Will Do
Farm Counting Cards // Playdough to Plato
Expressing Feelings on the Farm // Liz’s Early Learning Spot
Count and Graph on the Farm // Sara J Creations
Pigs in the Mud Alphabet Match // The Kindergarten Connection
Farm Animal Puzzles // Powerful Mothering
Farm Play Dough Activity // Mom Inspired Life
Farm Washing Sensory Bin // Coffee Cups and Crayons
Farm Counting Book // Recipe for Teaching
Interactive Farm Book // Mrs. Jones’ Creation Station
Gross Motor Farm Game // Modern Preschool
Farm Fence Number Ordering Mats // Fairy Poppins
Farm Letter Sound Matching Clip Cards // Schooling a Monkey
Making Farm Footprints // Pleasantest Thing
Farm Muffin Tin Syllable Counting Game // The Educators’ Spin on It
Farm Themed Old Maid // Stay at Home Educator
Farm Emergent Reader // The Letters of Literacy
Playful Farm Animals Hands on Math // Stir the Wonder
Farm Busy Box // Teach Me Mommy
Farm Animal Ten Frame Cards // Preschool Inspirations
Farm Addition Cards // The Stem Laboratory
Interactive Math Addition Book // DIY Farm Wife
Farm Animal Sentences // (Not Pictured) The Simplified Classroom
Old MacDonald’s Farm Busy Bag // (Not Pictured) Adventures of Adam
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It is brilliant that your activities can be used down the ages.
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