More EET Fun: Beads 2 and 3 {Out of This World Vocabulary!}

Over the summer I broke down and bought the Expanding Expression Tool.  I had been skeptical about purchasing the EET because I wasn't sure how well my caseload of preschoolers and kindergarteners would get it.  We've been going through each bead on the strand one at a time.  (If you missed my post about the first bead, Green-Group, you can see it HERE.  Two weeks ago we did the second bead (Blue-Do), but I never got a chance to write about it before now.  This week we're doing the third bead (Eye - What does it look like?).

Blue-Do:
Essentially, with this bead you're working on object functions.  We worked on (1) describing the function of common objects that you might find around the house or the classroom, and (2) listing objects you might need to perform a specific task.  Here's a preview:

"What do you do with...?"

"What do you need to...?"

I used the space-themed game from my Seasonal and Thematic Dot Reinforcers to make the activity more fun!

Eye - What Does it Look Like?
Not going to lie...I've been doing a lot of ground work in my sessions for this activity.  This is an area my kids really struggle with - using more than one attribute to describe.  So, we've been doing some fun activities to target using attributes of color, shape, and size to describe.  Here are some of them:

• Orange Pumpkin, Orange Pumpkin by First Grade a la Carte (using color + object)
• Shape Monster Book by Chit Chat & Small Talk (using color + shape)
• Shape Monster Craftivity (using color + shape + size):

Basically for this craft, I pre-cut shapes (large for bodies, small for eyes, nose, mouth) and used my Cricut (Paper Doll Dress Up Cartridge) to make small and large hands and feet.  The students had to request their parts using color plus shape and/or size descriptors.

Now that they have the idea of using those attributes, we are pulling out the cards from my Out of this World Vocabulary packet.  Here's a sample:

PSSST! I included poster charts for kids to use to help them remember colors, shapes, and sizes:

Green-Group:
Since I was creating a packet to accompany the EET, I added a category activity. You can use this activity for category naming and sorting:

And there are some game play cards to increase the fun/competition/motivation!

If you missed my last post, we're creating an EET "caterpillar" as we go through the beads. Here's what it's looking like these days:

The activities described above can be found in my TPT store:

Out of this World Vocabulary Fun

Seasonal and Thematic Dot Reinforcers

Are you using the EET with preschoolers and kindergarteners?  What activities/strategies have you found to be most helpful?