From Miss Cheryl’s and Miss Ginger’s SNP Class
THIS WEEK IN OUR CLASS
Last week we really enjoyed the old lady and the scarecrow. The children loved making the scarecrow who actually joined our class for a while! We even made a scarecrow hand with a deli glove and crushed popcorn. They were great at re-enacting our story using actual items that were found in the story paired with the sounds each one made. This was an excellent way to learn sequencing skills. Finally the math activity they liked the best was weighing pumpkins and other fall items using the scales.
Our Halloween theme culminates this week with the story “Go Away Big Green Monster” by Ed Emberley. In this story the children continue to work on their sequencing skills as the monster grows and then disappears. They will also begin to learn a strategy to help them if they are afraid. They will learn to tell their fears to “go away”. Other key concepts in this unit will be learning positional words, using words to describe their feelings and learning shapes and colors. Our activities this week will include opening the pumpkin and discovering what is inside, measuring each other and a monster puppet using monster feet, mixing 2 different colored jellos in a baggie to make new colors and to explore the squishy feeling (making this a math/science/sensory activity) and a food/graphing activity to see who likes monster mash (bananas and applesauce mixed together).
Below are our vocabulary words for this week. Please try to use these words with your child to make them aware of how the words are used in their daily lives. With your help learning becomes real and meaningful to them.
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monster |
face |
|
hair |
teeth |
|
nose |
mouth |
|
ears |
sharp |
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big |
little |
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long |
scary |
|
eyes |
scraggly |
Homework
1. If possible visit a “pumpkin patch” in your area. Several are fairly close by. Check the internet for locations. Talk about the vines that the pumpkins grow on and the fields they grow in. Look for scarecrows.
2. Look at and describe how the season is changing to your child. Talk about how the weather feels, the clothes you are wearing, how the leaves are changing and how homes/stores/etc. are decorated with scarecrows, pumpkins and other fall items.
3. In celebration of Halloween some of our song choices this week are old favorites that you can download or may already have on Halloween CD’s. If possible dance with your child. See if they can show you the motions we do in class. The 2 we will be “dancing” to are the Monster Mash (YouTube has an appropriate video for preschoolers-musicfactorymusic) and the Purple People Eater (YouTube has this video under Kidsongs.com- Very Silly Songs).
4. The children really love the fingerplays/chants we do weekly in class. Last week we did Two Little Blackbirds. This week we are going to learn Five Little Monsters.
Five little monsters sitting on the floor,
The red one said, Let’s knock on someone’s door.
The green one said, Let’s act a little scary.
The white one said, Why are we so hairy?
The blue one said, I hear a funny sound.
The yellow one said, There’s no one else around,
Then woosh went the wind and “EEEKKK” someone said.
And the 5 little monster hid under the bed.
I changed the colors of the monsters to the colors found in our story this week. They are yellow, white, purple, red, green and blue. We will be doing this as a flannel board activity also. I think you can find this fingerplay or one that is similar on YouTube.
4. Related Literature- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak; There’s a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer; Glad Monster, Sad Monster by Ed Emberley
Important Dates in October
October 24- 28- Conference Week—Early Release Week
Please check your calendars for the day and time you are scheduled to attend. Remember conferences are only 20 minutes. Please be on time. If the conference before you runs over PLEASE knock on the door. I will also have my visual timer set as a reminder when to end the conference.
SNACK and LUNCH during conference week
We will have a very morning short snack time. Please send a small snack for this time.
We will not have an afternoon snack time.
Lunch Time is from 10:00 until 10:30. We will have a regular lunch period in the cafeteria
Please note during conference week half day students will be dismissed 1 hour early (11:00) and full day students will be dismissed 2 hours early (12:10).
The Book Fair will be taking place in the Media Center the same week as Conference Week. If possible please stop by and look at the available books with your child.
October 27- Monster Mash-
This is when your child can dress up and come to school. The party is from 6:00 to 7:00 pm. Remember NO masks or weapons.
October 31- Halloween
As much as everyone loves Halloween costumes, makeup, and masks are too much for school (i.e. NO COSTUMES). In the past teachers have been asked to remind parents that this is an afterschool activity. With that said we will practice “Trick or Treating” in our classroom which not only fun but also a great way to learn about safety.
Pre-Academic Activities for the Full Day Students (Letter Ii)
Remember to continue to review the previous letters as we begin to progress. Don’t forget to use the chants I sent home as you practice writing. The children enjoy saying the chants or hearing you repeat the chants as they write in sand, rice or flour using their pointer finger and on an upright chalkboard with chalk or on an attached paper with a crayon on an upright board.
This week we will be learning letter Ii. We will learn the letter sounds by practicing the letter sounds found at the beginning of words (ex. igloo, iguana…). I try to emphasize the “short” sounds when we learn vowels if possible. I will send home vocabulary words for you to practice with your child to learn the letter sound. Try to follow the activities and strategies listed below. Please keep in mind that each child has varying abilities. I will expose your child to the standards that are age appropriate but will adjust each lesson to their individual levels and needs.
IF your child is becoming frustrated when writing his/her first name in upper and lower case letters I have chants for the lower case letters that I can send you. Please email me if you need the chants!!
Friday Media Center (full day students) NO MEDIA CENTER TIME UNTIL NOVEMBER 4 — On Friday afternoons we will visit the Media Center and check out one book. Please read this book with your child daily. The book needs to be returned by Friday or your child will not be able to check out another book. Please help your child learn to respect the books he/she has brought home. Show them the proper way to handle the books and how to put them away. We practice this at school in our classroom library and they need to know the same respect and treatment of books applies at home also.
More activities for increasing letter awareness, letter sound awareness and handwriting-
- Go on a treasure hunt around your house (inside and/or outside) to find items that begin with each letter sound. (Use the vocabulary words I have sent home to help you.)
- ALWAYS practice writing their first names in upper and lower case letters—not just upper case (capital letters). At this age children only need to learn to write the upper case letters (except in the first names). They should learn to recognize both upper and lower case letters.
- Practice writing the letters.
- Look in books, magazines, etc. to find both the upper and lower case letter of the week. Always go from left to right as you do when you read. They can even use a highlighter to mark the letters they find. This is also a great review exercise for the previous letters we have learned. For those students who can recognize the letters this is a great way to start exposing them to words. Have them find and highlight the word that has the letter in it.
- READ to your child. Read a variety of books to them. Ask questions about what you are reading- use “what” and “who” questions at first. Then move on to questions that require higher thinking- where, when, how and why. Talk about the pictures. Point to the words as you are reading. All of these things increase awareness which will help them learn to read
Handwriting Strategies to use-
- Using a shortened normal sized crayon or pencil will encourage the correct hand position when they are writing if this is needed for your child. The shortened length requires your child to have to hold the writing instrument using a more appropriate grasp. A crayon helps the writer increase pressure when writing. Pencils tend to slip easily and may not be the best instrument to use for beginning writers. Markers should not be used until they are established writers. Once your child is an established writer use regular length crayons and begin writing with pencils.
- Writing on a slanted surface such a 3 inch binder helps to keep their hand and arm in the correct position if needed.
- Writing with chalk on an upright easel encourages correct arm and hand position PLUS it increases the need to add pressure.
- While they are writing say the chants I sent home with your child will help remember the correct way to form the letters. (These will be sent home when we begin letter formation.)
- Have your child write while laying prone (flat) on his stomach. This is another way to reinforce the correct position for the arm and hand when writing.
- Roll playdoh or other modeling clay into balls first and then snakes. Use the snakes to form the letters. Use a rectangle shape such as a picture frame with no glass as a guide to form the letters. ALWAYS form the letters starting from the top to bottom inside the rectangle shape using the edges as a guide.
- Practice writing the letter shapes with their fingers on sandpaper; in rice, sand or flour; or hair setting gel in a sealed plastic bag.
Speech and Language- Miss Allison
Check out the Speech and Language page on the left side of this blog page.
Georgia Pre-K Content Standards Link
Here is a useful link to the Ga. Preschool/ Pre-K content standards. As special needs preschool educators our lessons are planned around these standards and the individual needs of each student. You may find information on this site helpful when you are working with your child at home and in your community. This site will help you as parents become familiar with the standards your child will need know or be exposed to during their preschool/pre-k years. The standards are set up according to your child’s chronological age. IF your child is older than 4 they will still be concentrating on the 4 year old standards. To access the standards click on the top address for the preschool standards or click on the bottom address for the Pre-K standards.
Preschool Standards http://decal.ga.gov/documents/attachments/GELSSection6.pdf
Pre-K Standards http://decal.ga.gov/documents/attachments/Content_Standards_Full.pdf
