Announcements from Miss Cheryl and Miss Ginger’s SNP Class
This Week in Our Class
During the week of October 3- 7 our second unit about fall (autumn) will focus on different aspects about the fall and, in particular, about fall leaves. The story for this week is Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall. Be ready to have lots of examples of fall leaves coming home at the end of this week. Some of our weekly activities will include graphing (ex. favorite fall leaf color), estimation (ex. how many acorns are in the basket?), counting and set making (acorns and leaves), patterning (ex. AB and ABC—Green leaf, red leaf, green leaf, red leaf or green leaf, red leaf, orange leaf…) and, of course, playing (ex. raking leaves and then using the verbs from the story to play in them).
Below are the vocabulary words we will concentrate on. 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.
fall leaves/leaf wind blow stomp catch
kick collect rake pile pointy smooth
Homework:
Look at the fall leaves and acorns or other seeds in your yard or neighborhood. Practice some of the action words in our vocabulary list. Make it a game.
Collect some leaves and other fall items you see. Talk about pointy and smooth edges on the leaves. Talk about the colors. Sort the small and large ones or small, medium and large ones. Count the leaves and other fall things.
2 Fingerplays- (1 from the apple unit and 1 from the fall leaf unit)
Apples
5 little apples hanging in a tree, (hold up 5 fingers and forearm to look like a tree)
Teasing Mr. Slinky Worm “You can’t eat me!” (bend one finger like it is talking )
Along some Mr. Slinky Worm as quiet as can be (wiggle 1 finger from the other hand to imitate a worm climbing a tree)
And crunched that apple right off that tree. (Grab one finger like the worm is eating one apple
Continue down to 1 apple.
Fall Leaves
5 little fall leaves, so happy and gay, (hold up 5 fingers and forearm to look like a tree)
Were dancing about on a tree one day. (wiggle all fingers)
The wind came blowing through the town (blow like the wind)
And 1 little leaf came tumbling down . (put one finger down)
Continue down from 5 leaves to 1 leaf.
Important Dates in October
October 5- 14- CogAt and Iowa Basic Skills testing
No, we are not testing but we must move to Mrs. Meadows SNP classroom (A-105) so we do not disturb the classes that test around us. We will be in her classroom from 8:00 until 10-ish daily. Please note this is a fun experience for both classes but we will be ready to be back in our own classroom by October 14.
October 20- Picture Retake Day
If your child needs their picture retaken or if they did not have their picture taken at all please let me know. I will make sure we access the retake day.
October 24- 28- Conference Week
You will be receiving your scheduled time for conferences soon. We will meet for 20 minutes to discuss your child’s progress.
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).
October 31- Halloween- No Costumes/ No Candy
Sorry, we do not have a Halloween party and we do not wear costumes. I will be basing our October units around fall and fun Halloween themes throughout the month of October.
Pre-Academic Activities for the Full Day Students (Letter and Number Time)—Letter Tt
Remember to continue to review the previous letters of Ll; Ff; Ee and Hh. 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 Tt. Although we usually only practice the upper case letters when learning to write we may also practice the lower cast “t” this week. We will learn the letter sounds by practicing the letter sounds found at the beginning of words (ex. turtle, table, turn, etc…). Use the vocabulary words I send home to continue to practice letter sound and letter recognition with your child. 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.
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.)
- Sing songs or nursery rhymes using only the letter sound instead of the words.
- 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.
- READ to your child. Read a variety of books to them. Ask questions about what you are reading- 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 Preschool/ 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 you 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.
http://decal.ga.gov/documents/attachments/GELSSection6.pdf
http://decal.ga.gov/documents/attachments/Content_Standards_Full.pdf
