From Miss Cheryl’s and Miss Ginger’s SNP Class
LAST WEEK IN OUR CLASS
The children really enjoyed “Mrs. Wishy-Washy” by Joy Cowley. Many were heard repeating the recurring statements of ‘wishy-washy’ and ‘oh, lovely mud’ found in the story during structured play time and centers. I hope some of them came home and re-enacted the story for you. This would have been fun for them to do while in the tub. We made mud from dirt (actually it was cocoa but it looked and acted just like dirt when mixed with water); painted muddy animal pictures, reinforcing the actions of the animals from the story; and made “mud” pudding then used animal crackers to reenact the story before eating the whole activity.
OUR FOCUS THIS WEEK
This week we will continue our farm and healthy habits unit. We will be reading “Barnyard Song” by Rhonda Gowler Greene, a former preschool/elementary special education teacher. This story is a perfect introduction to teaching young children ways to keep from spreading illnesses. Using farm animals Mrs. Greene connects how one uncovered, seemingly innocent sneeze spreads germs that cause the whole barnyard of animals to become sick. The farmer then calls the veterinarian who diagnoses the barnyard flu and recommends soup and rest for them until they are well 7 days later. Some of the activities we will participate in this week will be practicing good hand washing techniques after visible germs (cinnamon or another spice or coffee grounds mixed with vegetable oil or lotion) are applied to the hands; an experiment with pepper, water and dishwashing detergent to demonstrate how germs are scared away when using soap to wash your hands; letting the children use colored water to spray construction paper while they pretend to sneeze to demonstrate what happens when one sneezes without covering; and making a cup sound like a chicken ( we are going to be making some farm animal pictures in art this week).
Other key concepts that we are focusing on this week include hand washing sequencing; prepositional words; patterns and farm animals.
Our vocabulary words are:
sneeze farmer veterinarian barn (barnyard) tractor kettle
bee rooster mule cat pig horse cow duck turkey
HOMEWORK:
- Look up a barnyard, barn and the animals from our story this week on the internet- see the vocabulary words. Listen to the way the animals sound and describe how they look. Look up a barnyard and notice where the animals live. Also, look up veterinarians for both small animals (pets) and large animals (farm/zoo).
- Play the following Sesame Street game with your child on the computer. Please help them to learn how to use the mouse. This is a farm game about farm animals and the sounds they make.
- A fun counting game is also on Sesame Street. Please reinforce how the numbers look to help your child learn their numbers also.
- Another fun computer game is Old MacDonald on Sesame Street. This can be used to teach beginning letter sounds by emphasizing the name of the farm animals and pressing the key that starts the animal’s name. It is also a science game emphasizing each animal’s sounds. You can also use this game to count by pressing the key to add the animals to the farm scene.
- Songs, Nursery Rhymes, Fingerplays and Poems
TRADITIONAL NURSERY RHYMES
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Baa-Baa Black Sheep
Little Boy Blue
To Market, To Market This Little Piggie Went to Market
Little Boy Blue (can change words to Little Girl Blue)
Little Boy (Girl) Blue
Come blow your horn!
The sheep's in the meadow,
The cow's in the corn.
Where is the boy (girl)
who looks after the sheep?
He's (She’s) under the haystack,
Fast asleep.
Will you wake him (her)?
No, not I
For if I do,
He's (She’s) sure to cry
BARNYARD SONGS
Old McDonald Had a Farm
B-I-N-G-O
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Baa-Baa Black Sheep
Five Little Ducks
Five Little Ducks (song and fingerplay)
5 little ducks went out one day (hold up 5 fingers)
Over the hills and far away, (make wave with arm like over over the hill)
Mommy (daddy) duck called quack, quack, quack, (flap elbows like wings)
But only 4 little ducks came back. (hold up 4 fingers)
4 little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away,
Mommy (daddy) duck called quack quack quack,
But only 3 little ducks came back.
3 little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away,
Mommy (daddy) duck called quack, quack, quack,
But only 2 little ducks came back.
2 little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away,
Mommy (daddy) duck called quack, quack, quack,
But only 1 little duck came back.
1 little duck went out one day
Over the hills and far away,
Mommy (daddy) duck called quack, quack, quack,
But no little ducks came wondering back.
No little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away,
Mommy (daddy) duck called quack, quack, quack,
And 5 little ducks came wandering back
- Related Literature--- Big Red Barn- Margaret Wise Brown; Barn Dance- Bill Martin, Jr; Inside a Barn in the Country- Alyssa Satin Capucilli; Rosie’s Walk- Pat Hutchins; The Little Red Hen- Paul Galdone
Pre-Academic Activities for the Full Day Students
LETTER TIME-- Letter G-
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 introduce the letter Gg. I will emphasize the beginning soundfound in words that begin with Gg. I will be teaching the children the “hard G” sounds as in grape, green, and great. Vocabulary words will be sent home for you to practice with your child to reinforce 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 give you. Please email me if you need the chants!!
Thursday- Music( full day students)- The class is going to start participating in one weekly Specials class with a kindergarten class. (What are Specials?- Music, P.E. and Art) On Thursdays we will be going to Music. I want to thank Mr. Savage for allowing us to participate in this activity as the students are only in preschool. We will start on a trial basis first to make certain they are ready to attend and participate. This will be a very beneficial activity for them.
Friday Media Center (full day students) —On Fridays 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 following 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
