From Miss Cheryl’s and Miss Ginger’s SNP Class
LAST WEEK IN OUR CLASS
We had a fun week learning about different aspects of winter and hibernation. The children loved exploring wind using a fan. And on Friday the weather cooperated so they could really understand the cold wind and winter!! They all loving playing in the big boxes with the puppets to pretend they were hibernating. This activity created much social interaction between ALL the children. What’s the value of big box play—priceless!!! In math we “bought” food to feed different animals featured in the story using pennies on the smartboard. Also we exposed the children to estimation by having them decide how many scoops of bird seed were in a jar.
OUR FOCUS THIS WEEK
The winter unit on hibernation continues with the story Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming. In this story a bear notices the change to winter and starts to prepare to hibernate. But she must first tell her friend the snail. This leads to telling all the animals that hibernate that it is “time to sleep”. Each animal’s hibernation area is described as they tell the other animal it is time, coming full circle back to the bear that is already asleep. We will focus on different animals that hibernate and where. We will also do a science experiment using ice and shortening to discover how animals keep warm in the winter time. In math and literacy we will sequence the story and work on ordinal numbers using the animals. The final day of this unit (Friday) will be Hibernation Day ( also known as pajama day). Please allow your child to wear APPROPRIATE pajamas to school. They will need to wear their sneakers but NO HOUSE SHOES, please. We will drink hot chocolate, make and eat popcorn and watch a short movie from Scholastic Books called Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson. The children will buy tickets to the movie and the concessions mentioned above-- similar to the time we watched a movie in Mrs. Meadow’s class.
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
January 16- NO SCHOOL Martin Luther King Holiday
January 20- HIBERNATION DAY (otherwise known as PAJAMA DAY)
Our vocabulary words include
hibernation snail skunk turtle bear woodchuck ladybug grubs winter spring
slither crawl dig curl under
HOMEWORK:
- Look up the animals from our vocabulary word list on the internet.
- Song and Poem
Concept Poem--Frosty Weather
Frosty Weather
Snowy Weather
When the wind blows,
We all go together.
Song and act out the motions- Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Brown bear, brown bear turn around.
Brown bear, brown bear touch the ground
Brown bear, brown bear find some honey
Brown bear, brown bear sleep til it’s sunny.
Brown bear, brown bear growl real loud.
Brown bear, brown bear sit on the ground.
- Related Literature--- Bear Snores On- Karma Wilson; Sleepy Bears -Mem Fox and Kerry Argent; When Will It Be Spring- Catherine Watters; Ten Little Bears (A Counting Rhyme)- Kathleen Hague
Pre-Academic Activities for the Full Day Students
LETTER TIME-- Letter Review Dd-
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 is a review of the letter Dd. I will emphasize the beginning sound found in words that begin with the “ Dd” sound. 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)- On Thursdays we will be going to Music with a kindergarten class
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-
1. 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. 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-
a. 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.
b. Writing on a slanted surface such a 3 inch binder helps to keep their hand and arm in the correct position if needed.
c. Writing with chalk on an upright easel encourages correct arm and hand position PLUS it increases the need to add pressure.
d. 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.)
e. 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.
f. 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.
g. 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
