Thanks to all the parents that came to have snacks with students last week.  The kids really enjoyed seeing their parents and visiting the book fair!
We have been talking about problem solving.  We have read several stories and identified the problem in the book and how the characters solved that problem.  We have also talked about having a problem at school and how we could solve it ourselves.
 We have continued our talk about measurement.  I introduced the students to a scale or balance.  We explored by putting Santa counters into the cups on each side and saw how the heavier side goes down and the lighter side went up.  This was expanding their vocabulary.  You can use these words at home. You can describe the weight of Christmas presents.
I have asked for families to share with me what holidays they celebrate during the month of December.  I want to be considerate to all families.  If you do not want your child learning about the December Holidays; Christmas,  Hanukah, and Kwanza please let me know.  We will be discussing each one.  I will  not be going into detail of the religious views of each holiday but I want to introduce them all so our kids understand not everyone has the same traditions at their house and to be open minded to everyone.
I have also sent home a new scholastic catalog to shop.  Please get your orders in prior to winter break  These would make great holiday gifts! There are various reading levels available if you are shopping for other family members.
Next week we will be having our Holiday Spirit Week with fun dress up days.  They are posted below.
Monday-Candy Cane Day
Tuesday-Pajama Day 
Wednesday-Holiday Sweater Day
Thursday-Holiday Socks 
Friday-Holiday Character
Mr. Daniel will be visiting next week on Monday!
Butter Braid pick up is next Tuesday!

I wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU to those parents that volunteered during the Fall Parties last week.  We would not have been able to have them without you! The kids really enjoyed themselves!
The kids have been learning about Compound Words.  We have been identifying two words when put together make one word.  Some examples are: Sunglasses,  cupcake, and fishbowl.  We have taken compound words apart,  and created them using picture cards.  We have also tried making silly compound words like ; mouse-key.  The students thought this was very funny.  

We have several events coming up including Snacks with Students on November 30th at 11:00 and 3:00.  Anyone coming to have snack with a student must have a background check on file.  If you are unsure,  you can check with Ms. Kelly in the front office.  

The Book Fair will also be at BECC November 27th-December 1st. If you are coming for Snacks with Students,  you are welcome to shop the Book Fair at that time.  

Last Month was our Pup Strut Fundraiser and we had an amazing turnout! The PSG is awarding the students with pajama day for tomorrow and Wednesday! We will also be having a short movie and a bubble party in the gym during Gross Motor time! 

Remember these is NO SCHOOL Thursday or Friday! I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Today during large group, we read Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano.  The students always enjoy the book that takes place on a farm around Thanksgiving time.  The turkey overhears that he will be dinner for Thanksgiving and comes up with various disguises to escape the table!

Throughout the story, we talk about things we see on the farm, what turkey uses for his disguises as well as answering the question what do you think will happen next. 

Here is a link to the story on you tube.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GAxCEPHEAo Turkey Trouble

After the book, we did the Tommy The Turkey Dance to get a movement and following directions break.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpo8obvdUG8

We also discussed how a turkey is different from people, what sound they make and where they live.  You could do this at home with various stuffed animals or toy farm animals. 

We also played a positional game with potatoes.  Each student has a potato and I tell him or her to put the potato behind your back and ask, “Is it mashed yet?”  We do other locations with the potato and at the end they place the potato under their bottoms and wiggle. I ask, “Is it mashed yet?” and lots of giggling and loud yeses ensue.

I am sending home a worksheet about farm animals and what they eat, that you can do with your child. 

Have a great week!

Miss Lorraine BECC SLPA

 

This week we are starting to dive deeper into writing!
We will practice writing numbers 1-5 each day this week.  In correspondence with our Handwriting Without Tears curriculum, students will work on identifying , counting,  and writing the numbers individually each day.  In a small group,  students listen to teacher directions as we discuss the numbers.  We talk about counting to that number,  identifying what the number looks like or the lines that make the number,  such as big line, little curve, etc.  Students  practice making the lines as well as finding the number in words.
We will also be starting a new unit on measurement this week.  Students will be learning new vocabulary words such as bigger, shorter, and longer.  We will start by measuring our shoe length and comparing with a partner.  Students will also be searching for objects around the room to measure and compare.  We will learn that when measuring, it is important to remember to line up the end or edges.  You can practice this at home as well. Show your kiddos items that we use to measure such as a ruler or measuring tape. I will be sending home information on other ways to practice measuring at home.
Friday are our Fall Parties! Please follow the link below if you would like to volunteer to help with these.  Please make sure you have a background check on file with Kelly at the front desk.
Next week is a short week with Thanksgiving.  We will only be in school for Monday, Tuesday,  and Wednesday!

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e4ea5aa28a5fd0-becc1
Please follow the link if you would like to volunteer to help with the Fall Parties next Friday!

This week we have been learning about words! We have daily vocabulary words that we learn at the beginning of each class.  We call them our Squawker Words. Squawker is the name of the parrot puppet that introduces our words. We have also been talking about how letters together make words and words together make sentences.  This week we have been counting the words in simple sentences. This is a great way to incorporate a math skill.
We have also been learning about graphs.  Students have had the opportunity to put information into groups and compare the results.  We first made a graph on the types of shoes we were wearing.  We created portraits of ourselves and put them onto a graph depicting the number of boys and girls in our class.  Today, we completed a graph showing how we came to school,  by bus or by car.
We have also continued our topic of feelings.  Students have learned some new feelings like disappointed,  excited,  shy, etc.  These are new words they may be unfamiliar with.  We want them to have as many tools in their "emotional tool belt" to be able to describe how they are feelings so we can help in certain situations.
I have sent home new scholastic catalogues.  The new due date is November 21st. This should give you time to get an order in before Thanksgiving break.  This would be a great time to have some books on hand if you are doing some traveling over the holidays!
We will be selling the Butter Braid® pastry from LaBraid, Inc. Fundraising.  Butter Braid® pastries are delicious premium frozen foods that buyers will truly enjoy!  The order forms will be sent home the week of November 13th. Money and order forms are due back November 28th. Checks can be made out to the BECC PSG. You must pick up your butter braid from the BECC. The pick up will take place on December 12^th from 4 to 5:30.

Welcome Back!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Fall Break! The students have adjusted well to coming back to school, even with Halloween yesterday!
With the weather change,  please make sure you send your child to school with proper attire.  We will still be going outside to the playground daily.  The temperature cut off is 32 degrees.  You are welcome to dress them in coats, hats, gloves, scarves, etc.  We will also be encouraging students to put them on themselves! This is an important skill to practice independence.
I will also be sending home any extra "summer" clothes that we have at school.  Please send in extra clothes to be kept at school in case of accidents that are appropriate for colder weather.
This week,  we have continued to talk about Halloween and Fall.  We have played several counting games with candy corns and leaves.
Today,  we talked about more and less.  Students were placing leaves on top of a tree and at the bottom and had to identify which group had more and which group had less.
We have also been creating books! This encourages students to learn concepts of print in more detail.  Such as,  pictures,  words,  and book orientation.  The students have loved being the author and making the books special to them.
Yankee Candle Pick up is November 7th from 3-8pm and November 8th from 1:30-8 pm at the BCSC Maintenance Facility- next to bus barn- 550 East Airport Road.

The students have been very excited with the new fall activities we have been working on.  Last week,  we noticed the change in weather as well as the change in the color of the leaves.  We talked about how Autumn is another word for Fall.  We discussed how leaves change colors from green to orange, yellow, and red.  Students learned that once leaves turn brown, they fall from the trees.  We talked about the weather getting cooler and some possible items we might have to wear to keep warm.
We have been talking a lot about sorting. The students know this as putting things into groups.  We can decide how we will make our groups by various rules.  We sorted leaves by color and shape.
Students also enjoyed a nature walk outside. We had a checklist and a clipboard of items we were looking for such as a bird, an ant, leaves, a flower, etc.  Students had a great time walking out of the classroom into the grassy area by our room.  They got to see some new things up close and checked them off the list.  Ask your child what they did or did not see outside on the nature walk. Doing a nature walk at your house over Fall Break would be a great way to see the weather change as well.  There may be new things around your neighborhood they could look for that we don't have at school.
Students also enjoyed reading the book Leaf Man.  Students then created their own Leaf Man that will be displayed in the classroom.
Thank you to all the parents that came to assist with Pup Strut.  The kids had a great time going through the obstacle course and riding bikes.  I don't think the even realized it was raining, which meant no playground!
All Progress Reports have been sent home.  If your child has an IEP, you also received a Progress Report on their specific goals.  We will be having Parent Teacher Conferences Wednesday and Thursday evening at school.  These will be held in my classroom (room 120) and will be 15 minutes long.  Please be mindful of your scheduled time so I can stay on schedule.
Please note we will be on Fall Break from October 16th- 29th! I hope everyone has a great break and is able to take some time to relax!

It was so nice getting to see some of the students at the Homecoming Parade on Friday.  Mrs.  Cooper and I had a blast passing out candy!
I will be sending home new Scholastic Order Catalogs for the month of October.  Orders are due by October 31st.  Please be mindful that Fall Break is October 16th-29th.  Any orders that come in over break will be sent home when we return to school.
Officer Friendly will be visiting school tomorrow to share with students how to stay safe when trick or treating on Halloween!
Pup Strut will be Thursday from 10:10-10:35 and 2:00-2:30.  Students will complete an obstacle course in the gym, ride bikes around the circle drive in front of the school,  and then go to the playground!
Please find the link in the post below to sign up for a Parent Teacher Conference!
Last week,  we learned about PUMPKINS! Students read about the different parts of a pumpkin.  We compared them to apples.  They both have flesh, seeds, and a stem.  We talked about the different colors and sizes a pumpkin could be.  Students also learned about how a pumpkin grows.  They discussed how it starts as a seed,  which then sprouts into a vine, a flower grows on the vine and then dies.  A green pumpkin then forms, once it gets bigger and turn orange; it is ready to be picked.  Students realized pumpkins can be rotten and mushy.  We talked about all the things we could do with a pumpkin like carve it,  eat the seeds, make pumpkin pie, etc.  Students were excited to measure a pumpkin and explore the insides with the seeds and pulp.
I will be sending home progress reports as I finish them.  Please bring any questions you have to your conference.  If you have recently had a case conference to discuss your child's IEP ,you do not have to schedule a parent teacher conference.

Parent Teacher Conferences

Please follow the link below to sign up for a  conference time.  Conferences will be held at BECC in my classroom, room 120. Conferences will be 15 minutes long as I have several families to meet with. We will be discussing your child's progress report.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0d4aaeac2ba3ff2-parent2

Last week we learned a lot about apples.  We talked about different parts of an apple. Students identified the skin, the flesh, seeds, the core, and the stem.  We talked about how apples grow on trees.  We also sorted apples by color and size.  We made patterns with our apples.  Younger students are encouraged to copy an AB pattern.  For example they were shown a pattern of red and green apples and asked to match their apples to the pattern.  Older students are expected to extend the pattern or be able to say what color comes next.  I encourage you to point out patterns you see in your everyday life.  For example,  stripes on a shirt!
I also shared some new MAGIC markers with the kids. These were just dry erase markers but I allowed them to use the markers to draw on the tables!  This is a fun way to get students excited about writing.  So many times students get discouraged when something is hard and will not want to participate. If I am excited or animated about an activity and make it fun, students are more willing to try and not worry about how hard it is, or if they can't do it right away.  I encourage you to find fun things at home to encourage writing.  try chalk or squirt bottles outside in the driveway! Shaving cream is always a big hit, not to mention play dough!
The Homecoming Parade is Friday at 5:00.  The BECC will have a float in the parade with staff members throwing candy.  Hope to see you there!
I will be sending out a Sign Up Genius link for Parent Teacher Conferences soon! These days are  October 11th and 12th.  Each conference will be 15 minutes long as I have several families to meet with in a limited time frame.  We will be discussing your child's progress report that will be coming home next week.  Please look it over and prepare and questions you have for me!

Pup Strut Information

We are excited to announce the BECC Pup Strut Page is now live! Check it out at https://secure.eventsonline.us/reg/getmovincrew/pub/school/820

Please everyone register your child! You'll find the link on the event page under "Our Event Updates". Even if you do only traditional cash/check donations sent in to school, we can track them on the website and see our progress toward school goals. You will set up a secure fundraising page for your child, only accessed by those you share it with through e-mail and Facebook/Twitter.

We've set a default goal of $35 per student. You can adjust this up or down on your personal page; however, we will reward each student who meets this goal with an extra raffle ticket. Be a Pledge Superstar by raising $100 and earn 5 extra entries! We already have and are adding more gift cards from area businesses as our prizes.

We want to come together and celebrate as a school community when we make this event a success! When we hit $4000 raised, BECC will have a Bubble Party. If we hit $6000, we'll add a Pajama & Movie Day for the kids. If everyone registers, sends e-mails, and shares on Facebook, we'll definitely get there!

PSG Information

For those who are wondering what exactly our Parent Support Group is and how money raised is spent: The BECC PSG is classified as a charitable organization. Donations to us are tax-deductible. The largest sections of our budget go to:

1) Financially assist our teachers and therapists to add to their classroom enrichment tools

2) "Field Trip" expenses: pays for special visitors like Mr. Daniel who got the kids singing and dancing last month and Officer Friendly who's set for a visit the week of Pup Strut; in the past, we've also had the Tooth Fairy, a puppet show, etc.

We also contribute financially to class parties, office and clinic supplies, teacher appreciation, graduation celebrations for students moving on to Kindergarten, and more of the like!

--

Brenna Lowry

BECC PSG Vice Pres

P.S. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or forward parents' questions on to me!

Spirit Week

Next week,  September 25th-29th is Homecoming for Brownsburg.  BECC likes to show our support by having fun dress up days.  They are listed below.  All are welcome to attend,  the homecoming parade on Friday the 29th at 5:00.  BECC will have a float, and teachers will be passing out candy.

Monday- Pajama Day

Tuesday- Hat Day

 Wednesday- Mix and Match Day

 Thursday- Sports Team Day

 Friday- Construction Day

Hello Families! We had an exciting week of exploring with new materials in the classroom! Students were introduced to Wiki Sticks. For those of you that don't know, Wiki Sticks are a wax covered yarn that is bendable and sticks to almost every surface.  Students had so much fun creating rocket ships, letters,  lollipops, and so much more.  They come in various colors and last FOREVER! I would highly suggest purchasing some for the home.  If you are interested, let me know and I can send you a link on where to find them!
We also began our unit on sorting.  Younger students are expected to sort by color and size.  Older students are expected to sort by category.  Last week,  we sorted pattern blocks.  This week,  we will be sorting apples! This is a great way to discuss grouping,  and discussing similarities and differences.  You can try this at home by sorting shoes.  Talk about shoes that tie,  shoes that slip on,  shoes with straps.  You can also look at the sizes of shoes for Mom, Dad,  brother, etc. There are fancy shoes, running shoes,  or sandals.  Expand your child's vocabulary but just pointing out what things looks like in your home.
The Library Lady will be visiting Thursday afternoon.  She brings fun books and songs for the students to enjoy.
I know we have sent home some information about Pup Strut. I was just informed that we will only be doing Pup Strut for one day,  Thursday, October 5th.  As soon as I receive the link for the volunteer sign up,  I will share it with you.
I also wanted to let you know I will be out on Friday morning.  I have to attend a training,  but Mrs.  Cooper will be here to help the sub. I will be returning to school around Noon, so I will be here for the afternoon class.

Last week , we practiced identifying numerals by playing Number Bingo.  Younger students were using bingo cards with just numerals on them.  Older students were challenged with a set of pictures on their card.  Students had to count the pictures and cover the box that matched the number given. Students really enjoyed getting to yell BINGO at the end.
I also introduced the classes to play dough last week.  They got to explore on their own and create whatever they wanted.  Some kids made pizza, spaghetti, cookies, etc. I provided the students with various cookie cutters and tools like rolling pins and tongs. This week we will continue working with play dough but students will be creating letters.
On Friday,  I sent home Yankee Candle packets.  This is a fundraiser the entire corporation will be doing.  The proceeds go to the Brownsburg Education Foundation, which provides scholarships to students in Brownsburg and grants to Teachers. Order forms are due back to school on Monday September 25th.  Orders will be ready to pick up from the BCSC Maintenance facility located at  550 Airport Road on November 7th from 3-8pm and November 8th from 1:30-8pm.  There is a Drive Thru Pick Up, so you don't even have to get out of your car!  You can also select the online ordering option and your items will be sent to your home prior to November! These make great Christmas presents, and since we have the online ordering it is open to family and friends who might live far away!

I hope everyone had a nice long weekend!
 Last week we continued our learning about letters.  Students used the wood pieces to first match letters and then create them on their own.  Wood pieces are a big part of our Handwriting Without Tears Curriculum.  When learning about letters and writing,  students identify the lines that make up a letter.  There are 4 main lines,  Big Line, Little Line,  Big Curve and Little Curve.  Try asking your little one about these.  Find the lines in the letters of their name.  Reiterating this vocabulary at home can help further their knowledge on letter identification.
We also used shaving cream for the first time! They loved getting messy and describing the soft, silky,  foam.  Students practiced using their finger to write on the tables in the cream.
I have sent home a  flyer about playing games at home with your child.  I noticed how much they enjoyed the games we played in the classroom and wanted to extend that at home as well.
I have also sent home envelopes for picture orders.  EVERYONE will get their picture taken,  the envelope is just if you want to order individual pictures.  Picture day is Sept 7th and 8th.  We are dividing the students up by last name. Students with the last name starting with letters A-M will be photographed on Thursday.  Students will the last name starting with letters N-Z will be photographed on Friday. If you are returning a picture envelope you can do that anytime.  You DO NOT have to wait until the actual picture day.  It is helpful to us if you can send it in early, as the photographers usually come early in the day so we may not have time to check backpacks prior to them coming on those days.
Thank you to all families who ordered Scholastic books last month! I will be sending home new catalogs for the month of September.  These orders will be due by September 29th.

Hello Families,
We had a busy week last week learning about numbers!
We played several new games that the kids really loved.  We started by doing a number scavenger hunt around the room.  Students were asked to search for numbers on their paper and cross them off as they were found.  Some students even tried writing the number when it was found.  This is an easy game to play with your kids while driving,  at the park,  at the grocery store, etc.  Challenge them by just saying a number for them to find instead of giving them the visual first.
I also introduced the students to a deck of cards.  They loved playing our High/Low game.  Two students chose a card from the deck and identified it.  They then said which card was High- holding the card up and using a high voice,  and which card was low- pushing the card down to the ground and using a low voice.  The students asked to play this game over and over.
Their favorite game was the numbered chair game.  I taped cards to the backs of chairs and provided a matching card to the students.  They had to identify their number and sit in the chair with the matching number.  If the students didn't know the number we just counted the item on the card- heart, diamond, spade, or club.
Try playing these games with your little one at home.  They didn't believe me that they probably had a deck of cards at their house.
I have also sent home a paper called Fun with Counting.  This is just sharing some more fun counting games for you to do at home.
Mr.  Daniel came to visit on Friday! He is a musician who shares musical instruments,  songs, and dances with the kids.  Everyone had a blast and loved getting to meet someone new.

Speech and Language Therapy

This week in speech we are reading the book Moo Moo Brown Cow.  It is a great book with repeating phrases and animal noises and colors.  We also went on an animal hunt for the baby animals in the story.  They had to find the picture with the right animal and number.  During the story we also worked on describing the animals & answering WH questions about the story.  
Target vocab: duck, frog, pig, cow, sheep, goose, fish, farm, dog, puppy, honk, oink, moo, quack, cluck, chicken, lamb, calf, froglets, chicks, goslings, kids
*This week while in the car point out any animals you see or pretend to be different animals, talk about where they live; if you were an animal what would you want to be & why.   Point out familiar places to the children and what you do there, what you buy, what you see.  Counting is an easy way to work on speech and language with your child. 
Super simple songs also has some great color songs on youtube. 
 We also watched this video about color words and farm animals https://www.bing.com/videos/search?

q=colors+on+the+farm+song&qpvt=colors+on+the+farm+song&view=detail&mid=1CF8EAB42CD1DBDE96821CF8EAB42CD1DBDE9682&&FORM=VDRVRV

Moo Moo, Brown Cow by Jakki Wood teaches more than what a cow says.
15 Social, Emotional & Cognitive Concepts Covered in Moo Moo, Brown Cow:   
1.  names of animals               2.  visual examples of animals   
3.  identifying animals           4.  proper names of baby animals
5.  names of colors                    6.  visual examples of colors
7.  patterns in language             8.  descriptive language
9.  conversation skills                 10. repetition & prediction skills
11. Q & A                                   12. counting
13. number sense                       14. parent/child relationships
15. poetry
READ & REPEAT
Target articulation sounds while reading http://preschoolwhatisit.com/2011/10/moo-moo-brown-cow-teaches-preschool-skill/ Lorraine Jeter, SLPA   ljeter@brownsburg.k12.in.us

Reminders

I apologize for not sharing this information sooner,  please do not send in any type of "treat" for your child's birthday.  We are not allowed to pass out invitations at school or provide you with a class list.  This is school policy.  If your child's birthday falls on a school day they will be greeted with a birthday crown .  The class will sing happy birthday to them and they will get to pick a prize from the prize box.  Since we have so many allergies and individual beliefs, it is best to keep birthdays an "at home" celebration.  Thank you for understanding.
We are accepting BOX TOPS at school.  These can be found on various items found in your home.  Feel free to cut them from the packaging and send them in .  The PSG uses box tops to purchase  items for each classroom.
Remember your scholastic orders are due by the end of the month! Thank you to the families that have already purchased books.
Last week,  we continued our unit on counting.,  Students are starting to recognize more numerals.  I encourage you to practice this skill at home or when you are out and about as well.  Students going to kindergarten should be able to count a set of objects and match it to the correct numeral. 3 Year olds are expected to count to 5 showing one to one correspondence.  Sometimes it is helpful to move, slide, pick up, or drop  items as you count them.  This helps the student visualize and stay organized.  This is a skill you should be practicing EVERYDAY! Students need to be able to start at 1 and count each item once.
We also continued our talk about predicting.  I showed students sequential pictures of a pumpkin plant growing and they had to guess what was going to happen next.  They were mostly surprised at the end when there was a pumpkin.  We talked about stories having a first, second, and third part ( or a beginning , middle, and end.) You can talk about this when reading at home well.  Ask your child what happened first? What happened next? and what happened at the end? This again,  helps the student become a strong reader later in life.

Pup Strut

Dear BECC families and friends,

Our annual Pup Strut is coming up October 5th & 6th. All students will be encouraged to get up and move by participating in a five-part obstacle course. This is our school's largest fundraiser bringing together students, families, and the community to support early learning!

For every $10 a student raises they receive a raffle ticket. Student donation forms will be coming home in early September, but for now we are actively searching for corporate sponsors. If your student brings in a sponsor, that total can count toward their raffle tickets earned!

If anyone owns or is connected to a business that would be interested in making a tax-deductible donation to sponsor this event, the 2017 sponsorship information and form can be found at this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LYADWFbACLQAME7Cruxa-4YkzLyXqKLpMiFUsXMYaJM/edit?usp=sharing

--

Brenna Lowry

BECC PSG Vice Pres

---

Hello Families!
I have sent home magazines with each child for you to work on together at home.  This is not a requirement but can be a fun project to practice school skills.  These magazines needs assembling! Students can practice cutting across the dotted line with scissors.  I always remind students to put their thumb in the little hole and fingers in the big hole.  We want their thumb on top,  so I always say "remember thumbs up!" Students can then practice number recognition by finding the page number and putting them in order.  Parents can help staple the book together.  When it is all done,  take some time to read the magazine together.  Talk about the front and back,  turning the pages correctly.  A big skill we first hit in preschool is how to treat our books and what they are for.  They are for reading and usually a quiet experience.  Some younger students are still exploring books and may put them in their mouth,  throw them ,  or turn the pages  roughly, causing them to tear.  We want our students to cherish books and the experiences they give us.
We talked a little about books this past week in the classroom.  We talked about books are sometimes like people.  They have a front,  a back, and a spine.  Books also have titles or names, just like us! Books also have authors , the person who writes the words.  Some have illustrators, or people who draw the pictures in the book.
We also discussed predicting! Students learned that predicting is making a guess about what is going to happen during the story.  When reading with your child at home, stop and ask what they think will happen when you turn the page.  Students learned their prediction may not always be correct, and that's okay! This helps the child get more engaged in the story  and become better readers later on!
I also sent home some information about the zones of regulation.  This is something new I am starting in my classroom this year.  This will help students identify their feelings and the feelings of the people around them.  Each zone is designated a color for the students to better connect their knowledge.  Blue is the zone where you might feel tired, sick,  bored, etc.  Yellow feelings might be excited, silly, or uncomfortable. Red is the zone or feelings of anger, frustration, etc.  Green is the zone we want all students to be in most of the time, although we know this is not always going to happen.  Green feelings are happy, calm,  ready to learn, etc.  Last week, we identified feelings in each colored zone.  I have posted visuals in the room for students to have access to at all times.  We encourage the kids to tell us how they are feeling, but sometimes they don't have the words.  The visuals can help them tell us what they are feeling or they can use the color, such as "I'm feeling blue."
I have also made a calm down corner available to the students in the room.  If  a student is not feeling green, they can go to the area to get back to green.  There is a pillow where they can take a break.  I will slowly be adding other calming items as needed  A possible use of this area might be if a student has had a rough morning before they come to school and are not quite ready to participate in the day's activities, they can go to the calm down corner to take a breath and get to green.  This may be because they missed the bus and had to rush to school, they might have not slept well the night before, they might be excited about a big event coming up and are getting distracted Again, this is something new for me as well so I might have to make changes later in the year.  I'm hopeful this will help students socially/emotionally and regulate their bodies.  Most elementary schools in the corporation also use the zones of regulation, so they will have this prior knowledge.
I wanted to take a second to make sure all parents know to please make sure your child is not bringing toys to school from home.  We have noticed some toys in backpacks.  This can cause a distraction at school.  I would hate for personal belongings to get broken or stolen while here.  We have plenty of toys in the classroom for  students to use during their time. Thanks and please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or comments.

Speech and Language Therapy

Hello Families!  I’m excited to get into the classrooms with your children.  This week we are focusing on feelings.  These are the books that I did during large group in the classroom.  

The first one had a picture of an animal expressing a feeling, they had to guess what feeling and then I showed them a picture of the animal in a scene and we talked about why they might be feeling that way.  The second is an interactive book where the students had to match the sentence strips to the picture.  “The girl/boy is ________.”  This also works on expanding sentences as well as pronouns.  “The boy is happy”  “He is happy.” 
After the stories we had a motion dance based around different feelings.  I modeled the action for each feeling, then the second round I had them try to remember what we do for each feeling and then we did the dance with various music and they had to recall the motions.  
Happy=march and smile
Sad=move low and slow
Excited=Jump
Mad=stomp feet
Tired= crawl on hands and knees
Nervous= tiptoe
Silly= do a silly dance

During therapy time in the classroom we worked on various language and articulation goals while making faces on mats with playdoh.  Below are some tips on working on talking about and expressing feelings at home.  Here is a link to a video about feelings that we did as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1NIWCr0R-k

Teach Your Child Simple Feeling Words
Teach your preschooler basic feeling words such as happy, mad, sad and scared. Older kids can benefit from learning more complex feeling words such as frustrated, disappointed, and nervous.
A great way to help kids learn about feelings is to discuss how various characters in books or TV shows may feel. Pause to ask, “How do you think he feels right now?” Then, discuss the various feelings the character may be experiencing and the reasons why.
This also teaches kids empathy. Young children think the world revolves around them so it can be an eye opening experience for them to learn that other people have feelings too.
If your child knows that pushing his friend to the ground may make his friend mad and sad, he will be less likely to do it.
Create Opportunities to Talk About Feelings
Show kids how to use feeling words in their daily vocabulary. Model how to express feelings by taking opportunities to share your feelings.
Say, “I feel sad that you don’t want to share your toys with your sister today. I bet she feels sad too.”
Each day, ask your child, “How are you feeling today?” With young children, use a simple chart with smiley faces if that helps them to pick a feeling and then discuss that feeling together. Talk about the types of things influence your child’s feelings.
Point out when you notice your child is likely feeling a particular feeling. For example, say, “You look really happy that we are going to be eating ice cream,” or “It looks like you are getting frustrated playing with those blocks.” https://www.verywell.com/how-to-teach-kids-about-feelings-1095012

Looking forward to a great year! 
Lorraine Jeter, SLPA   (aka Miss Lorraine)

Welcome!

We have had such a great start to the new school year! I'm so excited for all the fun things we will get to do this year.  Each week I will be posting on the blog.  I will be sharing any upcoming events, fundraisers,  at home activities, and what we have done in the classroom.  You are always welcome to email me with questions you have!
Our class participates in the Scholastic Reading Program.  Each month I will be sending home catalogs for you to look through with your child and possibly purchase any books.  Our class account receives points for every book that is purchased.  I can then use those points to order FREE books for the classroom! I will send out new catalogs each month with a ordering due date.  You can order your books online and they will be sent to school.  Once they arrive, I will send them home in your child's backpack.  If your order is ever a surprise or a gift, just let me know and we can make arrangements so your child doesn't see the books. I  have already sent this month's catalogs home, orders are due by August 31st.
The first Parent Support Group meeting of this school year is Wednesday August 9th at 6:30pm, here at BECC. Any and all parents are welcome to attend.  They will be discussing upcoming events and possible volunteer opportunities.
Please remember to check your child's backpack everyday.  The school nurse,  front office staff, therapists, and myself will be sending home important papers periodically.  It is important all families are well informed.
Last week we started talking about We Thinkers.  This is our curriculum for Social and Emotional Learning.  Students will learn how to follow directions, the plan, whole body listening, and expected and unexpected behaviors.  We will also be using the Zones of Regulation.  I have sent home some more information about this so you can use the same vocabulary at home.  Students will learn to self regulate  and identify not only their emotions but the emotions of their friends.  These are both great curriculums to promote a community of friends in our classroom.
These first few weeks of school students have been learning everyday procedures and our schedules.  Once we have these set in place,  we will be able to dive more into our Literacy and Math Curriculums. 
We have started with some counting activities.  Last week we practiced rhythm counting to 5.  You can practice this at home by counting how many stairs are in your house,  or how many steps to the car, or how many place settings at the dinner table.  Feel free to count higher than 5!
We also started talking about letters.  At this age ,  some students have difficulty distinguishing letters from numbers.  We played some sorting games to decipher the two.  I always tell my students letters make sounds and numbers are for counting. You can practice this at home as well.  When you are out and about and see a symbol (such as a street sign),  ask your child if it is a letter or a number.  If it is a number, try counting up to that number.  If it is a letter talk about what sound it makes.  Is it in their name? These are easy skills you can practice anytime and anywhere.