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.
Monday, August 28, 2017
Thursday, August 24, 2017
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
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
Monday, August 21, 2017
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.
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.
Monday, August 14, 2017
Pup Strut
Dear BECC families and friends,
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
--
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
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)
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)
Monday, August 7, 2017
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.
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.
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