The print appears very small. I hope by adjusting your view setting you will be able to see it. As in all classes some children far surpass the expected learnings while others struggle to grasp many of the concepts.
The document below maps out our "Essential Learnings" for the School Year. The print appears very small. I hope by adjusting your view setting you will be able to see it. As in all classes some children far surpass the expected learnings while others struggle to grasp many of the concepts. This year our school opted to use the Letterland resource. Children enjoy the stories and characters and look forward to our daily visits to Letterland. Here is a piece I have taken from their site to help explain more about Letterland. "Letterland is a unique, phonics-based approach to teaching reading, writing and spelling to 3-8 year olds. The Letterland characters transform plain black letter shapes into child-friendly pictograms and they all live in an imaginary place called Letterland. Simple stories about the Letterland characters, explain the full range of dry phonics facts so that children are motivated to listen, to think and to learn. These stories explain letter sounds & shapes, allowing children to progress quickly to word building, reading and writing." The steps 1. Letter Sounds Once you have met the friendly Letterland characters, just start to say their names for the correct letter sound. 2. Letter Shapes Simple stories about the Letterland characters ensure correct letter formation, avoiding confusion over similar looking letters. 3. Action Tricks Actions for the alphabet are linked to each character, forging a strong connection between the action, letter shape and sound. 4. Word Building Blending & segmenting all through words is introduced very early on, covering blends, digraphs and trigraphs. 5. Advanced Spelling Phonics stories give children a friendly logic for remembering all 44 letter sounds and their major spellings. 6. Multi-sensory Learning Letterland activates every learning channel through music, actions, movement, song, art, craft, games and role-play.
Phonological awareness is a large component of our kindergarten literacy instruction in kindergarten. The term "Phonemic Awareness", refers to the understanding of how the sounds work within a word. A phoneme is the smallest part of a word referring to an isolated sound as the /t/ sound in the word "top". Sounds complicated??? Not really. To make it simpler, I have attached a small excerpt from my "go-to" book written by Miriam Trehearne. Please take a look!
http://www.isbe.net/earlychi/pdf/trehearne_chapter_2.pdf
Weekly Specialties Monday -- Music -- Period 2 Wednesday -- Art -- Period 5 Thursday -- Gym -- Period 2 Every 2nd Thursday -- Library --- Period 5 Friday -- Gym --- Period 2 Welcome to Bessborough School I am looking forward to working with you and your children to make this a happy and successful year. Here is some information that should prove helpful: Labeling - Please label all of the items that your child brings to school, including jackets, boots and the change of clothes that is to be left at school. Clothing - Your child will need a pair of indoor shoes (sneakers) to be worn in the classroom and gym. These shoes will remain at school. *- Your child will need a full change of clothes - (underwear, socks, pants and shirt) that will be kept at school and used if necessary. Please pack these clothes in a zip-lock bag. *- Because your child will be working with glue, pastels, paint and other things that may stain, we ask that students wear casual clothing. * - Whenever possible, we will be taking part in outside activities that complement our program, so please have your child dress accordingly. In order to foster independence, please select coats and boots that your child can handle with the least amount of assistance from adults. Toys: - Toys get lost and broken resulting in tears. Please keep toys at home. Cafeteria: You will find a zip-lock bag in your child's Message Folder. Please have written food order and correct change, if possible, in the bag and place it back in your child's Message Folder. Hot lunch orders are submitted each morning at 8:40 am. Morning Routine: Beginning Monday, please help us with our morning routine by saying "good-bye" outside at the(west) side door. On fine days, children will remain outside until 8:20 am. After School: We will be dismissed each day at 1:45 PM at the same door. Transportation - Bus students - Please instill in your child the need to b e safe by reviewing bus rules with him/her. You might explain the need to be extremely cautious when crossing the street and the need to wait for the school bus driver's signal before crossing the street. If you are going to pick up your child or if he/she is to get off the bus at a different stop, please send a note each time stating the change. **"Walkers" - Please let us know if your child is going to be picked up by someone new, or if he /she has permission to go home with another student. *It is extremely helpful to us and to your child if you send a note each time there is a change in your child's usual routine. Snack Time - This is an important time in our morning. We try to have a simple, healthful snack. Many children drink water from the fountain at snack time, and save their drink boxes for lunch time. (Please do not send mini-sips to school). Volunteers - Our program benefits immensely from the input of volunteers. Volunteers are a most valuable and welcome addition to our school. There are many ways in which you can become involved. You will receive a "Volunteer Information Sheet" soon! Teacher Contact - I am always more than happy to hear from you. Please do not hesitate to contact me in person, through a note or over the phone (856-3404) at any time with your questions, concerns, or comments. The Jolly Phonics resource is used in many schools in western Canada. "Jolly Works", is a blog written by Anne Box, who is a qualified trainer throughout the western provinces. I have attached a link to her site. If you click on "Resources", you will see many documents explaining the approach to delivering the concepts. http://jollyworks.org/index.php
I have been using Jolly Phonics in our classroom for close to twenty years. It is a wonderful program requiring very few materials. A few years ago, I had the joy of attending one of Sue Lloyd's, author of Jolly Phonics, full day workshops. I loved it! Her teaching methods make sense and children learn the skills quickly and with confidence. If you click on the JP Logo on the left, you will see how she presents her program to children. Below, you will see attachments that may help you work with your child at home. Beginning the first week of October, we begin our sound work. In our class we introduce three sounds each week. The poster below shows the sequence of our instruction.
We introduce each sound with a little story. Next, we learn the action for each sound. The Youtube video below shows all of the little songs that accompany each sound.
The Power Point presentation below may be useful at home or in your classroom. Here you will see the actions for each sound. The presentation was created by Bev Evans at Communication 4 All. Bev recently passed away at age 46 of cancer. Her web site will remain as a memorial to her and her love of educating others. All of her materials are free. If you have never visited her site, I know you will enjoy it.
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This is just a start, there's much more to come!
It might take a while, but I have many posts to transfer from my old school district site which has recently been discontinued. It is also a huge learning curve and I'm going along in baby steps!
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Diane MittonTeaching kindergarten and loving it! Categories
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