Pre-K teaching times, Vol. 7, Issue 4 (Nov. 2010)

Pre-K Teaching Times

In This Issue
Large Group Literacy Activities
Building Vocabulary and Comprehension
Phonological Awareness
Pre-Writing
Small Group Instruction
CLASS
Assessment

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 4

NOVEMBER 2010

Large Group Literacy Activities

Large group literacy is an important part of the instructional day; but, how does a large group literacy activity differ from the two read-aloud opportunities and the phonological awareness activity already required for all Georgia's Pre-K Program classes? Here is a simple test.
Use your lesson plans from last week to review the activities that were planned for large group literacy.
Do they contain one or more of the following "3 R" characteristics?
The 3 R's Test - Reading, wRiting, and Retelling
Reading

During the activity was the text large enough for all the children to easily follow along as you read the book aloud?
Did you give the children opportunities to predict what was going to happen next in the story; contribute to discussions about the story; use pictures as clues to follow the story line; join in or "share read" familiar and predictable text; and answer how and why questions requiring children to reason or analyze?
Providing enlarged text is a major difference between large group literacy and the read-aloud selections that occur twice during other segments of the Pre-K day. Enlarged text allows children to observe concepts of print, have a better understanding of how reading works, and become an active participant in the reading process.

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Large Group Literacy Activities (continued)

wRiting
Did the children have an opportunity to contribute to, see, and be supported by an adult as they created chart stores, experience charts, lists, etc.?
Children who help create chart stories or other types of meaningful text begin to learn how writing works. Large group literacy activities introduce four year olds to letter-sound relationships, word boundaries, punctuation, proper letter formation, and critical aspects of concepts of print. Modeled writing allows children to "see inside the teacher's head" as he/she uses self-talk to map out the actions taken to compose the text. (For example, you say, "I am going to write Olivia's name so I have to begin writing with a capital O.") You can also expand the writing experiences of children beyond those encountered while participating in daily news. Take time to write about common daily occurrences (making cupcakes with the class; Mary Elizabeth's trip to the dentist; experiences during class picture day; a fire drill; Alonzo's discovery of a lady bug during outside play, etc.).
Retelling
Did children have opportunities to retell or act out a familiar story?
Allowing children to retell familiar stories gives them opportunities for active interaction with the story sequence. Incorporating flannel board stories or puppets into large group literacy time also provides an opportunity to prepare children for independent use of these materials during free-choice centers.

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Building Vocabulary and Comprehension
"Research has shown that children who don't have well developed vocabularies by age 3 are likely to have difficulty in school, especially in reading" (Mandel, Morrow, 2004). The good news about this research is that preschool can help these children catch up. Children's vocabulary can be improved by simply listening to books read aloud, but greatest gains are made if the meanings of the words are discussed directly before and/or after the reading of the book.
How Pre-K teachers read aloud impacts student vocabulary and comprehension. Follow these simple hints to ensure your story time has the greatest influence on your children.
Discuss the story before, during, and after reading. The discussion after the story provides the most support for comprehension. The quality of the discussion is more important that the quantity of the discussion. Have children make predictions about the story to aid comprehension. Retelling the story is important. This improves both vocabulary and comprehension. Rereading the same text over several days is best. Let children have opportunities to dramatize the story. This deepens understanding and in turn comprehension is broadened. Pattern (predictable texts) should be supplemented with texts that are more content rich. The more engaging the story, the more discussion will occur.
Building strong comprehension skills and developing vocabulary begins with a teacher who supports students through modeling and demonstrating.
Phonological Awareness
Now that children are developing critical listening skills, you should begin narrowing the focus from environmental sounds/words that are distinctly the same or different to speech sounds. Discriminating words that differ by just one sound is more difficult than identifying if pencil and dog are the same or different. For example, are these words the same or different? (Bob, job), (bog, log), (mob, mop)
Then begin helping students to discriminate individual sounds. Start with sounds very different in the way they are produced inside the mouth such as "b" and "s;" then move to sounds produced similarly inside the mouth such as "p" and "b." One effective activity is to let children practice producing the sounds. They need time and experience exploring how sounds feel on their lips, tongue or even in the back of their mouth. Ask children to match the sound you make with your mouth. Discuss if the sound was made with your lips, tongue, teeth, or in your throat. Talk about whether sounds are noisy or quiet.
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Phonological Awareness (continued)

For example: "p" is a quiet sound made by placing your lips together and then popping them apart but without using your voice. In contrast, "b" is made exactly the same way by placing your lips together and popping them apart, but you use your voice; therefore, "b" is a noisy sound. Many of the sounds in our alphabet can be identified this way.

Look below; each pair of sounds is made exactly the same with regard to placement of lips, teeth or tongue; the only difference is that one is quiet (no voice) and the other is noisy (voice is used).

Quiet Sounds p t k
f
s

Noisy Sounds

b

Made by popping lips apart

d

Made by tapping the tongue behind the top teeth

g

Made by the back of the tongue scraping against

the roof of the mouth

v

Made with top teeth on the bottom lip and gently

blowing air

z

Made by smiling and blowing air gently through

teeth

How can I play with sounds? Start simple by asking children to repeat the sound you make. Tell them to watch your mouth because they can gain cues from placement of your articulators...your lips, tongue, and teeth. Then have them repeat short, simple sequences of sounds (p,p,p), (p,p,b), (t,t,t,d), p,b,p,b), (t,t,k), (p,t,k), (b,d,g). Make the sound sequences progressively more difficult as children's skills develop.

Some students initially may have difficulty distinguishing between two sounds. Remember, you are asking them to rely solely on auditory skills that are not fully developed at age four. Give them visual cues to help them feel successful. For example, use three cubes of the same color to visually show that (p,p,p) are the same sound. Then show that (p,t) are two different sounds, represented by two cubes of different colors. Sometimes that visual connection along with the auditory connection can make all the difference. Using colored cubes is easier than using the actual letters to represent the sounds because at this point it is more about distinguishing the sounds than identifying the letters.

The general sequence of listening or discrimination skills from a broad focus to a more narrow focus is:

Environmental sounds Words that are the same or different and vary greatly in their production (dog, cookie) Words that are the same or different, but vary by only one sound (dog, log) Learning about how and where sounds are produced within the mouth and then learning to repeat those sounds. Discrimination between two sounds that are the same or different.

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Pre-Writing
Young children learn through play and through engaging in age-appropriate preschool activities. Children develop in predictable stages, so a child must have the prerequisite fine-motor skills necessary to use his wrists and hands properly and effectively before he can write. Fine-motor is usually defined as the ability to coordinate the action of the eyes and hands together in performing precise manipulative movements. Skills learned and mastered through activities supporting development of fine-motor skills include developing hand strength, directional movement patterns, and effective hand position, which in turn facilitate making lines, letters, and shapes.
Every child will acquire the fine-motor skills needed for writing in a different time table. Activities that support young children's fine motor development help build the strength and dexterity (quick and precise movements and coordination of the hands and fingers) necessary to hold a pencil appropriately. The more a preschool child uses her fingers in activities that help to strengthen hand coordination, the sooner she will master the skills needed for writing.
Suggested materials and activities to support fine-motor development:
Rolling play dough into tiny balls using the palms of the hands facing each other and using only the finger tips Giving children a pair of tweezers and provide two bowls with small items and challenge them to get all the items from one bowl to another using only the tweezers Tearing newspaper into strips and then crumpling them into balls Lacing and sewing activities, such as stringing beads or lacing cards Using eye droppers to "pick up" water Playing with Legos, miniature cars, small blocks, action figures, and other small toys Rolling small balls out of tissue paper then gluing the balls onto construction paper to form pictures or designs Using scissors and tracing stencils Painting at the easel; finger painting Putting puzzles together
In general, children show the most improvement in simple fine-motor control behaviors from four to six years. More complex control behaviors tend to improve gradually from five to 12 years, and some fine-motor skills, like isolated finger, hand, wrist, and foot movements, tend to improve significantly from five to eight years. Be patient with your children because it does take longer for some children to refine fine motor skills. Give children sufficient time to practice and develop these skills. Encourage your children by praising their efforts often. Above all, have fun with your children and remember that PLAY is a child's work!
http://tinyurl.com/3xctfy5 (Reading and Writing Developmental Stages) http://tinyurl.com/37kgu6f (Literacy in the Classroom)
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Small Group Instruction
Contrary to popular belief, small group instructional activities are not required to be "theme-based." Although children are often given the opportunity to practice or expand on a skill in small groups, activities may also be planned to introduce materials, methods, or media. Activities that target observational skills are usually best presented in a small group setting in order for teachers to capture each child's individual observations.
Try the following activities with your students:
Science: Dancing Raisins Explore the nature of gases (SD3a) Floating and sinking (SD3b) Problem solving and predicting (SD1f) Materials: A bottle of soda water and a handful of raisins Description:
Talk with children about the difference between water and soda water the addition of gases that makes the water bubbly. Open the bottle and add a few raisins - watch them dance as the bubbles collect around them! Close the lid and they stop - why?
Introduction to Watercolor Paints (CD1a, SE2a) Introduce water colors to your students at small group time.
Demonstrate how to wet the brush; swipe it across the paint; then apply the paint to the paper. Show children how to rinse the brush before dipping it in another color. They will be as amazed by the changing color of the water as they clean their brushes. Allow students to create original works of art on a variety of textures/ surfaces: stones, corrugated cardboard; coffee filters; fabric, such as muslin.
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CLASS

Georgia's Pre-K Program has begun implementing the CLASS in multiple classrooms across the state. The next classroom could be yours. This month we will spotlight the first CLASS dimension, Behavior Management, under the Classroom Organization domain.
Behavior management encompasses the teacher's ability to provide clear behavioral expectations and use effective methods to prevent and redirect misbehaviors. The indicators are: Clear Behavior Expectations; Proactive, Redirection of Misbehavior; and Student Behavior. Children desire structure and are most likely to behave appropriately in classrooms where rules and expectations are clearly and consistently communicated. Behavior management works best when proactive strategies are used, and minor misbehaviors are redirected. In classrooms with effective behavior management, little instructional time is lost due to distractions and misbehaviors, increasing the time children are engaged in learning.
Teachers at the high end of Behavior management are proactive and

consistently monitor children's behavior. These teachers anticipate moments where misbehaviors may occur, such as transitions, and provide children with a choice of activities when finished. Teachers should also clearly state expectations for behavior and be consistent with the consequences. When students are doing what is expected of them, teachers with effective behavior management also provide specific feedback and praise for the appropriate behavior. Instead of "good job," consider being more specific by saying "I like the way Nicole and Meghan are cleaning up the block area." This encourages appropriate behavior and demonstrates to other children which types of behaviors you expect. Teachers may also en- . courage children to settle disputes through the use of problem solving steps so that, over time, children may handle disputes and disagreements with little input and guidance from the teacher.
We will continue to share more about the CLASS each month. To learn more about CLASS, visit www.classobservation.com.

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Mark
Phillip said, "I am a fireman, see I am fighting a fire."

Assessment

Fall is here, and we have about six weeks before our first assessment period ends. You should be planning activities to fill in the gaps on the developmental checklist or spreadsheet. If you are using Work Sampling Online, you will do this on the Work Sampling Online website.

Plan small and large group activities to help you gather documen-

tation for all 55 indicators. When developing your lessons, make

sure you include activities around your assessment needs. Here

are examples of activities you might do in order to fill in the

gaps.

Plan a small group activity for children for whom you do not

have documentation for recognizing and describing the at-

tributes of shapes. Read a shape book, and then have the

children pull a shape out of a paper sack. Have the chil-

dren go on a shape hunt around the room for the shape

they chose. Once back at the table, have them discuss the

different shapes they found. Record observational notes of

what children say.

Take photos of children using measuring tools in the sensory

table.

Using a doll house and furniture, have children place common

.

household items in their proper rooms. This activity will

fall under Social Studies, People and where they live.

Using environmental print from stores/businesses (Wal-Mart,

Chick-fil-A, Publix, etc.) talk about the stores

the children visit and what is in them. Make a simple treasure map for the playground
and have children follow the map.

Call the Pre-K Consultant on duty at the BftS

A few reminders: when filling out the developmental checklist, you may not place a check or an NY, IP, or P for that indicator unless you have documentation in the child's portfolio. Talk with your director or Pre-K consultant if you have any questions.

office at 404-656 -5957. Pre-K Consultant contact information also can be found on the

BftS website.

PRE-K TEACHING TIMES