Pre-K teaching times, Vol. 7, Issue 6 (Feb. 2011)

Pre-K Teaching Times

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 6

FEBRUARY 2011

Word Awareness

In This Issue
Word Awareness Science

Word Awareness is the knowledge that sentences consist of words and that these words can be manipulated. Word awareness is the first level of language analysis and must occur before a student can begin segmenting words into component sounds (phonemes). Teachers can begin to focus on word awareness by:
Pointing (to words on the page -- noticing spaces) Counting (number of words in sentence or phrase)

Social Studies Small Group Instruction
CLASS Assessment

Word Awareness Activities: Read Aloud Interactively -- Point to specific words as you read. Then have children point to words as you read. Sing Songs -- Sing songs that accentuate single words (e.g., "Pop! goes the weasel.") Identify Missing Words -- Identify missing words by placing a number of objects on the table and asking students to hide their eyes as you remove one or more of the objects. Students must identify which object(s) was (were) removed. This is a precursor to word deletion activities. Class Story -- Develop a four to five sentence story. Write the story on chart paper as students tell it. (At this point, write each sentence on a new line rather than in paragraph form.) Each time someone gives you a sentence, identify it as a sentence. Explain that the first letter of the sentence is taller than the others ("We call it a capital letter.") and that you put a dot ("We call it a period.") at the end. Students Identify Sentences -- Ask a student to show you on the chart where the sentence begins and ends. Have a student cut off one sentence with a pair of scissors. Place the sentence strips in the chart stand. (For an interesting related activity, place the sentences out of sequence, and when all the sentences are cut out, read the "new" story back to them. Let the students help you sequence the story a second time so it is correct.) Repeat, giving other students an opportunity for a turn until the entire story is cut apart by sentences. Fill In the Blank -- As you read a story, stop and allow students to "fill in the blank" for the next word. When possible, mention that they supplied a word. If you're reading a big book, point to the words as you read and allow the students to "read" one of the words occasionally. Ask, "What is the next word?"

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What is Environmental Print?
Environmental print consists of words found all through a child's environment. They are printed words the child sees everywhere he/she goes. Children begin by recognizing the logos and pictures associated with the words. For many emergent readers, environmental print helps bridge the gap...make the connection...between letters and first efforts to read.
Activity: Place examples of environmental print around the classroom. Have a second set available for the children to use to match the words around the classroom, much like a scavenger hunt.
Activity: Conduct a categorization activity. Collect logos from five different restaurants, five different stores, five different cracker brands, five different street signs, etc., and have the children sort by category. This would be a great small group activity to challenge some of your students performing on a higher level.
Pre-K Content Standards LD 1g: Uses pictures or symbols to identify concepts LD 5e: Recognizes that print has meaning and represents spoken language in written form
Resources: http://www.brighthub.com/education/early-childhood/ articles/62294.aspx#ixzz1ADNRrlfY www.mrsjonesroom.com/teachers/environmentalprint.html www.suite101.com/.../environmental-print-in-the-prek-2-classroom -a192932 www.marcias-lesson-links.com/LearningandExploring.html
Environmental print in the classroom: meaningful connections for learning to read. By Jennifer Overend Prior, Maureen R. Gerard

PRE-K TEACHING TIMES

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Science
Scientific development is exciting......it is discovery at its best! Teachers can facilitate scientific development in many ways but most importantly through asking questions.
Ask Questions Appropriately Ask only one question at a time. Phrase questions as questions, rather than starting with a statement and finishing with a question. Ask questions that students are capable of answering Ask open-ended questions, i.e., that will elicit a variety of answers. Ask questions that are planned and lead to the objective of your lesson.
Listen to Children's Responses Use wait time to give children time to think and choose words they want to use to express their thinking. Listen to the answers that children give, and repeat the answer. Ask for clarification if the answer is not clear, and always elaborate on their answer to give them more information. Provide equipment, materials, or drawings related to the topic. If a child is unsure and not able to answer the question, ask his or her peers if anyone wants to help with the answer.
Pre-K Content Standards SD 1c: Uses language to describe observation SD 4 c: Participates in activities to explore the earth and sky
PRE-K TEACHING TIMES

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Science (Continued)
Effective questioning develops higher order thinking skills and is a component of the CLASS observation.
February 2nd is Groundhog Day. Explain to your students what a groundhog is and discuss the tradition of Groundhog Day.
Activity: Shadow Hunting Objective: To use language to describe the properties of shadows. Group Size: Large or small group
Walk around the school or playground look for as many shadows as possible......birds, trees, buildings, cars, signs, people. How are shadows shaped like the object, and how are they different? Do the shadows change as the objects move? How do they change?
Look for places where there are no shadows. Share ideas why the shadows disappear. Look at specific shapes at different times of the day, and discuss how the shadows change.
Photograph the shadows at different times of the day and have students trace shadows at different times. Trace students' shadows on bulletin board paper. Together, have students identify different objects and different people by their shadows.
Share books about shadows, e.g., Shadows by Taro Gami and What Makes A Shadow? by Clyde Bulla.

PRE-K TEACHING TIMES

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Social Studies
Many teachers feel Social Studies can be the most difficult domain to document. In reality a student's progress in Social Studies can be observed all around the classroom from learning centers to activities in the child's day-to-day routine. The important thing to remember when collecting documentation to support Social Studies indicators is the child should have an ability to explain in their own words the meaning of the action or activity they are completing. For example: How many times have you sat down to complete a small group activity and realized there weren't enough scissors? The subsequent interaction my go something like this:
Teacher: "Maria, do you know where the scissors are located?" Maria: "They are in the art center." Teacher: "Will you please get me three pairs of scissors?" This example shows that Maria is able to describe the location of things in the environment. What a great example to place in the portfolio. Teachers should stage learning centers to prompt certain play from the children. For example: Place beepers, phones, keyboards, calculators, etc. in the writing area and interact with students based on what you see them do. Teacher observes a student using the phone: "Johnathan, what are you doing over in this area?" Student: "I'm talking with the momma to make an appointment for the baby." Teacher: "Why do you have that (teacher points to the calculator) on the desk?" Student: "So I can add the numbers." This example shows that the child understands the use of the phone as well as the calculator. What better documentation to support understanding the use of technology! As mentioned, teachers can collect supportive documentation of social studies from learning centers to day-to-day activities. The key is to know the indicators, view everything students do through those investigative lenses, and use open-ended questions that require students to think and to explain their actions using their own words.
PRE-K TEACHING TIMES

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Small Group Instruction
Small group time is an excellent time to provide appropriate activities to develop fine motor skills. Daily use of the fingers, wrists, and eye coordination will help enhance young children's fine motor development to perform essential activities.
One of the most vital reasons for practicing fine motor skills is to develop the muscles necessary for writing. Many small group activities provide students opportunities to practice fine motor skills. Here are some suggestions for teacherled small groups or, after introducing, for independent small groups:
Distribute play dough and pennies to each child. Ask each child to make a ball out of their play dough and hide coins in their ball of play dough. Have them trade their play dough with a friend and find the hidden coins. Count the pennies and play again. (HPD2a, MD1c)
Glue a different colored bead to the bottom of eight small clear plastic cups. (Dose cups that come with cough syrup are perfect.) Ask children to use tweezers to move and match beads to the correct cup. Let the children work for five minutes and then count the beads and discuss who has more, less, or the same. (HPD2b, MD1c, MD1d)
Practice cutting different textured items (such as sandpaper, wallpaper, aluminum foil, play dough, etc.) with scissors. Before beginning, ask the children to predict which will be easy or difficult to cut and then test their theories. If this is too difficult for some, allow them to tear the textured items instead. (HPD2c)
Use eye droppers to pick up drops of food coloring, one drop at a time, and drop on paper to make artistic designs. Discuss color mixing results. (HPD2a, CD1a)
Back sheet of black construction paper with corrugated cardboard or Styrofoam. Have children poke holes in the paper with a toothpick and then hold their picture up to the window to see the constellation or star picture they created. Count the number of holes punched. Allow children to tear and apply tape to display their pictures in a classroom window. (HPD2b, MD1c)
If you have logged into a Best Practices online course this year, you have access to Georgia's P.R.I.D.E. (Pre-K Resource and IDea Exchange). P.R.I.D.E., which can be found under "Additional Resources" when you log in to your online course, has small group activities and transition ideas for use in your classroom.
Another helpful resource for fine motor activities can be found at www.prekinders.com/finemotor-skills.

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CLASS

Georgia's Pre-K Program continues to implement the CLASS in multiple classrooms across the state. The next classroom could be yours. This month we will spotlight the third CLASS dimension, Instructional Learning Formats, included under the Classroom Organization domain.
Instructional Learning Formats focuses on how the teacher maximizes students' interest, engagement, and ability to learn from lessons and activities. The indicators included are effective facilitation, variety of modalities and materials, student interest, and clarity of learning objectives.
Students who are actively engaged and interested in lessons and classroom materials are more likely to retain information and learn more. In these classrooms teachers provide students with many modalities including movement, hands-on instruction, interesting and creative classroom materials, while facilitating active engagement.

Teachers at the high end of Instructional Learning Formats use appropriate materials and make them available to the students at large and small groups and work time. These teachers encourage student participation and facilitate lessons to actively involve students through effective questioning and a variety of modalities. Teachers should also share in student interest and enthusiasm. When teachers are actively involved in lessons and enthusiastic about learning, students will be more likely to join in and share the excitement. Teachers should also provide consistent and clear learning activities. In classrooms with high Instructional Learning Formats, the teacher provides al- . ternate activities for students who complete tasks early. Finally, teachers should get involved in play. During centers, the teachers move around and talk to students about what they are doing.
Continue to look for more exciting news about the CLASS each month. To learn more about CLASS, visit www.classobservation.com.

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Assessment

In January you should have taken what you learned previously about your children and begun collecting additional documentation on the 55 indicators. Your Fall portfolio information should be taken out, and you should spend time looking at your checklist ratings to determine next steps for each child in each domain. Don't spend time collecting information you have already collected. You are simply looking for what you need to teach and then capture as you move children along the continuum of learning.

Assessment should be purposeful; therefore, you should be planning to collect assessment documentation (photos, work samples, matrices, observational notes) each day. For example, on Monday you might use a matrix outside for Physical Development and Health. On Tuesday you might collect work samples of drawings from responses to a story students had . heard. Then on Wednesday and Friday you could record observational notes during center time focusing on Personal and Social indicators. Thursday you could take pictures of the children acting out a story.

Documentation of plans for collecting assessment can be made in the margins of the lesson plan templates or by using the Planning for Assessment template found in your lesson plans. Preparation helps ensure you have the materials ready and prepared in advance.

Call the BFTS office and Pre-K Consultant on duty at 404-6565957. Pre-K Consultant contact information also can be found on the website.

PRE-K TEACHING TIMES