Segmenting and Blending

There are lots of things we do at school everyday to help promote phonemic awareness.  Understanding sounds and how they combine into words or how words break down into sounds helps with both reading and writing.

Segmenting:
We do a LOT of work on this skill.  Segmenting is how many sounds a word has, not how many letters.  For example, the word oak segmented would be "o-k" and the word house would be "h-o-s" since those are the sounds you heard.  Click here for a set of Elkonian box words like we use in school.  It is okay if you do not have a printer, you can view the pictures on the screen and have your child touch each box as they segment the word.

Blending:
Blending sounds back together is trickier than it might seem!  You can play a "guess my word" game with your child.  You can say the sounds of simple words, like "c-a-t" and have them blend and say the word "cat"

Here is a good youtube video about how you can model and help your child tap out and segment simple words.  

Friday Flash: Colors

Share the News:
Each morning we “share the news” with a buddy. Here is a question for each day of the week! Monday: What is your favorite color?
Tuesday: What’s your favorite red fruit?
Wednesday: What’s your favorite green vegetable?
Thursday: Have you ever seen a rainbow?
Friday: What is something you’re grateful to have right now?
Check Twitter each day next week for my responses!

At times for sentence practice I have the kids write a joke. They make a line for each word and then write all of the sounds they can hear. I save the answer for when they’re done. Here are a few ideas: What’s a cat's favorite color? Purrr-ple
What color is a ghost? BOO
Where do crayons go on vacation? Color-ado

Learning through color...
Watch a BrainPopJr. about Color! 
Username: Thompson2020
Password: Thompson2020

Mix up some color for a bird art project 

Write your sight words in rainbow colors using this paper. 

Try a color science experiment: walking rainbow! 

Head into your yard and find something that is each color. 

Dr. Seuss My Many Colored Days

Handwriting

At school we practice handwriting using the "Zaner Blouser" style of writing. I was sending home the strands as we finished them. Click here for a document with the language for each letter. I have started to make digital lessons of me teaching handwriting lessons. When we practice at school the students watch and listen to me, then practice on their own (at times with music.) I have made these lessons to replicate what we do at school! I hope to be able to do all the letters in the coming week. If your child is writing their name at home, they should be writing with lower case letters (except the first!) and we had recently started practicing our last names as well.

 Here are two lessons for the "magic c" letters c o and a and the second for c, g and d.

coa

cgd
l t h l b k w x y z

Work it!

The Tools of the Mind program that Arlington adopted has a large focus on the working memory.  According to some research, the working memory at age 5 is a better indicator of academic success at age 11 than IQ.  Working memory helps one to plan ahead, problem solve, organize and pay attention.

So what does all that serious jargon look like in the kindergarten classroom?

Freeze Dance!  Every day we have been dancing to the freeze dance.  I hold up a pose that the children must replicate at the freeze.  Recently I have given the freeze dance another step.  The poses are posted on a color.  Instead of holding up a pose, I hold up a color.

Working memory helps us stay involved in something longer and keep more things in mind while approaching a task.  In this case, they're keeping the pose in mind while also keeping what each color means.   The children use their working memory to keep the goal (the pose) in mind, resist distractions and inhibit impulsive.

We also talk aloud a lot to help plan our learning.  Ever try to remember a grocery list or a phone number by repeating it aloud?  That is a strategy to assist your working memory.  As we learn the formation for letters and numbers, the children say them aloud.  Here are the formations for 5-9.


Before the children write, they say their idea to a buddy.  During the writing process, they have multiple opportunities to say their message aloud while writing.  This helps them to remember what they were intending to write.

We also play a game called Look and Remember.  I show a picture (related to The Magic Tree House we're reading) and the children talk to a buddy about all that they see.

Then I flip over the picture and ask questions like, "What letter is on the flag?  How many palm trees are there?"  The children answer my questions to their buddy.  Then I flip over and we go through the questions together.  This is explicit practice to help their visual and auditory memory skills!

Tools of the Classroom

The last few years, Arlington has adopted a program called Tools of the Mind.  In short, to really function as a learner children need to learn more than a set of facts and skills. They need to master a set of mental skills: the tools of the mind!

Many people can cook: they can throw pasta in a pot and heat up a jar of Ragu.

But a chef!  They are usually known for their great skill.  People don't tune into shows like Chopped and Iron Chef to watch someone open up a cook book and read a recipe!  These are skilled people who know how to put ingredients together into a delicious meal.

The Tools of the Mind program is based on Vygotsky.  He felt until children learn to use mental tools, their learning is largely controlled by the teacher.  But if they are able to master mental tools, they can become in charge of their own learning by attending and remembering in a purposeful way.

And when you have 5 minutes, here is a great video on Executive Functioning, featuring one of the creators of the Tools of the Mind program.

Paperwork

Thank you for stopping by to fill out my forms online!  There is so much paperwork at the start of the school year so doing it digitally will help us both out!  If you have any questions about the information, please let me know.

Please click here to fill out helpful information for me to have.

A Place Called Kindergarten

Welcome to Kindergarten!  The school year brings nervous excitement for parents, children and even teachers!  Here is a list of great books to act as an introduction or conversation starter for you and child.

The Kissing Hand....Audrey Penn
Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come....Nancy Carlson
A Place Called Kindergarten...Jessica Harper
Countdown to Kindergarten...Allison McGhee
Froggy Goes to School...Jonathan London
The Night Before Kindergarten...Natasha Wing

Click here for more ideas!

And don't forget everyone's favorite cat, Pete!
Pete the Cat, Rocking In My School Shoes...Eric Litwin