Mon-Wed-Fri class

MAY , JUNE  2011:
DINOSAURS!       BUGS & GARDENING       SEALIFE & SUMMER FUN

DID YOU HEAR THE ONE ABOUT….
Why did the dinosaur cross the road???  Because the chicken had the day off!

I know that is not scientific, but joke telling will be part of the learning going on during our dinosaur theme.  We have been encouraging the children to put themselves out there to sing their favorite songs, do a little dance, tell stories and share what is important to each of them.  All these efforts help further literacy skills and self-expression.

This month we encourage the children even more to use their imaginations.  We take on roles of Paleontologists and Naturalists.  We learn ways these scientists go about gathering information.
I am excited to make some of our own discoveries using their techniques.  We invite stories and role-playing for really large animals (some of the dinosaurs) and then really small ones (insects).  The contrasts should offer some good vocabulary development.

Story telling is an essential early literacy development  tool, allowing children opportunities to:

· Explore and develop vocabulary and language;

· Gain understanding of books, songs and rhymes as media conveying basic story
components of characters and events with a plot that develops with a recognizable sense of organization;

· Develop listening skills and comprehension of story lines;

· Enhance phonological awareness as children are exposed to their own as well as their friends’, parents’ and teachers’ creative tales;

· Create meaning connected to children’s developing knowledge of print, letters and words;

· Find confidence via expression and exploration of how each child views the world;

· Derive enjoyment from all types of literacy experiences!

A story telling activity you might try at home is to let your child choose 1-2 words or phrases upon which you create an oral story.  This can be a calming activity to do at bedtime with the lights on or off.  Use a quiet voice so that your child is encouraged to listen carefully to the story in anticipation of hearing how you slip in their chosen words.

If you have other activities which have worked well for your family to promote use of imagination in story telling, please share them with us.

GOALS:

· Continued social skill building.  As summer approaches, we
encourage families to arrange playdates to keep growing the give-and-take of friendships.

· Children will hear and use scientific terms, such as
Apatosaurus, rather than Long Neck. They will use words like Paleontologist and Extinct and will  learn the meaning of the words Dinosaur and Tyrannosaurus Rex.

· Ever hopeful for warm weather, we will do some planting.  We will encourage appreciation of insects and spiders.

· Children will learn to tread and touch carefully as we explore the very low tidal beach life at Saltwater State Park.