Thursday 2nd April

Good Morning KG1A!

Morning Message

• It is someone's birthday today!  Guess who? Join us at the Zoom meeting between 3:45-4:00 to find out more! Details will be sent via email by noon. 
• Please check on the Performing Arts and P.E. tab for new work 

Morning movement (school family)

Activity 1

Literacy (15 minutes)

Story Time

Materials needed: computer, paper, pencil.

Beginning:

Today our story is going to be read on Youtube and I want you to use your listening ears… READY??

Middle:

•  Click on the link below to play the story.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCs66HaouFU

• Listen to the story attentively.
• Talk about the author and the illustrator’s job
• Talk about what they understood from the story
• After finishing the story, ask your child to retell what sounds the girl heard?

End:

Give your child a piece of paper and ask them to either go for a walk (if possible)or open the window and draw what sounds they hear. Give 5 minutes notice before ending.

Extension: Ask the child to write the words of the things they drew.

Activity 2

Math (15 minutes)

Comparing Heights

Materials needed: paper roll, marker, scotch tape

Beginning:

Today, we are going to measure ourselves. Let's start!

Middle:

• Stick 2 good length rolled paper or the ground (one for mom, other for the child)
• Lay on the paper and ask your child to trace you and then vice versa the child ask your child to lay down on the second paper and trace her/him.
• Compare the heights.
• Acknowledge and repeat what the child is saying.
• Ask: “I wonder who is taller? Who is shorter?"

End:

You can cut and decorate the people figures and hang them on the wall. Give 5 minutes notice before the time finishes.

Extension: You may ask your child to use blocks, markers or any item to measure from the starting point to the end point. Count and use the sentence, (How many more and how many less?)

Activity 3

Fine motor skills (5 minutes)

Materials needed: playdough, spaghetti sticks, cheerios 

Provide the materials to the child and ask, “I wonder what we can do with these materials?”

• Create two mountain shapes in play dough
• Stick one spaghetti stick in each ( you can make them different size)
• Fill the cheerios in the stick

Count how many cheerios does each stick have, compare. Give 5 minutes notice before the time is over.

Tips for Parents

DEVELOPING LANGUAGE AND LITERACY SKILLS IN EARLY YEARS

Literacy skills develop gradually in early years. Oral language is a foundation for early literacy and its development begins at birth. Infants listen to caregivers talk and sing to them. Older infants and toddlers talk to communicate their needs to the people around them. By the time children are in preschool, there is a significant increase in their use of conversation to create and sustain relationships. 

Three and four year olds ask questions, listen, refer to things that are not present, and talk about desires and imaginary situations. Their vocabulary grows and they master the basic rules of grammar. Young children are also beginning to read and write, at first in unconventional ways (such as reading pictures and drawing horizontal lines or scribbles) and later in more conventional ways. 

Unfortunately, our children are unable to attend school at the moment, but that doesn’t mean that learning needs to stop. Adults at home may use these following strategies to support early learning in language, literacy and communication through the activities sent out by the teachers on their blogs;

Strategies to support comprehension: - Engage in extended back and forth conversations with children. - Create stories with children. - Read and discuss books with children. - Incorporate ideas from stories and books throughout the day.

Strategies to support speaking: - Model appropriate speech. - Listen to children speak. - Use open ended questions. - Encourage children to talk instead of using gestures. - Encourage children to talk to one another. 

Strategies to support vocabulary: - Encourage children to describe their thoughts and experiences. - Read books and tell stories with both basic and unusual vocabulary. - Provide opportunities for children to use new materials and ideas.

Strategies to support phonological awareness: - Explore and identify sounds with children. - Make rhyming words. - Build syllable recognition (by breaking words into syllables)

Strategies to support alphabetical knowledge: - Build letter recognition. - Build letter-sound awareness. 

Strategies to support reading: - Provide reading materials that cater to the child's interest. - Read interactively with children every day. - Encourage children to read to adults.

Strategies to support book knowledge: - Explore the book with children. - Help children distinguish between pictures and print. 

Strategies to support writing: - Provide a variety of writing and drawing materials. - Expect and support various forms of writing and developmental spelling. - Encourage children to write for a wide variety of reasons. - Take dictation from children. (Children dictate their ideas to adults to write)

Following are some links for your better understanding:

- https://youtu.be/L11jA1IRkUA 

- https://youtu.be/vJgl3-sIEBM

Kindly email me if you have any further queries regarding this article and I’d be happy to provide you with more details. 

Regards, Ms Zarmeena Aamir (eys.coordinator@mls.com.sa)

Thought of the day...

Let's finish the day with some movement (here)!


Materials for next week:
  Please note that all these materials can be substituted with items you may have at home.

• Playdoh, balloons, cardboard piece (A3 size)
• Shoes with laces 
• Straws, celery stick (if possible) or leaves, food coloring, transparent containers 
• Shaving cream
• Pegs, string, small toy animals/insects 

Final Notes:

Don't forget to join the class at 3:45 on Zoom today!

For any questions, please email Ms. Ayesha.   

Do send in pictures of the kids doing their work to the teacher.  She will post them under the  "Our Class" tab.

Have a great weekend!