February Oral Language Activities

Here are the February activities to promote oral language and early literacy skills.  How many can you and your child complete this month?

A tip for each day!	√
It's a new month...clap out its syllables.../Feb//ru//ar//y/.
What is a Meteorologist?  Watch the 6 o'clock news.
Sing a song about numbers. (e.g., "Five Little Monkeys")
Talk about nutritious snacks...go and find one in the fridge.
Say these words...sit, pot and hat.  What's the last sound you hear?
Mealtime conversation...Talk about what you did after school.
Show me a grumpy face.  What does it mean?
Let's bake!  Find and follow a recipe.
Practice the rules of conversation.  e.g., "My turn to talk -- your turn to listen."
Name three things you can open.
Listen to the word, /up/..is it a long word or a short word?  Name some short words.
The dentists sas you need to take better care of your teeth.  What things do you need to do?
Use and explain vocabulary wow words..."Mommy is exhausted", that means she's very tired.
Say "mailbox".  Say it again but don't say box.
The sounds in this word are /s/ /t/ /ar/.  Can you guess the word?
What fruits sound like these silly words:  cananan...perry...zapple?
Play a board game.  Talk about all the things you need before you begin.
Name words that thyme with /oat/.
How do you know when you're sick?  What helps you feel better?
Teach problem solving skills...I can only find one mitten, what should I do?
It's time to set the table, what do you need?
Look in a magazine, find a picture and tell a story about it.
Practice following detailed instructions.  (e.g., "Put your shoes on, zip up your coat and open the door."
Let's talk about chocolate.  Go and eat some!
Use the telephone.  Call someone in your family.
Name three animals that live in the cold.
Count the words in this sentence.  "It is snowing."

Provided by: The Speech and Language Services Department of 

                      the Greater Essex County District School Board

Gingerbread, Gingerbread

During Shared Reading this week, we have been focusing on a the classic story The Gingerbread Man.  The students have enjoyed revisiting this old favourite, and have been focusing on the characters in the story.

Our big book version is a retelling of The Gingerbread Man, written by Brenda Parkes and Judith Smith.

We also read another version of the same story, Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett (this book is available at the Windsor Public Library for you to check out with your child).

After working with both stories this week, the students compared the characters featured in both stories.  We used a Venn diagram to help us organize our information.  A Venn diagram is a set of circles (we used two) that overlap.  Each book was represented by a circle, and any characters that were found in both stories were placed in the overlapping part of the circles.

The students used yarn to make the Venn diagram, and then worked collaboratively to organize all the characters from both stories.

Here is our completed Venn diagram:

After we were done, we took the Venn diagram apart, and left it on the front shelf.  The students enjoyed the activity so much that several students chose to work together to reconstruct the Venn diagram again later in the day.  

Try this at home with your child.  You can use a Venn diagram to compare books, movies, or even each other.  Can you and your child create a Venn diagram?  If you get a chance to try it, please send it in to school so your child can share it with the class.

December Oral Language Activities

Here are the December activities to promote oral language and early literacy skills.  How many can you and your child complete this month?

A tip for each day!	√
What 2 words do you hear in “candycane”? What sound does ‘candy’ and ‘cane’ start with?
Do you know another word for “present”? (gift, package)
Here’s a riddle for you: What is warm, chocolate, and has marshmallows?
New word: “famished” What does that mean?
Name as many things that you can think of that come in a can (pop, peas, soup, etc.)
Let’s drum out the beats in the word “decorations” [de/co/ra/tions]—4 parts.
Tell 5 things that you will need for winter that you do NOT need for summer.  Use complete sentences (e.g., I will need gloves, I will need boots….)
Make popcorn. Talk about how it looks (before and after it pops), sounds, smells and tastes.
How many words can you think of that rhyme with the word “sack”? (e.g., tack, rack, pack).
Watch a holiday video with your child. Who were the characters? What was it about?
What do you do with these things: snow shovel, sled, scarf, present, snowball
Let’s stretch out the sounds in the word: “lights” [l-igh-t-s]—4 sounds
Let’s write a list of our favourite things!
Tell me another word for “sparkly”.
Tell me one thing that belongs in each category: furniture, sports, tools
How many things can you think of that zip up? (coat, pants, back pack, pencil case)
What sound do you hear in the middle of these words: doll, log, box, song
Let’s name or point to something that is: *long, *short, *hot, *cold,*sweet, *sour
Which 2 words go together best: mittens, boots, cookies.  Tell me how/why they go together.
What does it mean if a person says “I am roasting in here!”
What kinds of things might you see in a toy store?
Find as many “white” things as you can!
How may syllables do you hear in the word “holiday” [ho/li/day]—3 parts
Tell me some words that rhyme with “tree” (e.g., bee, me, see, etc.)
Sing a holiday song with your family.  Tell what the song is about using complete sentences.  What is your favourite song?
What sound do you hear at the end of these words: love, give, have, save
Tell me where you might find these things: socks, juice, plate, coat, dirty dishes
What is crunchy, orange and used to make a snowman?
Have a chat or look at pictures from this year with your family: “What did you do this year?” “Where did you go?” “What was your favourite thing about this year?” “What do you hope to do next year?”
What month comes next?  Do you know what year it will be?  Bye-Bye 2010!

Provided by: The Speech and Language Services Department of 

                      the Greater Essex County District School Board

Meaningful Silence...

Friday was a very special and meaningful day in our classroom - one I will truly never forget.  As a school, Dougall decided to become a part of Free the Children's Day of Silence.  Free the Children is an organization that encourages and empowers children in North America to participate in activities that will help to improve the lives of fellow children around the world.  Many of our students raised pledges and we all agreed to take a Vow of Silence for 120 minutes on Friday.  

As a class, we were excited for this opportunity -- and for what it meant.  We always start the day with our Morning Message.  Before our Vow of Silence began, we shared and collaborated about why we were going to be silent.  The ideas the students shared were meaningful and POWERFUL!

The students used their Kid Writing skills to record their ideas...

Here is the final list - their ideas are incredible!

*  to change the world

*  for kids who need water and food

*  so kids can go to school

*  so kids don't have to work

*  so kids can be kids

Although we were silent, a lot of great learning still took place.  Here are a few of the things we did while we were silent:

Literacy Centres (Computers, Pocket Chart Reading, Write the Room)

We also did some silent reading...

Thank you to all the families and friends who sponsored our students to help raise funds for Free the Children!  If you would like more information about Free the Children or the Day of Silence, please visit www.iamsilent.com.