Back to School Night Miss Amber’s Preschool Class

The Basics 12 students per class 2 classroom aides Days off –Every other Friday –Half days and Snow Closings/Delays

The Basics (cont’d) Therapies and Integrated Groups –Individual therapies –Handwriting without Tears –Speech

Communication Weekly newsletter Communication books

Communication (cont’d) Conferences –November and March Annual Reviews (IEPs) –May and June –Re-evaluation for kindergarten

Daily Schedule of Activities Arrival Students transition to the classroom and take care of putting away their belongings. Self- help skills are stressed during this time. After putting away their things, children transition to the table for a sign-in activity.

Table Toys After completing their sign-in activity (matching the letters of their name or writing their name), students engage in a fine motor activity. These activities may include: -Play dough-Chalkboards -Lacing beads-Cutting -Peg boards-Pattern blocks -Puzzles

Circle Time Our group meeting time encompasses many preschool skills. We work on: Social and emotional skills by greeting each other and sharing news, waiting for a turn to talk, and participating in group activities Language skills by answering questions, expressing ourselves verbally, and singing Academic skills by identifying letters, shapes, numbers, and colors; counting; and working on print concepts through our daily message Gross motor skills by participating in movement activities and songs

Center Time Center time allows students the opportunity to be creative and explore their environment. During this time, they work on all areas of their development as they engage in pretend play, practice social skills, negotiate turn taking, use language, and problem solve. Many academic skills are also incorporated during this time as the classroom assistants work with children to increase their knowledge and expand their play through modeling, scaffolding, and questioning techniques.

Center Time Children self-select their interest area among six choices: -Dramatic Play (kitchen, dress-up, puppets, dolls, etc.) -Blocks (wooden blocks, cars, Legos, people, animals) -Art -Puzzles and Games (puzzles, counters, fine motor toys, board games) -Discovery (sand and sensory boxes, magnifying glasses, scales, magnets) -Literacy (books, magnetic letters, writing boards, letter and sound games)

Small Group Activities During center time, children will take turns in small group learning activities with the teacher. The activities during this time will focus on literacy and math skills. Depending on the activity and child’s needs, the group may be conducted individually or with one or two other children. Small group activities are typically short (approximately minutes).

Snack/Bathroom Quiet Reading/Puzzles

Shared Reading Shared reading time is an interactive story time where the children listen to a story and participate in language and literacy activities to enhance their understanding of the text. The books are typically related to the theme or study of the week and include core literature books. We do re-readings of books throughout the week to help children develop further understanding of the story and language used in the book. We focus on a variety of concepts during this time, including vocabulary words, prediction, story recall, characters, story sequence, rhyming, print concepts, etc.

Review, Closing, Dismissal Students review activities they engaged in during the day and sing the goodbye song.

Curriculum Creative Curriculum –Driven by student interests –Centers/Interest Areas –Studies Core Literature Books Themes and Holidays

Major Areas of Focus Language Development Social/Emotional Development Physical Development Cognitive Development Literacy Math Science/Social Studies

Literacy Skills Letter identification Phonological awareness –Rhyming –Syllables and Word Segmentation –Letter-sound connections and alliteration Story Comprehension Print concepts Writing

Math Skills Number concepts and operations –Counting (rote counting, object counting, number order) –Making sets of objects and describing, solving problems –Identifying numerals Spatial relationships Shapes Comparing and measuring Patterns

Assessment Based on observations and work samples Children are assessed on a developmental continuum Progress reports will focus on the skills your child is demonstrating in the classroom and ways to help them continue to make progress

Special Class Activities Show and Tell Physical Therapy Groups Gym

Speech Therapy Speech Group: Speech, language, pre-literacy, and pragmatic goals Communication Book Flex Week: see packet

Thank You!