News from Early Childhood
Monday, May 27, 2019
Saturday, May 11, 2019
Monday, May 6, 2019
May 6, 2019
Tracking
Students’ Emotions and Mindsets
By
Benjamin Herold
The race is on to provide students with personalized learning
experiences based on their individual emotions, cognitive processes,
“mindsets,” and character and personality traits.
Academic researchers, for example, are busy developing
computerized tutoring systems that gather information on students’ facial
expressions, heart rate, posture, pupil dilation, and more. Those data are then
analyzed for signs of student engagement, boredom, or confusion, leading a
computer avatar to respond with encouragement, empathy, or maybe a helpful
hint. “The idea is that emotions have a powerful influence on cognition,” said
Sidney D’ Mello, an assistant professor of computer science and psychology at
the University of Notre Dame, in Indiana.
The increasing power and affordability of eye tracking,
speech-recognition, and other technologies have made it possible for
researchers to investigate those connections more widely and deeply, he said.
“Ten years ago, there were things you could do in a lab that you couldn’t do in
the messiness of the real world,” D’ Mello said. “Now, you can get a reasonable
proxy of a student’s heart rate from a webcam.”
Still, widely available classroom applications of such work
might be a decade or more away. More prevalent now are digital resources that
seek to measure and support the development and self-identification of such
“noncognitive competencies” as self-management, perseverance, and a “growth mindset”
that recognizes skills can improve with effort.
Enjoy,
Friday, April 12, 2019
April 23, 2019
Movement-Based
Activities for the Classroom
Movement-Based SEL Activities for the Classroom Children love
to move! As educators, we enjoy engaging young children in playful and fun
movement explorations. These activities also help children develop valuable
skills.
Some of the benefits of movement for children are readily apparent:
Children are physically active, usually practicing large-motor skills; they are
gaining body awareness; and they are developing spatial awareness as they move
in different directions in the shared space.
If there is a musical component,
children are also learning to recognize and move to a beat and to discern
rhythmic patterns. However, one of the wonderful gifts of creative movement is
that it also provides a perfect vehicle for nurturing social-emotional skills.
The very nature of creative dance (also called creative movement) embodies the
idea of creativity and developing self-awareness. Some other SEL skills that
are often addressed through guided creative dance are delayed gratification,
impulse control, goal setting, individual or group problem-solving, teamwork,
self-discipline, and group cooperation.
Enjoy,
Ms. Nora Sierra
EC Assistant Principal
Discovery School
(504) 9500-1720
Monday, April 1, 2019
April 1-5, 2019
Growing
Up to Read
Birth
Through Age Four:
Children begin to
develop their language skills in infancy. Even their babbles and coos and the
ways their families speak to them before they really understand can help them
to become speakers of their native tongue. When an infant shows excitement over
pictures in a storybook, when a two-year-old scribbles with a crayon, when a
four-year-old points out letters in a street sign—all these actions signal a
child’s growing literacy development.
The more children already know about the nature and purposes of
reading before kindergarten, the more teachers must build on in their reading
instruction. Research reveals that the children most at risk for reading
difficulties in the primary grades are those who began school with less verbal
skill, less phonological awareness, less letter knowledge, and less familiarity
with the basic purposes and mechanisms of reading.
To prepare children for reading instruction in the early
grades, it is best that they be exposed to high-quality language and literacy
environments—in their homes, day care centers, and preschools. The best time to
start sharing books with children is during babyhood, even when they are as
young as six weeks.
Here are some concrete, activities, and ideas for how
families, early childhood educators, health care professionals, and communities
can bring literacy into the lives of young children:
Everyday
Literacy: One Family Home
Promoting literacy at home does not mean creating an academic
setting and formally teaching children. Parents and other caregivers can take
advantage of opportunities that arise in daily life to help their children
develop language and literacy. Often, these are unplanned, casual acts, like
commenting on words on an article of clothing or engaging children in conversation.
At other times, it is a conscious effort to read good books with children or
provide toys that promote good literacy development.
Extended
Vocabulary and Language Development
Children who are exposed to sophisticated vocabulary in the
course of interesting conversations learn the words they will later need to
recognize and understand when reading. Vocalization in the crib gives way to
play with rhyming language and nonsense words. Toddlers find that the words
they use in conversation and the objects they represent are depicted in
books—that the picture is a symbol for the real object and that the writing
represents spoken language. In addition to listening to stories, children label
the objects in books, comment on the characters, and request that an adult read
to them. In their third and fourth years, children use new vocabulary and
grammatical constructions in their own speech. Talking to adults is children’s
best source of exposure to new vocabulary and ideas.
Enjoy,
Ms. Nora Sierra
Early Childhood Assistant Principal
Discovery School
Monday, March 25, 2019
March 25, 2019
Why
Is Summer Reading So Important for Kids' Success?
Teachers
Summer reading is
critical for students to retain knowledge and skills learned in the previous
school year. Students who don't read are at risk of falling behind their
classmates. Parents and teachers can avoid this by making sure kids take time
to read.
Summer
Reading Defeats Summer Learning Loss
Reading over summer vacation may not be a priority for
children, but parents and teachers should make it one. Why? Summer reading is critical to a child's
ability to not only retain information learned the previous year, but also to
grow in knowledge and critical thinking skills for the coming year.
Literacy expert Julie Wood believes that it is necessary for children to read daily
in order to maintain literacy skills learned in the previous school year.
Exercise
the Brain Over Summer
Assistant Principal Twana Santana-Embry likens reading to
exercising. She encourages students to read to strengthen their reading skills.
Just like exercising keeps muscles in shape, reading keeps the brain in shape.
If you don't exercise, you lose muscle, and if you don't read, you will lose
literacy skills.
A University of Tennessee, Knoxville, research study shows
that children who don't read over the summer lose at least two months of
reading development. This is often referred to as 'the summer slide' or the
'summer learning loss.' On the other hand, students who do read over the summer
may gain a month of proficiency in reading. Reading over the summer is not a suggestion to keep kids busy; it's a
critical requirement to help students stay on track for their entire
educational career and beyond.
Increase
Knowledge
Reading, in general, is highly effective at building up a
child's knowledge in a vast amount of subject areas, including English, math,
science and history. Studies conducted by Dr. Alice Sullivan monitored the
impact of reading in a child's life from elementary through adulthood. These
studies discovered a greater intellectual progress in vocabulary, spelling and
math than that of a child not reading more than the required school amount.
Clearly, reading is a strong tool for growing in comprehension skills and
general knowledge of the world. Therefore, children who read can stay ahead of
their classmates during the school year.
Encourage
Summer Reading
Summer reading is very important for maintaining a child's
current grade level skills and for pushing forward to develop skills above the
current grade level. But how can parents encourage their children to read over
the summer? Here are a few summer reading suggestions from teachers who shared
their thoughts with Scholastic.
Send
Books Home with Students
Teachers have discovered that students who are sent home with
books of their choosing are more apt to read over the summer than students who
are given a summer reading list or are simply told what read over the summer.
Further studies reveal that children of lower income have more difficulty
finding access to books and reading programs. Allowing students to pick a few
books to take home over summer vacation not only increases access to books, but
it also encourages students to read on their own.
Build Up
Anticipation
Another suggestion from a teacher is for teachers to get their
students hooked on a book series close to the end of the school year. Read the
first book in a series aloud to the class and build up excitement and
anticipation for the next book in the series. When school lets out for the
summer, encourage students to go to their local library or bookstore and pick
up the next book in the series.
Suggest
Audio Books
If students have a hard time reading, suggest they read a few
books over the summer to help build their reading skills. At the same time,
find books that are also available on audiotape. This can help encourage
students to keep reading even if they don't particularly like it. A book on
tape still opens the world of adventure and gives students a boost in literacy
skills.
Don't
Forget to Read for Fun
Encouraging children to read is critical to helping them stay
on track with other students and retain information and literacy development
over the summer break.
Don't forget to keep reading fun. Give your child the
opportunity to choose books on his own as well. This can help keep reading
interesting and inviting. Reading over
the summer is a necessity, but it should also be fun!
Enjoy,
Ms. Nora
Sierra
EC
Assistant Principal
Discovery
School
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
March 19, 2019
Little boys aspire to be “him”, and little girls think he’s
the “King of the World.” A dad is the first important male figure in a child’s
life. Father’s Day is the perfect opportunity for the little ones to show how
important this special man is to them.
Father’s Day is the perfect time to show your dad how much
you love and care for him. Instead of giving the usual gifts, try to do
something different that your father will love and cherish forever.
Monday, March 11, 2019
March 11, 2019
SAN DIEGO -- Children
will soon be cheering yea and neigh.
A new Dr. Seuss book,
titled "Dr. Seuss's Horse Museum,"
is hitting the shelves 28 years after the acclaimed author died.
The book, which came
out in September, celebrates art and "how we all see the world in
different ways," publisher Random House said in a statement Thursday.
Young readers will
join a friendly horse on a guided tour of an art museum. The book will feature
reproductions of famous horse artwork by Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, and
other artists, Random House said.
Fans of Seuss'
previous works will be delighted to see some of their favorite characters
again. Some of the classic Dr. Seuss characters, including the Cat in the Hat,
the Grinch, and Horton the Elephant, also make cameos in the book.
Dr. Seuss, whose real
name is Theodore Seuss Geisel, died in 1991 at age 87 after writing and
illustrating dozens of playful children's books, including "Green Eggs and
Ham" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"
The manuscript for "Dr. Seuss's Horse Museum"
was discovered in the late author's La Jolla, California, home 21 years after
his death. Using Geisel's original sketches and taking inspiration from his
past work, Australian illustrator Andrew Joyner completed the unfinished
artwork.
"We're so excited
to have 'Dr. Seuss's Horse Museum' to share with readers, and to give them an
inside look at how Ted thought about art, and how he viewed the world—which was
with a creative eye, and a passionate belief in imagination," said Susan
Brandt, president of Dr. Seuss Enterprises.
In 2015, the
posthumous release of Dr. Seuss' "What Pet Should I Get?" became
a #1 New York Times bestseller.
Enjoy,
Ms.
Nora Sierra
EC
Assistant Principal
Discovery School
Monday, March 4, 2019
March 4, 2019
4 life lessons I learned from reading Dr. Seuss books
A big
reason for this success is probably because his books are simply fun to read,
with their rhyming phrases, made-up words, and quirky illustrations. However,
another reason they’ve continued to be popular is that teachers, librarians,
and parents all agree his books teach important life lessons.
Honestly,
I hadn’t really thought about how many lessons one can take home from his books
until recently. When I was reading books like The Lorax and The
Cat in the Hat as a kid, I focused on the fun, silliness of the books:
the wacky characters, colors, and rhymes. Not realizing the deeper meaning, I
was interpreting. Now looking back on some of my favorites, I see the powerful
ideas sprinkled throughout.
To
celebrate Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss’
114 birthday, here are a few of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes and the lessons
they taught me:
The
Lorax
Unless
someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s
not.
In The
Lorax, Dr. Seuss shares a story of a world overrun with greed and
environmental turmoil. Through sharing wise words from the Lorax, Seuss
empowers young readers, telling them that if they let their passion guide them,
they have the power to change the world.
Happy
Birthday to You!
Today
you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than
you.
In Happy
Birthday to You! Dr. Seuss celebrates individuality, telling readers
about a world where a friendly bird organizes a party for everyone on their
birthday with all of their favorite things. In this quote, Seuss lets readers
know that they are unique and that it is something to be proud of.
Horton
Hears a Who!
Don’t
give up! I believe in you all. A person’s a person, no matter how small!
In Horton
Hears a Who!, Dr. Seuss highlights the importance of supporting
others, even when they might be a little different from you. Even though Horton
can’t quite relate to the experiences of the Who’s, he does everything he can
to ensure their safety.
The
more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the
more places you’ll go.
This
quote might be one of my favorites. In I Can Read with My Eyes
Shut, Seuss informs readers on how magical and important reading can
be. The quote is self-explanatory; reading is the key to success!
Monday, February 4, 2019
February 4, 2019
When you walk into
a good preschool classroom, you will see varied learning areas; a variety of
opportunities for students to explore their developing skills playfully. Youwill see materials that have more than one way to be used and children who are
engaged with these materials. Most importantly you will see a teacher playing
with her students. What you may not see but is present in a good preschool
classroom is a teacher carefully selecting the materials, to fit the students’
specific developmental levels. You may not see that when that teacher is
playing, he is shifting how he speaks, what questions he asks, and how he
models using the materials based on the child using it. This is differentiation
in preschool.
Differentiation
means adjusting or changing the lesson and its goals based on the specific
needs of the learner. In a playful preschool environment, differentiation is
subtle and takes some practice to do well, but once you get in the habit, it’s
second nature.
WHY
DIFFERENTIATE?
“…just because there is a predictable
pattern to growth, and a predictable season for blooming, doesn’t mean that
every flower on the plant will bloom on the same day. Each flower opens at its own rate within the
growing season. For a flower, the season
for blooming may be a matter of weeks or months. In child development, some seasons may even
last a few years.” – Amanda Morgan Not Just Cute
Children are
simply not ready for the same things at the same time. As preschool teachers,
we should be meeting our students where they are at with an eye to the next
stage. Our job is to be thinking of how we can support, not force them to get
there. In any preschool class no matter what school, geographic area, or
socioeconomic class you will find a wide range of abilities, this is normal.
Differentiation allows you to provide a rich experience for all your students.
Differentiation
may seem like a lot of work, but it makes your job easier, I promise. When the
materials and activities are differentiated, they fit your students’ needs. And
that fit equals better engagement, less frustration, and less boredom. You can
probably guess what this means… WAY better behavior, giving you as a teacher
more time to focus on connecting with the students through play.
Enjoy,
Ms. Nora Sierra
EC Assistant
Principal
Discovery School
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
January 22, 2019
What are
Sight Words?
Successful readers use several tools to help them understand
texts. One of the most effective and powerful reading tools that parents, and
teachers can help children develop is sight word recognition. When a child can
grasp and identify sight words, he is well on his way to becoming a thriving
reader.
Believe it or not, 50% of all reading texts are made up of the
same 100 words! The most frequently used and repeated words in the English
language are known as sight words. This list of words includes the, a, is, of,
to, in, and, I, you, and that. Think about the number of times that you have
seen these words in a piece of reading material. It’s probably too many times
to count.
Sight words are critical to reading not only because they are
used so frequently, but also because many of them cannot easily be sounded out
or illustrated. Imagine what reading would be like if you attempted to sound
out walk every time you encountered it in your reading. Then imagine that you
do not know the word the. You cannot use the pictures accompanying a text to
help you decipher this word because it cannot be illustrated. Using phonics or
picture reading skills for words like these is useless and fruitless for
readers, especially those who are in the early stages of developing their
decoding skills.
Because they are used so often it is important that readers be
able to recognize these words on sight (hence the term “sight words”). When a
reader masters sight words she can understand at least half of the words in a text.
By eliminating the need to decode these words, the reader can focus on those
that are more difficult and less familiar. Beyond this, sight words offer
important clues about the meaning of a sentence. For example, when a reader can
identify and understand the word and, in a sentence, he knows that there will
be multiple figures, actions or descriptors in the sentence. Similarly, if the
reader sees the word into in the sentence, she knows there is movement from one
location or idea to another.
When a reader masters sight words her memory automatically
brings the sound and meaning of the word into the person’s consciousness. The
action is so unconscious that she doesn’t even realize it is happening. In
fact, researchers found that when they presented readers with illustrations of
some sight words along with the written word s, the readers could not avoid
looking at the words. They used the written words rather than the illustrations
to determine meaning because their brains were “trained” to read these words.
Enjoy,
Ms. Nora
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
January 14-18, 2019
Reading Readiness: The Top 5 Skills
Did you know that there are five skills your child should
master before you begin formal reading instruction? Because these reading
readiness skills are so important, we call them The Big Five Skills.
Although much of your child’s learning comes naturally as he
plays and experiences life, there are some skills, like reading, that must
eventually be taught. That may feel a little scary, but if you’ve taught your
child how to pick up his toys or put on his socks, you can teach your child to
read, too!
5
Critical Skills for Reading Readiness
Print
Awareness
Print awareness is the understanding that the print on a page
represents words that have meaning and are related to spoken language.
To develop this skill:
Open book: Help
your child learn how to hold a book correctly.
As you read books together, emphasize the fact that you’re
reading from front to back and from left to right. Let your child turn the
pages.
As your child helps you in the kitchen, point out the names on
the food boxes and cans and the ingredients as you read your recipe.
Point out and read road signs and store signs as you travel in
the car.
Letter
Knowledge: Letter knowledge enables a child to recognize the
letters of the alphabet and to know the names and sounds of each.
To develop this skill:
Friendly letter A: Sing the alphabet song together. Practice
starting at different letters.
Use activities that help children recognize both uppercase and
lowercase letters.
Begin to encourage an association between letter names and the
sounds they make.
Explore the alphabet with refrigerator magnets.
Create the alphabet with building blocks or form letters with
playdough.
It’s a big term, but it’s quite basic. Phonological Awareness
is the ability to hear and identify the various sounds in spoken words.
To develop this skill:
Dog with perked ear: Read lots of nursery rhymes and rhyming
picture books together. Encourage your child to anticipate rhyme as you read
together.
Play clapping and rhyming games like Miss Mary Mack and
Pat-a-Cake.
Sing silly songs by changing the first sound in some of the
words. For example, sing, “Bingle bells, bingle bells, bingle all the bay,” or
“If you’re chappy and you chow it, chap your chands.”
Play games that encourage children to identify words that
begin with a specific letter sound. For example, say, “I spy with my little eye
a color that starts with /r/.”
Listening
Comprehension
Listening comprehension is the ability to understand the
meaning of words heard and to relate to them in some way. A child with good
listening comprehension has a wide vocabulary and a growing understanding of
the world around him.
To develop this skill:
World globe: Read aloud to your children daily. Read books
that are in line with your child’s interests, so he begins to realize that
there is a benefit to learning to read.
Encourage even young children to interact with books.
Attend story time at the library.
Let your child see you enjoying books.
Make read-aloud time an enjoyable shared time. Here are some
picture book lists to get you started.
Motivation to read is a child’s eagerness and willingness to
read.
To encourage your child:
Smiling cartoon boy
Read both fiction and nonfiction books to your child.
As you read, ask open-ended questions. For example, ask “What
do you think is going to happen when we turn the page?” or “Why did the boy go
outside?”
Use everyday life experiences to build your child’s
vocabulary.
Encourage imaginative play and storytelling.
Enjoy,
Ms. Nora Sierra
EC Assistant principal
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Dec.4, 2018
CELEBRATING
CHRISTMAS AROUND
THE WORLD
It's almost Christmas, and according to some people, it's
"the most wonderful time of the year."
Here are Christmas celebrations that are found around the
world.
ARMENIA
Some Armenians choose to fast the week before Christmas. Then,
they break their fast with a light Christmas Eve meal called
"khetum," which includes rice, fish, chickpeas, yogurt soup, dried
nuts and grape jelly desserts.
SOUTH AFRICA
Why have eggnog and pumpkin pie when you can celebrate Christmas
by eating plump, fuzzy caterpillars, aka Emperor Moths? Don't worry, they're
fried in oil, so you know it's good... right?
UKRAINE
The Ukrainians use fake spider webs to cover their trees.
Why? According to legend, a poor widower had no money to decorate
the family's tree. Some friendly spiders were grief-stricken when they saw the
widow and her crying children, so at night, when everyone was asleep, they
decorated the tree with silver and gold.
After that, the poor family became prosperous, lucky and never
had a financial woe, ever again. Thus, a spider web-covered tree
signifies prosperity and wealth for the next year.
VENEZUELA
On Christmas Eve, Caracas, the capital
of Venezuela, closes its streets so everyone and anyone can make
their way to church.
INDIA
India is one of the most populous countries in the world,
meaning that translates to 25 million people who celebrate Christmas.
Due to lack of fir and pine trees in the region,
Indians use banana or mango trees as a substitute.
PHILIPPINES
You won't find stockings hanging on chimneys in the Philippines.
Rather, kids will polish their shoes and leave them by the window sills, so
when the Three Kings walk by at night, they'll leave presents.
IRELAND
Rather than milk and cookies for Santa, it's all about Christmas
pudding made with Guinness or Irish Whiskey. This tradition also carries over
to the UK.
Enjoy,
Ms. Nora Sierra
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)