martes, 22 de marzo de 2011
WHAT DOES AUTISM MEAN?
Autism (say: aw-tih-zum) causes kids to experience the world differently from the way most other kids do. It's hard for kids with autism to talk with other people and express themselves using words. Kids who have autism usually keep to themselves and many can't communicate without special help.
They also may react to what's going on around them in unusual ways. Normal sounds may really bother someone with autism — so much so that the person covers his or her ears. Being touched, even in a gentle way, may feel uncomfortable.
Kids with autism often can't make connections that other kids make easily. For example, when someone smiles, you know the smiling person is happy or being friendly. But a kid with autism may have trouble connecting that smile with the person's happy feelings.
A kid who has autism also has trouble linking words to their meanings. Imagine trying to understand what your mom is saying if you didn't know what her words really mean. It is doubly frustrating then if a kid can't come up with the right words to express his or her own thoughts.
Autism causes kids to act in unusual ways. They might flap their hands, say certain words over and over, have temper tantrums, or play only with one particular toy. Most kids with autism don't like changes in routines. They like to stay on a schedule that is always the same. They also may insist that their toys or other objects be arranged a certain way and get upset if these items are moved or disturbed.
If someone has autism, his or her brain has trouble with an important job: making sense of the world. Every day, your brain interprets the sights, sounds, smells, and other sensations that you experience. If your brain couldn't help you understand these things, you would have trouble functioning, talking, going to school, and doing other everyday stuff. Kids can be mildly affected by autism, so that they only have a little trouble in life, or they can be very affected, so that they need a lot of help.
lunes, 21 de marzo de 2011
What Does a Preschool Teacher Do?
Preschool teachers help their students learn mainly through play and interactive activities, capitalizing on children's play to further language and vocabulary development. As a preschool teacher, you might use storytelling, rhyming games, and acting games to improve social skills, or introduce scientific and mathematical concepts. Most preschool settings employ a less structured approach, including small-group lessons, one-on-one instruction, and learning through creative activities such as music, art, and dance. Lots of discussion and collaborative problem solving characterize the preschool classroom.
Educational Requirements for Preschool Teachers
To become a preschool teacher, most states and private schools expect you to have at least an associate's degree. In many cases, preschool teachers start out as assistant teachers. With this experience, you can advance to being a teacher and eventually to lead teacher status. As a preschool teacher, you need to have proficiency with helping children learn how to cooperate; providing fun learning activities suitable for preschoolers; keeping children safe; working as a team member along with other teachers; and interacting with parents.
Other Requirements
You need to be an eager participant in children's growth and development, and understand how to use their natural curiosity to help make the appropriate developmental leaps in their skills and abilities. You'll be expected to create an atmosphere where risks can be taken discoveries made while children remain safe. Most preschool teachers will be required to earn certification in first aid procedures and in infant and child CPR. They will also need to undergo police background checks and be fingerprinted.
Reading With Phonics for Children
Phonics is an important part of the reading process. However, learning phonics in isolation does not make a reader. When teaching a child to read it is important to remember that reading is not just sounding out letters; it is taking meaning from the text. Always provide texts for the child that allow him to practice the phonics skills in context. Readers become more proficient by reading. Think about learning to ride a bike. You may have learned about the different parts on the bike, but you learned to ride by getting on the bike and riding.
Consonants
Teach the names and sounds of the consonant letters. Insist on fast recall of the letter sounds.
Short Vowels and Blends
Teach the short vowel sounds first. Then move on to blends such as "tr," "br," "st," and so on. Teach the blends as the child encounters them in text.
Digraphs
Digraphs are two letters that make one sound such as "sh," "ch," "th" and wh. These digraphs generally begin to appear in books that have more text than the simple beginner books.
Long Vowels
Long vowels are more difficult to learn than short vowels because the rules are not always consistent. Do not rush this skill; it will take time. Simple explanations are better than complicated phonics rules. When encountering a long vowel, tell the child, "This letter says its name."
Tricky Double Vowels and Bossy R
Introduce the tricky double vowel words as the child encounters them in text. Combinations such as "oo," "ou," "ow" and "oi" will need special attention. The Bossy R combinations are "ir", "ar", "or", "er" and "ur."
LITERACY CENTERS
During Guided Reading conferences, the remaining students are engaged in a rotation of centers. These centers enhance their reading and language skills in fun and creative ways. Below are a few examples of Literacy Centers in our classroom
Read to Self
Read to Someone
Listen to Reading
Work on Writing
Word Study
Strategies that can help students read more quickly and effectively include
Skimming
is used to quickly identify the main ideas of a text. When you read the newspaper, you're probably not reading it word-by-word, instead you're scanning the text. Skimming is done at a speed three to four times faster than normal reading. People often skim when they have lots of material to read in a limited amount of time. Use skimming when you want to see if an article may be of interest in your research.
There are many strategies that can be used when skimming. Some people read the first and last paragraphs using headings, summarizes and other organizers as they move down the page or screen. You might read the title, subtitles, subheading, and illustrations. Consider reading the first sentence of each paragraph. This technique is useful when you're seeking specific information rather than reading for comprehension. Skimming works well to find dates, names, and places. It might be used to review graphs, tables, and charts.
Scanning is a technique you often use when looking up a word in the telephone book or dictionary. You search for key words or ideas. In most cases, you know what you're looking for, so you're concentrating on finding a particular answer. Scanning involves moving your eyes quickly down the page seeking specific words and phrases. Scanning is also used when you first find a resource to determine whether it will answer your questions. Once you've scanned the document, you might go back and skim it.
When scanning, look for the author's use of organizers such as numbers, letters, steps, or the words, first, second, or next. Look for words that are bold faced, italics, or in a different font size, style, or color. Sometimes the author will put key ideas in the margin.
Reading off a computer screen has become a growing concern. Research shows that people have more difficulty reading off a computer screen than off paper. Although they can read and comprehend at the same rate as paper, skimming on the computer is much slower than on paper.
- Previewing: reviewing titles, section headings, and photo captions to get a sense of the structure and content of a reading selection
- Predicting: using knowledge of the subject matter to make predictions about content and vocabulary and check comprehension; using knowledge of the text type and purpose to make predictions about discourse structure; using knowledge about the author to make predictions about writing style, vocabulary, and content
- Skimming and scanning: using a quick survey of the text to get the main idea, identify text structure, confirm or question predictions
- Guessing from context: using prior knowledge of the subject and the ideas in the text as clues to the meanings of unknown words, instead of stopping to look them up
- Paraphrasing: stopping at the end of a section to check comprehension by restating the in formation and ideas in the text
domingo, 20 de marzo de 2011
Fine Motor Skills
Ideas for improving fine motor skills in Pre-K/ Preschool children.
Fine Motor Skills is one of the main areas I sought to improve in my Pre-K classroom this past year (2008-09). I think fine motor is an area which is often overlooked, yet it is so important. Fine motor skills are the foundation children need before they learn handwriting, in order to have proper pencil grasp and control of a writing instrument.
My goals were to increase the fine motor materials available in our classroom environment, and to plan activities and materials that are interesting and fun so that children would be motivated to use them and would choose them during their free choice time. Most of these activities use “found materials” that can be borrowed, donated, or purchased inexpensively, rather than commercially produced and sold in an educational catalog. Below are several of the fine motor skills activities my class did this year. A few of these ideas were borrowed from Montessori (and I’ve noted those below).
Water Drops with Suction Cups
The little suction cups on the bottom of these bathtub shapes become mini bowls when turned upside down and used in this activity. (These were purchased at the Dollar Tree.) Children use a finger grasp to squeeze one drop of colored water into each little bowl on the dish. [Idea borrowed from Montessori]
Beads in a Paint Palette
A clear cup of multicolored faceted plastic beads was placed in the middle of the tray. The children use their thumb and forefinger to grasp each bead and place it in one of the bowls of the paint palette tray. The children sorted the beads into the tray by color. Each bowl of the tray holds about 4 beads. A muffin tin could also be used for this activity, but I prefer the paint palette tray because each bowl is smaller and the children have to be more precise about placing the bead into the bowl. The beads and paint palette trays were purchased in a craft store.
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