Theme: St. Patrick's Day/Space and Solar System
Dates: March 15-26
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• We will have a "Leprechaun Skit" to give the kiddos a little background about the myth behind St. Patrick's Day and leprechauns. I don't know what it is....but they always seem to love this theme!
• Make delicious shamrock shakes.
• We will do a leprechaun art project.
• Make a solar system windsock.
• Make a rocket ship out of paper towel tubes.
• We will do an astronaut art project.
• Make a rocket ship snack.
• Make the Earth using coffee filters and markers...then spray it with water.
• Paint a styrofoam planet.
• The teachers will sum up our unit by performing a skit about space and the solar system.

Vocabulary: rainbow, leprechaun, shamrock, pot of gold, tricks, planets, earth, astronaut, space shuttle/rocket ship, moon, sun, space, stars, night, day, moon buggy, moon rocks, float, blast off, telescope, moon dust, space suit

Notes: If you haven't already, please remember to sign up for Spring Progress review conferences on the sheet outside of my door. Thanks! Also, don't forget to wear green on St. Patrick's Day or the leprechaun will pinch you

Show and Tell Dates:

Monday: Ben D. and Kennedy Wednesday: Isiah and Frank Friday: Rilee and Sooah

Theme: King, Queens, Royalty, Pretend

Dates: March 1-12

From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• Special guest: My stepdad "The Magician!" He will put on a magic show for our whole school. Be on the lookout for pictures to come home!



• Make Castles with colored sand and learn about "Who" lives in the castle.



• Make crowns complete with jewels and other fun materials.



• Make magic wands and practice saying "Abracadabra" while doing some fun magic tricks.
  


• Make "Royal" punch and wear our crowns while pretending to drink it in a castle just like kings and queens.



• Read and act out the story of Cinderella.



• Read and act out the story of Snow White.



• We will watch clips from the movie Rapunzel while sequencing the story and working on verb tenses (past and present).



• We will have a Royal Ball at the Castle! This will be on Friday, March 12. Feel free to have your child come dressed as a queen, princess, or prince.
  

Vocabulary: prince, princess, king, queen, Cinderella, Snowwhite, castle, magic wand, crown, gem, treasure chest, chores, Feelings: frustrated, afraid/frightened, angry, Chores: wipe, sweep, clean, mean, nice, dragon, glass slipper

Notes: REMINDER: No School on Monday, March 8th (teacher inservice day). Spring progress review conferences are approaching! Please sign up for a date and time on the sign up sheet outside of my door. My student's conferences will take place April 19-23 from 2:30-3:30 and 3:30-4:30. The only time taken so far is April 19th from 2:30-3:30. Please let me know if you need an alternate date and/or time. Thanks!

Show and Tell Dates: Monday: Kennedy and Ben D. Wednesday: Isiah and Frank Friday: Sooah and Rilee

Theme: Winter Olympics
Dates: February 16-26
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• The teachers will reveal another "Made for Television" skit...The Winter Olympics!!!:)
• Make flags to carry in our "Opening Ceremony" on Friday.
• Make a torch to carry in our "Opening Ceremony."
• Have an "Opening Ceremony" in the Northern Voices hallway/gym.
• We will have a special guest visitor to demonstrate cross country skiing (Erika O.'s husband).
• Talk about the winter Olympic sports we like to play and make medals....because we are all winners at Northern Voices!
• Make yummy Popsicles! We will also experiment with ice and talk about the ice rink where the Olympians play hockey and ice skate.
• If the weather is nice...we will go "Bobsledding" outside!

Vocabulary: snowboarding, excited, winter, speed skating, figure skating, Olympic rings, winner, medal, flag, goggles, (downhill) skiing, torch, hockey, team, bobsled, ice rink, chair lift

Notes: Thank you to all of the parents who helped out with the Valentine party! It was tons of fun! The best way to reinforce this theme of "Olympics" at home, would be to expose your child to the olympics when they are on t.v. You could point out all of the different sports while using the vocabulary and language to go a long with it. This will provide your child more meaning and connection to this theme. It was more like a comedy show when the teachers acted out the olympics in the gym!!:) But lots of fun too! Thank you for all you do to help your child learn to listen and speak. They reap the benefits each and everyday!!

Show and Tell Dates:

Monday: Kennedy and Ben D.

Wednesday: Isiah and Frank

Friday: Rilee and Sooah

Theme: Nursery Rhymes
Dates: February 1-12
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• Read "Jack Be Nimble", act out, and make a page for our Nursery Rhyme book which will be sent home at the end of the theme.
• Make pretend "Candle Sticks" and practice "Jack Be Nimble."
• Read "Little Miss Muffet", act out, and make a page for our Nursery Rhyme book.
• Make "Curds and Whey" with cottage cheese and peaches.
• Read "Mary had a Little Lamb", act out, and make a page for our Nursery Rhyme book.
• Make a "little" lamb with cotton balls.
• Read "Humpty Dumpty", act out, and make a page for our Nursery Rhyme book.
• Examine a hard boiled and raw egg's shell, yolk, and white. Then, add a little seasoning and eat them (the cooked ones of course!).
• Read "I'm a Little Tea Pot", act out, and make a page for our Nursery Rhyme book.
• Have our very own little tea party with real (caffeine free tea) and Lorna Doone' cookies.

Vocabulary: "Jack Be Nimble", candlestick, "Little Miss Muffet", tuffet, frightened, quick, curds and whey, "Mary Had a Little Lamb", wool, lamb, "Humpty Dumpty", crack, teapot, spout, handle, steam, queen, king, men

Notes: Nursery Rhymes can be very difficult for children with hearing loss to learn due to the unfamiliar vocabulary words and abstract language. Therefore, it's important to explicitly teach them these rhymes and the vocabulary that goes with them. If you have any nursery rhyme books at home, please take the time to read them to your child. Try to make sure they understand the unfamiliar words and phrases as you read. It's also very fun to act out the stories so that the child can has a hands on experiences with the rhymes making them more fun and meaningful. I encourage you to repeat any of the language experiences that I listed above at home with your child and other family members in your home.

Show and Tell Dates:
Monday: Kennedy and Ben D.
Wednesday: Frank and Isiah
Friday: Sooah and Rilee

Theme: Mall
Dates: January 19-29
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• The teachers will put on another famous "Made for television" skit about going to the mall and many of the things you can see and do there.
• Make a purse/wallet with toy money and pretend to go shopping at the mall.
• Make an "I love you Dad" place mat for our Dad's breakfast.
• Make beaded jewelry and pretend to "buy" it at the jewelry store.
• Play a "shoe mix up" game to match, sort, and try on various shoes at the "Shoe store."
• Make candy to sell at our candy store.
• Have a candy store in the fellowship hall and "sell" it to our friends and teachers.
• Have our very own pet store in my room:)
• Create a "NV Mall" with each classroom being a different type of store. This is always a lot of fun!

Vocabulary: shoe store, pet store, jewelry (earrings, necklace, ring, bracelet), clothes, toys, cash register, purse, wallet, candy store, gum, gumball, buy, cashier, mall, elevator, parking lot, Target

Notes: Please note some of the activities I've included at the end of this letter that you could do with your child at home that may help reinforce the language and vocabulary learned at school . In each individual letter that is sent home, I will also include a few language targets that we are working on each week so you can encourage your child to use these structures at home as well. Siblings can also take part in these fun activities! Please let me know if you have any other thoughts or ideas!

Show and Tell:

Monday: Ben D. and Kennedy

Wednesday: Isiah and Frank

Friday: Sooah and Rilee

Home Activities:

• Set up a little "store" with play money and items to "buy." Take turns buying items and working as the cashier in the store.
• Take your child to the mall to give them a hands on experience.:) Maybe allow them to buy something very small like a gumball or a snack at the food court where they are given the opportunity to give the money to the cashier using appropriate language/manners etc.
• Pull out a bunch of shoes and practice sorting, matching, and trying them on. You can talk about whose shoes are the biggest/smallest/fit/don't fit etc.
• Have your child make "play" money with paper, markers, scissors etc. They can practice asking "How much money do you want/have?"

Theme: Look, Listen, and Learn (The 5 Senses)
Dates: January 5-15
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• Make magic "goop" with cornstarch and water.
• Make a texture book with fabric, sand paper, fleece, tape, smooth paper, and bubble wrap.
• Sniff smelly sensory cups and try to guess what is inside.
• Make air popped popcorn while using all of our five senses. Yummy!:)
• Taste various foods that are bitter, sweet, sour, salty, minty etc.
• Make delicious pudding and explore using all of our five senses.
• Make pipe cleaner glasses and go on an outside walk to explore nature.
• Make mirrors and go on a "reflection walk" around the school to explore all of the things we might see our reflection in.

Vocabulary:

The 5 senses, hear/listen, taste, smell/sniff, see/look/watch, touch/feel, sweet, salty, sour, bitter, sparkly, whisper, shiny, rough, smooth, hard, soft, sticky, squishy, daytime, nighttime, bright, reflect

Notes:

Welcome back everyone!! I hope you all had a nice and relaxing holiday with your family. While I enjoyed a little break, I really looked forward to seeing your children again today! They are doing fabulous! Due to some changes in the schedule, we will not have our typical show and tell schedule this week...however it will resume again next week (please see date changes below). I'm looking forward to exploring our 5 senses this week and next! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Show and Tell Dates:

Monday: Ben D. and Kennedy

Wednesday: Isiah and Frank

Friday: Sooah

Theme: Jungle
Dates: December 14-22
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• Make binoculars and search around the school/"jungle" for animals.
• Make monkey bread.
• Make zebra masks with paper plates.
• Make parrots with colored sand.
• Make palm trees with monkeys or make a safari map.
• Make spiral snakes with paper plates.
• Make tiger cookies.
• Make swamp snack.

Vocabulary:
parrot, zebra, crocodile, gorilla, hippopotamus, jungle, slimy, flamingo, cave, palm tree, vest, splash, swing, binoculars, crawl, gallop, map

Notes: Grandparents Day was a huge success! Thank you for contributing to our bake sale! We made over $500, which will be matched by the Oberkotter Foundation. Just a reminder...school is out on Wednesday, December 23 at 12:00pm and will resume again on January 4th. I'm looking forward to a great week ahead as we learn all about the jungle!

Show and Tell Dates:
Monday: Kennedy
Wednesday: Sooah and Frank
Friday: Isiah and Esther