This is a great area you can help at home teaching your child to be more independent getting undressed and dressed. Please look at our Self Help Skills Page for strategies.
The students start learning how copy their names. I have found that it makes more sense to our students to start with their name rather than with tracing lines. You can work on fine motor skills at home using the ideas from the Fine Motor Activities Page.
In our Morning Circle we go over our monthly calendar pattern, letter of the week and two learning activities. Each week a new learning activity is introduced and replaces one of the older ones.
Body Breaks help us refocus. In class, I like to sing active songs to shake our sillies out and get back on track.
On Friday we go to Starfall.com to take turns interacting with the letter of the week. The student's also form the letter of the week using plasticine.
During the morning Activity Time, the students have individual bins with toys to use at their desks. In the Afternoon Activity TIme, the teachers will place different activities in the circle area. The students learn to use toys appropriately, take turns and share. The students are also able to use the Sensory Area during Activity Time.
During Read Aloud, we read a book of the week, as well as a pattern book on RazKids. The students take turns reading a page from our RazKids story and then forming the sentence using TDSnap on an ipad. Many of our students are excellent decoders. They can read words but do not understand what they are reading. I use RazKids to help them pair meaning to the words they can read. We also go over Zones of Regulations, practice calming strategies and act out appropriate solutions to social situations that students are struggling with.
The students get the opportunity to eat morning snack and lunch.
This is a quiet time after lunch. We start with a relaxing song to call the students to the circle area and then listen to a weekly story on Tumblebooks. (Username: tdsb Password: reads)
Finally, students work on puzzles.
Music & Movement
This is a hands on version of the learning activities we do during Morning Circle. Group Work is a way for the students to show what they have learned from Morning Circle. We start this later in the year once the students are able to manage sitting at their desk with their book bins to allow Ms. Heather and I to rotate around and provide support with the Group Work task.
Students write the letter of the week and find words that start with the letter of the week. We sing this song every day to learn the sounds the letters make. To the tune of Farmer in the Dell.
The A says, "AAA!" The A says, "AAA!" Every letter makes a sound, the A says, "AAA!"
The students take turns choosing an active song from our Afternoon Circle Page During Afternoon Circle, we also do Number Talk, a math based activity and a language activity such as completing sentences using pictures.
At the end of the day students will circle picture symbols of the schedule for the day. There is also a place for you do this with your child about the activities at home. The purpose of the Communication Book is to teach your child how to understand, use and make connections with a schedule and routine. The Communication Book then becomes a starting point for you and your child to talk about the day. There may be days when we are too busy to complete the Communication Book. The best way to communicate with us is through email.
Kaja Montgomery (Ms. M.) kaja.montgomery@tdsb.on.ca
Heather Badger (Ms. Heather) heather.badger@tdsb.on.ca
We go outside three times a day. The students love running around, getting fresh air and playing with their friends. The playground is often muddy. Please send rain boots. When it gets colder, please send snow pants, snow boots, hats and mittens. When purchasing clothes, please try to get clothes that your child can learn to take off and on by themselves. Please look at Clothing for Independence for ideas.
