Session #1 - Media Classes are Underway!

October 1st marked the start of Session #1 for the 2018-2019 school year.  In this first session, we will see all the PreKindergarten and 3-year-old Inclusive Opportunities classes.  Here's the list of the classes:

• Sims (AM class only)
• Hare (AM class only)
• Parris (PM class only)
• Lewis
• Federline
• Walderman
• Geonzon
• Neri
• Mazza
• Short/Littleton
• McDonald/St.Juste
• Stephenson
• Stickley/Denhardt 
• Vincent/Miranda 

As we did last year, we spent the first few weeks talking about behavior and expectations.  We read these stories...

This story outlined expectations of behavior and includes video clips to help with understanding.

This story is from Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (SEFEL) and
discusses strategies for dealing with anger and frustration in appropriate ways.

This is also a SEFEL story (modified) and addresses sharing and taking turns.

For more information about SEFEL, you can visit this site.  There are also lots of resources for parents as well.
 
The students were all introduced to our Peace Corner--a cozy spot in the Media Center where anyone can go if they are feeling angry or frustrated or need to calming 
 In addition, we also read The Napping House by Audrey Wood...which all the students enjoyed thoroughly.

This week, we are changing themes.  During the month of November (and the beginning of December) we will be reading Small, Medium, Large by Emily Jenkins.  It's a great story about different sizes and comparing sizes and we learn all sorts of great vocabulary words like huge, enormous, colossal, tiny, miniature, and miniscule. Don't be surprised if you hear some of these great words from your kiddos!  "Colossal" is a fan favorite.
 

Group #2 is well underway now.  As with Group #1, we started the session with some mini-lessons on behavior expectations.  I tried something new this time: recognizing that many of my friends in Group #2 are on the autism spectrum and respond better to visual information, I had one of my PreK classes help me record some videos of what we do during media time. 

As the students arrive, we have a video playing on a loop of kids coming in and sitting on the carpet.  For most of our Group #2 classes, it worked like a charm...most of the time, I didn't even have to give a verbal direction!

Now that we have established our expectations, we've started our regular routine:

• Greeting--students use their voices or a voice output device to greet Ms. Helen and me.

• Song--we switch between doing a song or MeMoves (see next bullet) (with a video...we use videos from YouTube from the KidsTV 123 station); some of our favorites are:
• Numbers
• Colors
• 5 Little Monkeys
• MeMoves--we move our bodies, trying to imitate the people we see on the screen (for more info about MeMoves, click here to visit their website).
• Read a story--this is usually a simple and sometimes interactive story on the SMART Board related to our theme.
• Centers--the students use a Visual Scene Display (see picture) or spoken words to choose a center.

• 

  Visual Scene Display (VSD) for center choice making

  Dismissal--we meet back together on the carpet after the timer goes off and we clean up our centers so we can say "goodbye" (again, either verbally or using a voice output device).

This past month, the students have enjoyed the activities at the red table--cars and trains!  They have built track for the trains and raced cars through a long cardboard tube.  We will be starting our next theme: Animals...but not until after the school pictures have finished in the library. 😊

Overview of Group #1's Media Time

Well, I have not done a very good job this year of getting this updated as I was supposed to.  I apologize.  I did help create a newsletter for all our Wheatley Specials, though, to share what we are doing in our respective classes.  Here's a link to the school's website, where you can access our first newsletter (and other information)...next one will be coming out on February 26th...which is also the first day for Group #2 to start in Media.

But, back to the plan for this post.  Group #1 started in October.  The classes included in Group #1 were all our PreK classes: Stephenson/Sims, Miranda/Vincent, Pascual, Stickley/Denhardt, Ellis/Short, and McDonald/St.Juste; as well as our 3-year-old Inclusion classes: Copeland, Federline, Walderman, Geonzon, Neri, Lewis, & Hare.

We started out talking about the rules and expectations for the Media center. For instance, our "Carpet Rules"

We also talked about behavioral expectations and the students were introduced to Tucker Turtle...who helps us remember to think of good solutions to problems. You can download and read the Tucker Turtle story here. 

After the first month, we started our regular routine--read a story all together and then break into centers.  We have 5 centers this year in Media:

In this center, students explore different
activities on the SMART Board.

In this center, students do different activities on the iPads.

Students can choose a book to read or
they can use interactive materials to retell stories.

 

Students explore activities on our
interactive SMART Table.

Students explore a variety of activities including
Mr. Potato Head, puzzles, and counting and sorting games.

During our first session, these are the books we read together...and the kids LOVED them.

 Some of the PreK classes even got to hear the sequel to Frog on a Log?...which they also loved.

The next two weeks, Wheatley's students will be exploring different activities as part of our Black History Celebration...and then we will welcome our second group to Media.  The 2nd session will include these classes: New, Hunt, Littleton, Shannon/Lance, Andrews, Leyden, Freeman, Parris, Shipps, Santos, Dakes, & Long.  I will try to be a little better about updating the blog once our next session starts.

New week...new story

Continuing with our Things That Move theme, we have shifted gears this week.  For the last two weeks, we focused on moving our bodies.  For the next two weeks, we're focused on moving from one place to another--traveling.  

We're reading The Bag I'll Take to Grandma's by Shirley Neitzel...

To make it a little easier for larger classes to see the book, I have projected the book using PowerPoint and our SMART Board.  We also use pictures...

Pictures used with story

 ...and the actual items...

Actual items from the story

...to help with telling the story.  Then we have an activity on the SMART Board to help us with recalling events and vocabulary from the story.  With some of the groups, we will focus on the difference between things we NEED to pack for a trip and the things we WANT to pack.

Balloon Pop - vocabulary from the story

Memory Game - Things we WANT

Sorting Game - want vs. need

 
 

Last week in media...

Our theme this month is "Things That Move" so we started the month (first two weeks) with a focus on moving our bodies.

We started out with some MeMoves...

...read From Head to Toe by Eric Carle...and moved along with the book...

...and followed directions in a movement song.

 

We made a movie!

As this (our first) week draws to a close, I thought I would share one of the videos we made.  When the children visited the MMC this week, they got a *tour* of our centers and met the MMC teachers (me & Miss Helen).  After our tour, they helped us make a video of what they learned using the Storyrobe app on the iPad & some photos I had taken of the different centers and people in the MMC.  We had a lot of fun with it, and the kids did a great job remembering all the names of the centers!

Here's a sample from one of our afternoon PreK classes...

New - Language Cards

I'm adding some language cards to each center...these can be used by the adults to clarify verbal directions, or for students to ask questions or get assistance. They will be hanging on the center sign in each of the 5 centers...once I get some hooks, that is.

Language cards (visual supports) for centers

I also created a set to use when the whole group meets on the rainbow carpet. 

Visual supports for whole group meeting