Theme: Holidays/Christmas
Dates: December 13th -23rd
From: Tanya


Language Experiences:

• Chop down a tree and decorate it for Christmas.
• Make cookies for the bake sale.
• Make a special Christmas gift for our parents:)
• Make a reindeer snack.
• Role play Santa and the reindeer (i.e., drive sleigh, reindeer pull sleigh, put presents under the tree, eat cookies and milk, feed reindeer).
• Have a toy store in my room and "buy" a present for a friend at school.
• Wrap presents.
• Make a hand print wreath or christmas tree.
• Play in the "snow" (i.e., shaving creme on the table).
• Listen to and dance with a my "Dancing Santa!":)
• Sing various Christmas songs (i.e., "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer", "Frosty the Snowman", "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", "Up on the House Top").

Vocabulary: Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, candy canes, elf, chimney, sleigh, snowman, fireplace, chop, decorate, Christmas lights, ornament, Christmas tree, stockings, bells, gingerbread house, winter, Santa Claus, Wreath, bow, present

Show and Tell Dates:
Monday: Grace and Blake
Wednesday: Anisah and Tommy
Friday: Matthew and Aubrey

Notes: Thank you all for contributing to the bake sale! Grandparents Day and the bake sale were a huge success! Your little darlings enjoyed spending time with their loved ones on that special day.:) Reminder...Our last day of school before Winter break is December 23rd. School will resume again on January 4th. As this year comes to an end, I am reminded of how very blessed I am to have gotten to know each and everyone of you in 2010! I look forward to seeing you again in January and continuing to watch your child grow in their speech, language, and listening skills. I wish all of you a happy holidays and a blessed new year!!!

Dates: December 1-10
Theme: Books: "The Mitten" and "The Hat" by Jan Brett
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• We read "The Mitten" by Jan Brett and used stuffed animals to demonstrate how each animal went into the mitten because it was cold outside.


• We made a mitten craft.


• We made masks of the animals and acted out the story of The Mitten.


• We made snowman and snowflake cookies.


• We will read "The Mitten" and act out with flannel board materials.
  


• We will read "The Hat" by Jan Brett and act it out with various props.


• We will make a sock (aka "The Hat") craft.


• We will talk about how the hedge hog has sharp prickles on it's body to protect him from other animals. Then we will touch other objects and talk about how they feel (i.e., rough, bumpy, smooth, soft, hard etc.).


• We will hide various objects in the snow and dig for them.


• We will pain ant animal from one of the two stories.

Vocabulary: winter, snowman, snowflake, sneeze, mole, icicles, badger, sweater, pumpkin pie, hedgehog, freezing, present, hot cocoa, scarf, snowpants, cave, tunnel, fire place, yarn/string, prickles, clothes pin, laugh, stocking

Notes: Grandparents Day is December 14th at 11:15 am. Please invite your child's grandparents and/or a special guest to join them in the making of a gingerbread house! In addition, we will be having a bake sale that goodies can be purchased during this event. If you would like to contribute to the bake sale, please send your baked goods in by Monday, December 13th. Also, please send in a pint size milk or half and half container by this Friday, December 10th. We will be using these to build the gingerbread houses. Thanks!

Show and Tell Dates:
Monday: Grace and Blake
Wednesday: Tommy and Anisah
Friday: Aubrey and Matthew

Dates: November 8-23

Theme: Farm and Thanksgiving

From: Tanya


Language Experiences:

• We sorted animals that live on a farm and those who do not.
• We made chocolate pudding ("mud") and rolled pigs in the "mud."
• We made a chicken craft with water colors and feathers.
• We saw real chickens that Farmer Richard (Jan's husband) brought in! The students got to touch them, feed them, and gather some eggs.
• We made an scrambled egg breakfast after gathering the eggs.
• We will paint a farm picture.
• We will "Sheer" a sheep and "milk" a cow.
• We will make a turkey center piece for our Thanksgiving feast.
• We will make Native American headdresses.
  
• We will make a horse craft.
• We will make mashed potatoes and stuffing.

Vocabulary: mashed potatoes, turkey, stuffing, feathers, hen, rooster, tractor, thanksgiving, farmer, fence, pond, deer, barn, goat, hay

feather, nest, tractor, turkey, barn, fence, deer, farmer, egg, ...Review: crayons, toes, toothbrush, toothpaste, puzzle, witch, firetruck, dentist, medicine

boots, horse, feather, fingers, blue, orange, yellow, red, couch, milk, girl, cough, toothbrush, doctor, tractor, banana,
Notes: We will be having our annual Thanksgiving Feast on Tuesday, November 23rd. Be on the look out for an invitation! FYI...I will not be in school next Thursday and Friday. I will be attending a meeting in California with Advanced Bionics.

Theme: Halloween (week 1), Doctor/Dentist (week 2)
Dates: October 25-November 5
From: Tanya

Language Experiences:

• We made a spider snack with crackers, pretzels, raisins, and frosting.
• We made Halloween objects with play dough and cookie cutters.
• We practiced trick or treating.
• We made a ghost with a lollipop.
• We made Witch's brew.
• We examined a doctor kit and role played being a doctor.
• We role played being an animal doctor (veterinarian).
• We will brush our teeth after getting them dirty from oreos. We will talk about going to the dentist and why it is important to keep your teeth clean.
• We will taste and talk about good/bad foods for your teeth.
  

Vocabulary: ghost, witch, jack-o-lantern, bat, trick or treating, carve, owl, haunted house, costume, toothbrush, hospital, cough, doctor, dentist, medicine, band-aid, teeth, braces, cavity, toothpaste, x-ray

Notes: Thank you all for attending your child's fall goal setting meeting last week. I appreciate your willingness to meet in order to get to know you and your child better. I look forward to seeing the progress your child will make in their speech, language, and listening skills this year. Always feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns you may have.

Show and Tell Dates:
Monday: Grace and Blake
Wednesday: Tommy and Anisah
Friday: Aubrey and Matthew

Dates: October 11th-20th

From: Tanya


Language Experiences Ideas:

• Make a bird feeder out of pine cones
• Hang the bird feeder outside on a tree
• Paint leaves with jello paint
• Make play dough
• Pick apples and make apple boats to float in water.
• Play Hi-ho-cheerio
• Read "Fall Leaves Fall"
• Make a fall collage
• Make squirrel puppet
• Go to the church pumpkin patch and find a large pumpkin to carve when we come back from MEA break
• Make a pumpkin face/jack-o-lantern
• Make pumpkin cookies
  

Show and Tell Dates:
Monday: Grace and Blake
Wednesday: Anisah and Tommy
Friday: Matthew and Aubrey

Notes: Thanks to all of you for signing up for Fall goal setting meetings! I look forward to talking to each of you about your child's goals and progress so far this year. Reminder... picture day is Tuesday, October 19th. Please let me know if you ever have any questions or concerns. Have a great weekend!

Theme: Restaurant
Dates: July 19-29
From: Tanya

What an exciting four weeks of summer school we've had! It's hard to believe that summer school is over already! During the past few weeks, we incorporated a lot of vocabulary and language associated with going to a restaurant. All of your children amaze me with the progress they have made in their speech, language, and auditory skills. I couldn't be prouder to have such a wonderful group of students! Thank you for trusting me to work with your child. They inspire me each and everyday. Please read on to find out about some of the language experiences, language structures, and vocabulary that we learned and practiced the past few weeks. I look forward to seeing most of you again in the Fall. For those of you who have graduated from NV, I wish you much success in all of your future endeavors. Remember..."The sky is the limit!!!!" Please keep in touch...you will be missed here at Northern Voices!!

Language Experiences:

• The teachers put on one of our famous skits about "Going to the Restaurant."
• We practiced working as a pizza delivery person and bringing pizza to someone's house. Try playing this at home.... lots of great language, vocabulary (deliver, pay, cash, credit card) and fun fun fun!
• We made a menu with our favorite foods.
• We made mini pizzas and pretended to get them from Pizza Hut.
• We set the table at a fancy restaurant and role played the server/customer/chef scenario. Another fun activity to do at home!
• We made nachos exclusively from Taco Bell:)!
• We role played going to Burger King.
• We took a field trip to Burger King and the students ordered and paid for their treat. Thanks for sending in the money for this experience! It was an excellent way to sum up our restaurant theme.

Vocabulary: Burger King, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut, menu, dishes, cash, credit card, pay, silverware, set the table, restaurant, nachos, server, chef, messy, chop sticks, order, deliver

Language Targets (in sentences of 6-8 or more words/TASL Level 3 and 4)

• Questions: " Are you going to ____ or ____?", "Did you ____?", "Who___?", "What do you want to order at___?"
• Pronouns: he, she, his, her, they, we, himself, herself, yourself
• Prepositions, in front of, behind, above, below, to, next to, through, beside, in vs. on
  
• Conjunctions: If___ then ___, or, so, when, before

Auditory Targets:

• Identifying 3 to 4 key words in a sentence.
• Answering questions with and without a picture context.
• Following 2 to 3 step directions using "First ___, then ___." and "____ before____."
  

Theme: Sports
Dates: July 6-15
From: Tanya

Welcome back to school!!!! It has been great to be back to see all of these smiling faces again! Your kiddos sure are missed here at NV! We had a fun-filled two weeks of summer school learning about sports. Below are some of the Language experiences, vocabulary, and language targets we practiced. I'm looking forward to continuing our last two weeks of summer school learning about restaurants while incorporating countries from around the world (i.e., Mexico, Italy, China, and America). "Oh the places we will go!!!"

Language Experiences:

• The teachers put on one of our "Made for Broadway" Skits! We introduced many different sports such as: Soccer, football, hockey, golf, baseball, tennis, basketball etc.
• We made sponge painted soccer balls.
• We made paper footballs stuffed with newspaper and practiced tackling and making touchdowns. Look out for some future NV pro-football players!!:)
• We made yummy basketball cookies...always a hit!
• We practice shooting basketballs and other various sports balls in different size baskets and cups.
• Our specials guests Henry and Sarah brought in their golf gear to let us examine and demonstrated various tips on how to play golf.
• We danced to the music!!! We hit the dance floor and practiced gymnastics routines! Great fun!
• We talked about the sport of swimming and various rules that need to be followed when going to the pool.

Vocabulary: helmet, baseball, soccer, football, basketball, golf, volleyball, whistle, referee, baseball bat, basketball hoop, golf ball, hit, swing, hockey, cheerleader, tennis, swimming, tackle, trophy, goalie, baseball glove, touchdown, win, team, bounce, sports, dance

Language Targets:

• Questions: "Do you want to ____ or ____?" "Are you ____ or ____?"
• Pronouns: She, he, his, her, they, we, himself, herself, myself
• Prepositions: in front of, behind, between, above, below, to
  
• Conjunctions: or, when, because