YACKITY YACK - STANDARDS TALK BACK!

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

SL.K.4.  Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.

Tell Me More – Place several interesting objects in a gift bag.  One at a time, pull an object out and sing to the tune of “Do You Know the Muffin Man?”

Do you know what this is, what this is, what this is?

Do you know what this is?  Please tell me more!

Encourage the children to identify the item and tell you as many descriptive words as they can about it.

Conversation Starters – Run off conversation starters similar to the ones below and place them in a paper sack.  Children choose one before they go home at the end of the day and use it to tell their parents about their day.

Ask me about our story.

Ask me what song we sang.

Ask me who I played with.

Ask me what I learned.

Ask me what we had to eat.

Brain Tickets – Purchase raffle tickets at a dollar store or office supply store.  Before children leave each day they have to tell you something they learned to earn a brain ticket.  Encourage parents to ask their children what they did to earn their brain ticket each day.

Story Bits – Select small objects that relate to a story or unit of study.  For example, you could use a button for Corduroy, a fake jewel for Fancy Nancy, a shell for an ocean unit, etc.  Children take home the object and explain how the item relates to the book they heard or what they learned at school.

SL.K.5.  Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.

Singing Readers – Each week introduce a poem or song to your class.  Give children a copy of the lyrics to illustrate.  Hole punch and save in a pocket folder or 3 ring notebook.   Use for choral reading, independent reading, or buddy reading.

Colorful Tip – Challenge children to use as many colors as they are in age in their illustrations.  For example, a six year old should have six colors in her picture and a seven year old should use seven different colors.

Pictures in Your Head – As you sing familiar songs ask children to close their eyes and create a picture in their brains.  Have them open their eyes and use markers, crayons, paint, or other media to illustrate what the song means to them.  Cut apart the lyrics and glue them to the children’s drawings to make a class book.

Picture Talks -  Ask children to cut out interesting pictures from magazines.  Encourage them to dictate or write a story to go with the picture. 

*They could also label details in the photographs.

Recipes – Classroom cooking experiences provide an excellent opportunity to read, follow directions, and illustrate ingredients and steps.

SL.K.6.  Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

American Idol – Let children take turns playing “American Idol” as they lead classmates in familiar songs.

Role Play – Have children act out life situations.  For example, what would you do if someone bullied you?  What would you do if a stranger tried to get you to ride in their car?  What would you do if you saw a fire?  What would you do if you found $20 on the bus?

Puppets – Provide children with puppets and stuffed animals to act out stories and problems.

Expression Puppets – Cut 3” circles out of paper and draw a happy face, sad face, angry face, sleepy face, scared face, and surprised face on them.  Attach to craft sticks.  Introduce the faces one at a time.  How does this puppet feel?  Why do you think the puppet feels that way?  What should you do when you feel like that?

Sing the song “If You’re Happy and You Know It” inserting the different emotions as you hold up the puppets.

Manners, Please – Teach children how to answer a phone call using a play phone or old cell phone. 

*Model how to shake hands and state your name when meeting someone new.

*Prompt children to say, “Please,” “Thank you,” and “Excuse me” with sign language cues.

Audio Recordings – Children can practice reading simple books, saying rhymes, or singing songs with audio devices.