I CAN READ! ENVIRONMENTAL PRINT

Environmental print is one way young children “read pictures” and develop visual literacy. Using environmental print at the beginning of the school year is a great way to help children make print connections, develop visual memory skills, and motivate them to read.

Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard

Ask children to save food wrappers from snacks and their lunches. Glue wrappers to sheets of paper and write this rhyme at the top of each page:


Old Mother Hubbard

Went to her cupboard

To get her poor dog a bone.

But when she got there
 T
he cupboard was bare

And so the poor dog had…(Children read food logo.)

What’s for Breakfast?

Ask children to bring in the box from their favorite cereal. Cut the front section off and on a sentence strip write: “Child’s name eats name of cereal.” Glue to the bottom of the cereal box. Put all the boxes together and make a book. Write “What’s for Breakfast?” on the front cover. Hole punch and put the boxes together with book rings.
*You can also make a book with sacks from fast food restaurants.

Clothes 

Read sayings on T-shirts, sports jerseys, shoes, and other clothing the children wear to school.




We Can Read Bulletin Board

Ask children to bring logos from food boxes, magazines, toys, clothing and household products. Make a poster or bulletin board that says: “We Can Read!” Let children glue their logos to the poster. Read over the words together.




Read at Home Book

Cut 9” x 12” sheets of construction paper in half. Let each child choose 4 or 5 different colors and staple them together to make a book. Write “I Can Read” on the front and let the children decorate with their name and picture. Send the book home with a note to the parents about helping their child recognize different logos, signs, and words on products and in the home and as they drive down the road. Encourage parents to help their child cut out words they can read from boxes, magazines, and advertisements. Ask children to bring their books back to school to “read” with classmates.

I Like

On Monday send home a sandwich bag with a note asking parents to help their child look for words she can read on food labels, toys, advertisements, and other products around their house. Children cut these out and bring them to school Friday in the sandwich bag. On Friday, encourage the children to “read” the labels that they have brought to class. Write the words “I” and “like” on index cards for each child. Model how to place the cards on the floor with a label from their bag. Point to the words as you read, “I like logo.” Ask the child to read it for you as you point to each word. Comment, “Look at you reading!!!!”




Block Engineers
Cut store logos from Sunday advertisements. Tape to wooden blocks and make your own mall in the block center.


Out the Door
Several years ago when I was in Pleasanton, TX, Nadine Barrow shared this idea. She posts words and environmental print on the inside of her door. Students have to read two of the words before exiting the classroom.

SCHOOL GLUE

Just a dot! Not a lot!

Just think if you were a little kid and you had never held a bottle of glue before. Wouldn’t it be fun to squeeze it all out? Sometimes we forget that children need directions on how to use school materials. Tell children, “We just need to use a baby dot of glue. Not a mama dot or papa dot. Just a tiny, little baby dot.” (Be dramatic with this and say “baby dot” in a high little voice.) Demonstrate how to put a dot on a sheet of paper. “What does that look like? A little bug? A cookie crumb?”

*Put food coloring in a bottle of glue and use it at a center for children to practice making “baby dots.”

If you use glue sticks, you will also need to demonstrate how to use them. “If you barely touch the page you can’t see anything. That means nothing will stick to it. Press it gently down and then look to make sure you can see something. That means your paper will stick.”

School Glue
(Tune: “This Old Man”)
School glue, school glue,
Just a little dot will do.
Put a dot and spread it around.
It will hold your paper down.
School glue, school glue,
Don’t use more than a dab or two.
When it dries up, it will disappear.
Your work will look good never fear.


Lotty Dotty
Write letters, numbers, words, etc. by making dots with a water-based marker. Put a drop of glue on top of each dot. Dry. The marker will bleed into the glue to create a textured figure. Children can trace over the dots with their finger as they say the letter, number, or word.

Hint! Let children make rubbings of lotty dotty letters and words by placing a sheet of paper on top and rubbing with the side of a crayon. Can they connect the dots and write the letter or word?

Glue Ghosts
Someone taught me how to make these years ago and I wanted to pass on the idea to you.  (Save it for October.)  Children squirt glue in the shape of a ghost on wax paper. Add googly eyes and let dry overnight. When they are dry, peel off the wax paper, punch a hole, and tie on a string for a necklace. If you didn't want to make ghosts, they could do aliens or other creatures. My kids loved these!

LEFT TO RIGHT

Training eyes to move from left to right and then reverse sweep is a key to beginning reading and writing. A simple, yet powerful way, that teachers can do this is through modeling. Make it a habit to sweep your hand from left to right under words or lines of print on charts, big books, white boards, and so forth.


Right & Left Song
(Tune: “Up on the Housetop”)
Here is my right hand way up high.
(Hold up right hand.)
Here is my left hand touch the sky.
(Hold up left hand.)
Right and left and roll out of sight.
(Roll hands around.)
Now I know my left and right.
(Hold up left and then right.)

Hint! Focus on the right hand because then what is “left” over will be their left.

Sticker
Put a sticker on each child’s right hand and then play “Simon Says” or the “Hokey Pokey.”

Bracelet
Let children make bracelets out of pipe cleaners and wear them on their right hand. Throughout the day call attention to their right hand…right ear…right leg…right foot, etc.


Lotion
Rub lotion or scented lip balm on each child’s right hand.


Flag
Trace around your right hand on construction paper and cut it out. Place it near the flag so children can visually match up their right hand and then place it over their hearts.




Poem
Hold up your hands and stick out thumbs and index fingers as you say:
Which is my left? Which is my right?
Sometimes it’s hard to tell.
But when I stick my thumbs out straight,
My left will make an “L.”

Left From Right(Anthony Corbo aka “Mr. Kindergarten” taught me this song.)
(Tune: “Mary Had a Little Lamb”)
I want to learn my left from right,
Left from right, left from right.
I want to learn my left from right,
I try with all my might.
The left hand makes the letter L,
Letter L, letter L.
The left hand makes the letter L,
Hurray, now I can tell!

Tracking Left to Right
Draw tracks on sentence strips similar to the ones shown. Children can drive cars or move animals from left to right.

Hint! Make a green dot where they are to begin and a red dot where they should end.

READY TO WRITE

Children can have fun as they practice pre-writing strokes and train their eyes to go from the top to the bottom and left to right.

Top to Bottom Song (Dawna Hunter)
(Tune: “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”)
Top to bottom,
Left to right.
Top to bottom,
Left to right.
My mind knows that writing always goes
Top to bottom,
Left to right.


Pencil Stories
Pencil stories using story symbols can help children develop top to bottom and left-to-right orientation. They’re also an engaging way to develop small motor skills. These stories should be told multiple times so children can practice the pre-writing strokes and feel more competent. You might want to do the same story every day for a week as you invite the children to recall what will come next.

Here's an easy version I would try with the little ones to encourage them to go from left to right and make a few strokes.

Let's go for a walk. (horizontal)

The sun is shining down. (vertical)

The wind is blowing. (slant)

Here come some raindrops. (circle)

I hear thunder. (X)

Time to run home! (horizontal)

Hint! Put a green line down the left side to show them where to start and a red line down the right side to indicate where they should stop.

Write Round the Mulberry Bush
Here's another great pre-writing activity for the beginning of the school year called “Writing Round the Mulberry Bush.” I clearly remember where I got this idea. About 20 years ago I was doing a workshop in Huntsville, Texas. A young teacher said, “My mentor needs to tell you how she teaches handwriting. Her kids have the best handwriting in the school.” Well, she grabbed my attention and when I asked the older teacher her secret she smiled and said they practiced “Writing Round the Mulberry Bush” several weeks before introducing letters.

Basically, you have children make the strokes as shown on a blank piece of paper as they sing the different verses to the song “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.” It makes sense because children need to go from top to bottom and left to right as they learn to master simple strokes.

Note! According to most experts, these are the developmental stages for writing.

1st vertical line
2nd horizontal line
3rd circle
4th cross
5th square
6th diagonal
7th X
8th triangle




Sand Tray
Let children use a sand or rice tray to practice making basic strokes.

PENCIL GRIP

It's important to encourage children to use the correct pencil grip when they begin to write. Here are tips for teachers and parents in class, online, anytime!!!

Silly Band
Give children a silly band (or rubber band) to go around their wrist. Pick up your pencil and then slip the end of the silly band around the pencil. Explain when you go in the car you wear your seat belt, and when you write you need to put a seat belt around your pencil. Then you’ll have mom and dad in the front seat and the kids in the back seat!

Pompom
Place a pompom or cotton ball in a child's hand. Demonstrate how to put pinky and ring man to “sleep” on the pompom before picking up the pencil.

Writing Bracelet
String a bead or jingle bell to a piece of yarn or string to make a bracelet. Make it loose enough so it can slide easily on and off a child’s wrist. While writing the child wears the bracelet and holds the bead in her hand.

Bird’s Beak
Point the pencil away from you. Make a bird’s beak by opening and closing your index finger and thumb. Use your beak to pick up the point of the pencil and then flip it back.



Pencil Grip(Melissa Connelly)
Teach children to hold their crayon or pencil correctly with this trick.

Draw a smiley face on their hand as shown. When they use their pincer fingers their hand will always be smiling at them. 

Pencil Grip Song (Tune: “Where Is Thumbkin?”)
Where is Pointer?
On the top.
Ready to write.
Start at the top.
Where is Thumbkin?
On the side.
Ready to help
Your pencil glide.
Where is Tallman?
On the bottom.
Keeps the letters
Where you want ‘em.

TIPS FOR PARENTS ON CUTTING SKILLS

Here's a blog and Youtube video I made to help parents work with their children on scissor skills.

*You might even find an idea or two that you can use in your classroom!

http://bit.ly/drjean-CutItOut

Helping Your Child with Scissor Skills

WHY?

Fine motor skills involve the small muscles in the hands. Learning to control their hands is important for eye-hand coordination and every day tasks such as dressing, eating, brushing teeth, etc. Small motor activities also nurture bilateral coordination – using both sides of the body at one time to perform a task. Cutting may sound simple to an adult, but using both hands to do different things as you cut is a complex skill for young children.

Providing children with a wide variety of activities and multiple materials at home will help them feel competent and capable when they start school and they are expected to write, draw, and cut with scissors. Blocks, dressing toys, puzzles, stringing beads, play dough, crayons and markers, sand and water toys, cooking activities, construction toys, and clapping games and finger plays are meaningful ways that children develop small motor skills naturally as they play.

Observe children as they are engaged in cutting and other small motor activities. You can almost see their brains “firing off” as their minds and bodies work in unison. You’ll often see their tongues moving as they concentrate. As children cut, draw, and work with their hands it’s good for their brains, self-regulation, and a sense of competence.

Many teachers have noticed a decline in children’s fine motor skills over the years. “Tap and swipe” just doesn’t activate the brain and hand muscles like cutting and drawing and building and stringing. Activities involving scissors and fine motor skills can be a fun way for parents to interact with their children. In addition, they are a great balance to “screen time” because they are real, active, and hands-on!

You want your child ready for success at school by purchasing the backpack, school supplies, packing their lunch, and dressing them properly. You can also help your child get ready for this big step by practicing scissor skills.

Tips!!!

*Supervise! Make a cutting tub for your child with a plastic tub and a pair of safety scissors. (Act like it is a gift for your child when you present it to him or her.)



Model, model, model! Demonstrate these activities and get the child started by engaging with them and carrying on a conversation. Vary the materials in the tub to keep them interested.

*Once the child is familiar with the cutting tub you can take it out upon their request or to entertain them when you are busy.

*Discuss rules for using scissors. No cutting hair, clothes, or anything that is not in the cutting tub.

*Set realistic expectations. Children have to crawl before they can walk, and they have to do a lot of tearing and snipping before they can cut out a shape. Follow their lead and let natural development unfold.


Getting Ready

Picking up a pair of scissors is probably something you don’t have to think about, but children will need some guidance is how to hold scissors correctly.

Thumbs Up – put a sticker or draw a face on the thumb to remind them to keep it on top. Put a ribbon or colorful tape on the hole where the thumb should go.

Helper Hand – Explain that one hand will cut and the other hand will be the “helper” and hold the paper. “Show me your cutting hand. Show me your helper hand.”

Open and Shut – Practice opening and shutting the scissors and pretending it’s an alligator taking little bites. (Working with tongs or tweezers can help this motion.)

Flying Elbows – Children have a tendency to flap their arms when they cut. Encourage them to keep their elbows at their sides. You can also wad up a sheet of paper to go under each arm to stabilize the forearms.

Tearing – Children need opportunities to tear before we ask them to cut. Start with thin paper like tissue paper and magazines and progress to thicker paper like cardstock, cardboard, and paper plates.


Encourage children to make small tears to make confetti. Let them fill a water bottle with the little pieces to make a shaker. Or, let them glue the confetti to a paper plate to make a collage.

Snipping– Give children thicker paper (such as construction paper, index cards, or grocery bags) to begin snipping. They can practice opening and closing the scissors as they make fringe.

*Strengthen muscles by cutting play dough.

*Give them 1” strips so they can snip through.

*Let them snip straws or yarn.


*Offer paper plates, greeting cards, wrapping paper, food boxes, and other types of paper in keep children interested.

*Collect natural objects like pine straw, leaves, and flowers for them to cut.

Lines– Draw lines on heavy paper for children to practice cutting lines.

*Draw “paths” about 1” to ½” wide for children to cut between.

*Make dots (use stickers) for children to follow and cut lines.

*Cut up junk mail into strips.

*Ask children to cut out triangles, squares, and shapes with straight lines.

*Have children cut coupons out of the newspaper.



Curves- Have children cut on curved lines.

*Let them cut out complex shapes or objects from magazines or advertisements. (Toys are always fun!)

*Have children trace around cookie cutters and then cut out the shapes.

*Encourage children to do creative activities by providing them with paper, markers, yarn, and a wide variety of art media.

It’s the Process, Not the Product!

Early childhood teachers will agree that when it comes to drawing, cutting, and creating it’s the process, not the product. Your child might not be Edward Scissorhands, but she’ll certainly feel more comfortable and competent when she’s handed a pair of scissors at school!

SNIP SNAP CUT IT OUT

A friend who is a pre-K teacher always asks her children these questions at the beginning of the school year:

1. How many of you have a television in your home? How many of you have your own television in your bedroom?
2. How many of you have a computer in your home? How many of you have your own computer?
3. How many of you have your own pair of scissors?

Yep! You’re right! Most every child has a television or computer, but only a few have a pair of scissors. Many parents think scissors are dangerous, but they let their children watch violent television programs. I don’t get it? Anyway, here’s a great idea to share with parents.

Cutting and Tearing Tub
Get a plastic tub from the dollar store and fill it with junk mail, catalogs, old greeting cards, scrap paper, etc. Put a pair of children’s safety scissors in the tub and they can cut, tear, and be creative.

More! Add a hole punch or decorative scissors to the tub.

Demonstrate and Model
We have to remember that some children have never had a pair of scissors in their hands before. It’s important to take your time, model, and give explicit directions on basic tasks.

Thumbs on Top!
Remind children when they cut to think about "Tooty Ta" and put their thumbs up. Hold a sheet of paper in one hand and take "little bites" with the scissors.



Elbows In
Another trick an occupational therapist taught me was to give children two wadded up sheets of paper to hold under their arms. This will give them more control when they begin to cut. Another trick from an OT was to have the children lay on their tummies and cut.

Cutting Song (Tune: "The Caissons Song")
Cut it out! Cut it out!
With your scissors cut it out.
Snip, snap, and cut it out.

Thumbs on top,
Take small bites.
Hold your page in the other hand tight.

Cut it out! Cut it out!
With your scissors cut it out.
Snip, snap, and cut it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGhhRqqVzXE