Mrs. Melissa's Bunch

On a typical Friday at school we try to have fun with our last day of school for the week. After our daily morning meeting we allow the children lots of movement breaks. They get to choose between going for a walk or time in our sensory room! If possible, allow the kids time to play today and play with them. Show them two toys and ask them to pick which one they want to play with. Model for them how the toy works, then play with them and have some joyful moments together!

Our Friday special is Art. Spring brings a lot of rain! When it rains we need an umbrella to keep us dry. If we were at school today we would have made this fun umbrella craft from things that we can find around the class! If you have construction paper, yarn or rope, and paper plates I hope you and your child will make this fun umbrella craft for the season.

After lunch we would try to get each kid outside for some fresh air and independent play time. When outside we would listen and look for birds. Touch the trees and talk about how they are starting to grow green leaves. We would hunt for flowers and touch the moist dirt. The sun is starting to peak through today! Try and get outside for a walk or some playtime in the yard. Getting outside helps break up the day, and allows for a change of scenery!

On Fridays we continue with our weekly news 2 you stories and activities. Our favorite part is telling the jokes using adaptive switches (have some fun and tell the joke to your family)!

We start our Thursdays off with our morning meeting! Spring is here and we are finally starting to see it with our weather 🙂 After our morning meeting we have gym. Try and get the kids moving today. The weather forecast is beautiful this morning and should continue throughout the day, So get OUTSIDE!!

Everyday we work on making choices. Offering your child choices throughout the day is a great way to work on their communication skills.  When a child has choices they feel like they have control over a situation and also feel like they are in charge.  Start small by offering your child two choices in different ways throughout the day.  Some simple ways you can work on this at home include:

• Offer two snack options
• Show your child two different books and have them choose which one they’d like you to read
• Show your child two different toys and have them choose which one they’d like to play with
• Offer different cups to drink out of
• Show them two shirts and let them pick which one to wear

Ms. Dawn our lovely speech and language pathologist has added some awesome videos on her blog! Check them out at iblog.

After lunch we would work on Science or Math. Try and continue working on your work packet that contains lots of fun Science and Math resources!

To finish off our day we Mrs. Caitlin would come in to our class and work on our letter of the week. She posted these on her blog to share with us all!

Typically at school we focus on a letter each week; we sing songs, do an art craft, talk about what sound the letter makes and discuss what starts with the letter.  Last week we would have discussed letter ‘S’ this week would be the letter ‘T’ and next week would be letter ‘U.’  Here are some songs to go along with ‘S’ ‘T’ and ‘U’ …can you find items around your house that begin with these letters? 

On Wednesday’s we have a very busy morning! Everyday but today we have special in the morning, so Wednesdays we tend to get lots of work done in the morning. If we were at school today, after our morning meeting we would complete our scholastic news for the week! This weeks is in your work packet, or here is a link for one to print out and use Scholastic News- Frog 🙂 You can also access the website, where it will read the entire newspaper and allows for educational games based off the topic at hand! The classroom password is : piemine5441

After our scholastic news we would read our story if the week. Grumpy Monkey

We would wrap up the morning with some writing activities! In class we use these letter sheets to help with letter identification while working on fine motor skills. The kids can color, trace, use stickers, or use dabbing markers to fill in the letters. When doing this we talk about the sound that letter makes, what the letter looks like, and the words that begin with that letter! Try doing this activity at home with your child. P.S. The kids love it when Ms. Kristy, Mrs. Cheryl and I are overly goofy during this activity 🙂

After lunch we would have music class! The kids love moving and listening to all kinds of music. One day we put violin players on and the kids were very into it. If you can try and dance, sing, or listen to different kinds of music! I miss them all so much and hope everyone is enjoying their time together at home.

To wrap up our day we would have some fun game like math activity! Since our topic is measurement we would take turns building a tower with our blocks. We would measure each tower by counting the levels of blocks, along with comparing them to each others! We would talk about whose tower is tallest, shortest, and widest. Whoever builds the biggest tower would get to pick the music we listen to while we get ready to go home! If you find the time try and have your child engage with stacking objects. Show them how to stack them on-top of eachother, and have fun with it when they knock them down!

Tuesdays are busy days, filled with multiple academic activities. We start our everyday with our morning meetings where we talk about the day of the week, our month of the year, the date of the day, the season, and the weather! Look at previous posts for the visual aids we use in class everyday. I also found this awesome resource to help you provide academic activities along with keeping the kids on track with the days of the week.

Try and do another science activity about outer space from the work packet that was sent home. Here are the visuals to help when talking to the kids about everything in outer space!

Make sure to read a story with the kids everyday! While reading with your child today work on some of the skills below:

• Holding the book right side up
• Turning pages one at a time
• Pointing to pictures 
• Discriminating between words and pictures
• Running finger along words being read by an adult
• Being gentle with books 
• Identifying letters and pictures 

On Tuesdays Mrs. Caitlin and I switch classrooms. She comes in and works with the kids on our News2You resource. This week we would be talking about the 2020 Census. Here are the Articles, Jokes, and Activities to do at home!

Gleaners is inviting families in need to stop by their mobile food bank this morning at the Henry Ford Community and Performing Arts Center. Please share with those who may want the information. From the City of Dearborn:

Free Food Distribution for Households with Children

Monday, March 23rd from 9:00am to 12:00pm

Dearborn Ford Community & Performing Arts Center
[South parking lot]

Households with children who are in need of food are encouraged to attend our upcoming drive-thru food distribution sponsored by Gleaners Community Food Bank.

Please stay in your vehicle to limit exposure. Groceries will be placed into your trunk or back seat.

Guests without vehicles are welcome to walk up, but should be prepared to carry 20-30 pounds or have a cart.

——-
Together with Gleaners Community Food Bank,
we are taking all necessary precautions to distribute food safely.

If we were at school today we would have a busy day starting with our Morning Meeting. Try using our visual aids when talking about the Day’s of the Week, Month of the Year, Season, and Weather!

After our morning meeting the kids would enjoy an easy activity about Space, like one of the space sheets from the packets that were sent home in the mail. I also have these great Space Word Cards that you could use along side with those science worksheets!

Monday’s are great days because we have Art in the morning and P.E. in the afternoon. If possible try and work with your child on coloring, cutting, or gluing! Here is a flower craft that allows the kids to cut and glue pictures together to make a pretty flower.

Its also important that everyone has active movement throughout the day. Try getting movement with some active play inside, playtime outside, or a walk around the neighborhood.

Our story of the week is called Grumpy Monkey! It’s a funny yet silly story about emotions. After the kids have watched the story, talk to your kids about emotions and how you are personally feeling today. Then, try and have a dance party with the Storybots songs about emotions!

Good news! Dearborn is adding a seventh site to distribute free student meals. Starting on Monday, students or family members can pick up the meals at O.L. Smith. All seven sites run from 10 to noon each day. See the details at: https://firstbell.dearbornschools.org/2020/03/20/o-l-smith-added-as-seventh-site-for-student-meal-distribution/

I wanted to share, Mrs. Caitlin post about a fun scavenger hunt involving Spring things. Spring is here, so if we had school today we would try to get outside and talk about the temperature change, weather change, and color change. I hope you all are able to get outside to enjoy some fresh air, and beautiful sun!

Howe’s ancillary staff is also available to help during the school closures. Please subscribe to Ms. Alaouie’s iBlog as well as Ms. Dandron’s iBlog for updates and ideas! 

Ms. Mariam Alaouie (Social Worker) iBlog

Ms. Emily Dandron (Occupational Therapy) iBlog