S tart a summer word list
U se each new word
M ake a journal
M ake a summer word box
E xplore the house to fill your word box
R ead! Read! Read!
Take a trip
I nternet games
Mix-up a game
E njoy getting ready for a new school year!
It is summertime! There is an activity listed for
each week, but you can mix and match all
summer. The idea is to keep practicing your
language skills to understand more words and
answer more story questions!! I am looking
forward to seeing how many words and
pictures you can collect over the
summer…Enjoy!
Start a summer word list
Find an old shoebox, empty tissue box, bag, or
empty cardboard box. Decorate it!! Try to find
pictures in old magazines or newspapers of
things about summertime…glue these on as
decorations.
Explore the house to fill
your word box
Look for toys, pictures, and objects about
Think about words related to the
summertime to include in your sound box.
summertime…things you do, places you go,
Take photos or collect postcards from trips.
weather, sports, clothing, and fun vacations. You can use these pictures to talk with your
Search for words in stories, around town, when parents about good summer memories—what
playing, and listen in movies. Write them on a did you do, where did you go, and who did you
paper and see how many you can collect over see? You can also write words of things you
the summer! Remember to think about what see and put those in your summer box! Let
each word means. Hang your paper up in your your parents help you search for pictures on
kitchen or bedroom to watch your summer
‘Google images’ to include in your summer
word list grow!!
box.
Use each new word
Read! Read! Read!
Use each word in your growing word list in a
Read magazines, comic strips, books, cereal
sentence. Think about what each word
means…what is the function, action, category? boxes…See how many words you can add to
your growing word list! Don’t forget to write
down your books for Red Ribbon Reading.
Which was your favorite summer book? When
Cut out pictures, draw pictures, copy words, you are reading a book, draw a picture of the
write sentences about the picture, write a story characters. Talk about Who, What, Where,
using words from your word list…be creative! When, Why. Ask the librarian for books with
Think about what you like about summer and familiar patterns by the same author (Laura
Numeroff—If You Give A Mouse A Cookie,
keep a journal…maybe you’ll try a weather
journal and compare/contrast the weather of Moose A Muffin, etc…; Lucille Colandro--There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A
each week; maybe you will keep a vacation
journal about places and people you visit. Send Shell, Fly, Bell, etc…). Have fun comparing and
me an e-mail telling me about your vacation! contrasting what happened in each story.
Make your own version using the story pattern.
Remember to tell me What, Who, Where.
Read a recipe—what ingredients will you need?
What will you need to do first, next, last? You
can add the recipe to your journal, draw a
Make a journal
Make a summer word box
picture of what you and your parents cooked, words? What poems would be funny for the
or write about how it tasted.
other seasons of Fall, Winter, and Spring?
Take a trip
http://www.storylineonline.net Listen to
fantastic stories read aloud by famous actors.
Choose a book to check out from the
library…pretend to read it like you are a
famous actor. Draw a picture about your story
and write a word, sentence, or story summary.
Take a trip to the park, the grocery store,
Carowinds, the movies, the farmer’s market,
another state, or a different country! Make a
photo album or collage using pictures,
postcards, brochures from places you visit. Use
this to help you remember and talk about Who,
What, When, Where, Why. After helping Mom
Play a game that you have around your house
or Dad at the grocery store, sort your groceries
and change it up a little.
into categories of color, type of food, wet/dry,
Candy Land=Make a list of items for each color
pantry/fridge. Where do you go each day?
on the game board and decorate each list
Maybe you could add one of these trips to your
yellow, orange, blue, etc. (The orange list
journal? Try to collect as many words for your
could include pumpkins, basketballs, and
word list.
peaches for example). When you turn over an
orange card, read a word from the orange list.
When you turn over a purple card, read a word
from the purple list, and so on. When you turn
There are so many games and websites online over a double color, make a sentence from that
to have fun playing! Here are a few to start… word list. Be creative! Have fun!!
www.starfall.com (letter sounds, stories for all Play Simon Says with actions=Simon says
levels and interests)
bounce like a kangaroo, or fly like a bird.
Play memory using pictures from your
http://www.quia.com/shared/search?category= summer word list or photos from your family.
12416&adv_search=true search for games on Are the two pictures the same or different?
this page that include your language targets. Guess Who- Helps with deductive
Which game is your favorite to play? Is there reasoning and requires use of complete
one you can share with a friend?
sentences to play. Also helps support
modeling of appropriate grammar
http://www.eduplace.com/tales These "Mad Cooking- following a recipe requires
Lib" activities are great for practicing
attention to key elements and small
vocabulary. Just enter your summer words in details, as well as following multiple
the word list, and then read your Wacky Web step directions. Use words like: first,
Tale aloud. Talk about what makes the story then last, more than, until
silly.
Outburst- helps with naming categories
and expanding vocabulary of items in
http://www.gigglepoetry.com Poems to read that category. A modified version of
and create (and of course poems that will make this could be to have your child find
you giggle!!) Can you find any of your summer things around the house in a certain
Mix-up a game
Internet games
category then read the list to someone
who must guess the category
20 questions: have one person think of
an object and then give 3 clues… the
other person may ask 20 questions
about the object before guessing
Go on a scavenger hunt: pick a category
of the day and go outside and try to find
10 things in that category
At the store: sort grocery items into
groups based on size, type of food, color
temperature
1. The following are links to resources for sound discrimination and listening games
and activities:
o
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/english/en01soun/game/en01soun-gamesyllables-factory/syllables.swf
o
www.uen.org/k-2interactives/listening.shtml
o
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/english/en32tens/game/en32tens-gametenses-treasure-hunt/game.swf
2. Strategies aimed at helping to develop increased auditory/language processing
o
Repeat one-step verbal commands, with appropriate eye contact, in order to
improve his attention. This strategy will help develop an ability to monitor and
correct his performance.
o
Directions should be presented slowly and "chunked" to be processed more
easily.
o
The child should be encouraged to ask for repetition of directions and
information.
o
Use visual scripts to describe the steps needed to be completed in a task for
those who are able to read. Picture cues good help and I would be happy to give
those to you if needed. Just ask me if interested. Such a strategy may increase
independence. Encourage your child to interact with his peers. He or She may
be reinforced for any joining or social initiations. In addition, he may benefit from
social interactions with peers that are initiated by an adult, with gradual fading of
such initiations.
3. The developmental skills that children must do in order to learn to read, include:
o
Being Motivated by Print (i.e., being interested and enjoying books)
o
Vocabulary (naming objects)
o
Print Awareness (noticing print, connecting print to pictures, knowing how to
follow the words on the page, and knowing the beginning and ending of a book)
o
Narrative Skills (being able to describe a sequence of events and details that tell
the story)
o
Letter Knowledge (knowing names and sounds, recognizing and knowing that
letters are different from one another)
o
Phonological Awareness (being able to hear the smaller sounds in words)
o
Phonemic Awareness (being able to recognize letters and sounds accurately to
decode a whole word)
o
Rapid naming (reading fluency) reading words at an accurate pace
o
Comprehension reading words accurately in context while obtaining meaning of a
story or a text.
The following Informal exercises are offered to work on improving reading development
at home.
Exercises For Improving Phonological Awareness Skills
o
Clapping and marching to rhyming words and songs
o
Play word games (e.g., “What words sound alike?”)
o
Breaking down compound words (e.g., “Can you say “steamboat” but not say
“steam”?)
o
Breaking down sounds (e.g., “Can you say meat without the /m/ sound”?)
o
Identifying, repeating, and predicting rhyming words in books
o
Clapping his own name, single words, and words in syllables
o
Providing word play by changing initial consonant to make nonsense words
4. Speech and Language:
o For a child requiring a systematic, formalized approach to address specific language
issues, such as assistance with vocabulary, word retrieval, organization of verbal
language, I recommend visual strategies to help him follow directions that are given
orally. A method using picture communication cards is useful to address his wants and
needs if he has trouble expressing his ideas.