Learning Enrichment Activities Program

Language and Early Literacy

1. Listening Comprehension: through
1. books and stories and posters charts
2. listening for different purposes: pleasure, following directions, conversations
3. discussions and questions: teacher guides students to enhance responses from factual information to higher level thinking skills (why, how, what if)
4. listening to taped stories, poetry and songs
5. learning to read non-verbal cues through dramatic play
6. listening to books written in Spanish for LEP children in Spanish language classrooms
2. Speech Production and speech discrimination: through
1. producing speech sounds in running speech with increasing accuracy
2. experimenting with new language sounds in phonological awareness activities
3. echoing words and sentences, echoing and producing parts of words (single sounds)
3. Vocabulary: through Teachers model for and guide children to expand vocabulary through
1. using picture charts for visual clues of things that are not available for hands-on experiences
2. providing field trips and classroom visitors for hands-on experiences
3. using the Discovery Table for scientific experiments (exploring, investigating, and predicting)
4. providing art and environmental activities for texture words
5. providing outside play for descriptive language, experiences and feelings
4. Verbal Expression: through
1. labeling colors, shapes, sizes, objects, and ideas
2. making choices and expressing themselves in complete sentences of increasing length and complexity
3. reciting nursery rhymes
4. telling stories and experiences in sequence
5. describing needs and wishes
6. expanding creative expression through dramatic play
7. using comparative language in science and math, including temporal, quantity, and spatial relationships
5. Phonological Awareness: through
1. clapping and marching to rhyming words in songs and nursery rhymes
2. identifying rhyming words in finger play activities (rime)
3. identifying/repeating, and predicting rhyming words in books
4. clapping their own names, single words, and words in phrases (syllables)
5. older children beginning to clap syllables in a word (syllables)
6. isolating and identifying the same initial sound in a group of words (alliteration)
7. providing word play by changing initial consonant to make nonsense words (onset)
6. Print and Book Awareness: through
1. recognizing the first letter (and whole configuration of) the child's name
2. labeling furniture and objects in the classroom (in English and other languages)
3. providing shared writing experiences (Language Experience Charts)
4. use of calendars and bulletin boards
5. labeling children's work and displaying it at children eye level
6. providing a variety of games and center activities (lotto, graphing)
7. having experiences with environmental print
8. recognizing and identifying the cover, back, title, author and illustrator of a book
9. noting during reading that each unit of print is a word; tracking from left to right
10. predicting from the text what will happen next, or how a story will end
7. Letter Knowledge and Early Word Recognition:through
1. manipulating plastic, wooden, and cookie cutter letters (upper case block capital letters first, then lower case)
2. matching letters to a printed image
3. writing letters using a variety of media (sand, meal, shaving cream, crayon, marker, etc)
4. playing matching games with printed letters and "key word" picture cards
5. displaying letters at child's eye level
6. providing ABC puzzles, games, and picture cards
8. Motivation to Read: through
1. demonstration of interest in specific books through choices and conversation
2. requesting re-reading of books
3. pretend reading
4. providing books in learning centers other than book/library center
9. Developing Knowledge of Literary Forms: through
1. building awareness of parts of a book (cover, title page, author, illustrator, left to right progression of print and pages front to back)
2. sequence of actions in a story
3. identification of main character, main ideas, settings and other parts of story form
4. awareness of artist's or illustrator's style
5. predicting skills
6. listening with a purpose
  1. identifying main character, setting, main character's problem or wish, resolution)
  2. identifying and supplying rhyming words (Cloze)
  3. listening for information (use of KWL)
7. rereading of books to each other or into a recorder
8. extension/ enrichment activities in the classroom (art, dramatic play, puppetry, visitors, etc.)
9. listening to stories, poetry, traditional literature, and picture books (Alphabet books)
10. practicing handling books in ways different from other materials
11. seeing books by a variety of authors and illustrators
12. making up own stories with 'story language' (In the LEAP curriculum, new hard cover books are placed in each classroom on a regular basis and teachers read to children at least twice each day) Books listed in the bibliography are chosen to include:
  1. classic children's literature
  2. traditional nursery rhymes and poetry
  3. picture books and Big Books
  4. multicultural literature
  5. recently published children's books
  6. themes that support preschool thematic based teaching Books written in Spanish are selected for LEAP children in Spanish language classrooms
10. Written Expression: through
1. providing writing materials throughout the classroom in all learning centers
2. accepting scribbling as a form of writing before writing recognizable letters
3. writing lists, charts, stories, labels, messages, etc.
4. dictating stories, titles for pictures etc. for adult to write
Mathematics

1. Numbers and operations: through
1. recognizing and producing a pattern
2. beginning comparative language - 'more than', 'less than'
3. use of graphing - bar graphs, pie graphs, and Venn Diagrams
4. recognizing 'one more'
5. matching and combining part to whole with objects and pictures
6. counting objects to five or higher using one-to-one correspondence
2. Patterns: through
1. working with patterns through body awareness · sound repetition in clapping, tapping and musical instruments
2. beginning to recognize patterns in environment (day/night)
3. recognizing and predicting repeated patterns in books
4. beginning to predict 'what comes next' in patterns
3. Geometry and Spatial Sense: through
1. recognizing and labeling 4 basic shapes
2. using position words 'over', 'under', 'beside', etc.
3. beginning to recognize a shape when orientation is different
4. working with puzzles of increasing complexity
4. Measurement: through
1. filling a shape with other objects or coloring
2. comparing objects by size, weight, diameter
3. beginning to use tools to measure (ruler, scale)
4. beginning seriation of objects and quantities (by size and amount)
5. measuring (quantities and time for cooking activities)
5. Classification and Data Collection: through
1. matching objects and pictures of like objects
2. grouping objects by one attribute
3. creating VENN diagrams by using objects with more than one attribute
4. graphing data: attendance, likes and dislikes, predictions
Science

1. Science Processes: through
1. beginning to ask questions about object and events
2. using one or more senses to observe objects and events in Discovery Center
3. beginning to form simple investigations - recording on graph
4. exploring manipulatives with simple equipment - pouring, sifting, scooping
5. comparing objects with similarities and differences - charting observations
6. sorting and grouping objects and pictures - describing how decisions to group were made
7. predicting what will happen next based on observations and experience
2. Science Concepts: through
1. observing and describing objects - size, shape, color, and weight
2. observing changes in objects - charting changes and describing them
3. beginning to recognize that living things have similar needs
4. beginning to use scientific vocabulary to describe objects and events
Social Studies

1. Individual Culture and Community: through
1. sharing ideas, taking turns listening and speaking - during circle and other times
2. identifying classroom rules
3. participating in jobs - see Helper Chart
4. identifying likes and differences in classmates and community - noting cultural differences as well as physical differences
5. inviting visitors and taking field trips to learn about different jobs and lifestyles of cultures in your community
2. History: through
1. beginning to understand routines in daily schedule
2. beginning to recognize changes in weather- predictability
3. beginning to understand time - yesterday, today
4. beginning to understand consequences (cause and effect)
3. Geography: through
1. beginning to identify common features at home and school
2. beginning to draw or build representations of home, school or building in community
3. beginning to identify features in local landscape - houses, apartments building, street, sidewalk
4. listen to books about life in other parts of the world
4. Economics: through
1. discussing basic human needs - food, clothing, shelter
2. discussing roles and responsibilities of community workers (Occupations and Community Helpers)
3. having visitors and taking field trips to learn about occupations and opportunities
4. creating offices, stores, and community centers in the classroom using environmental print and toys; use play money to learn about 'buying' goods and services
Fine Arts

1. Art: through
1. using a variety of materials to create artwork
2. using different colors and textures to create form
3. using art as self expression
4. showing interest and appreciation of others' work
5. focusing on an illustrator or artist whose books are in your classroom; copying that style in the art center f. visiting a local art museum, especially with a children's area
2. Music: through
1. providing variety of activities for participation; sing, play interments, dance
2. playing classroom instruments to recorded music or chanting
3. responding to different tempos through movement
4. distinguishing and identifying (labeling) common instruments
5. having a visitor play an instrument
6. take a field trip to a local high school band room and learn about the instruments
3. Dramatic Play: through
1. dramatizing different emotions
2. recreating stories and experiences through dramatic play
3. dramatizing an event in your life
4. dramatizing a story or a character in a story for others to identify
Health and Safety

1. Health: through
1. routine of brushing your teeth
2. having a dentist or dental assistant visit the class
3. field trip to a local clinic or doctor's office to learn about wellness habits
4. having a nutritionist visit to talk about good eating habits
5. creating a doctor's or dentist's office in the classroom; provide dress up and play instruments; dramatize a visit to the office
6. discussing the difference in candy and medicine
7. learning the importance of sleep and rest
2. Safety: through
1. having a policeman visit to talk about safety and Stranger Danger
2. learning about 9-1-1 and when to use it
3. learning about fire safety; making a plan for home
4. learning about "stop, drop, and roll"
5. going on a field trip to a location that is close enough to walk; learning about traffic signs and traffic signals
Physical Development

1. Physical Movement: through
1. music and movement
2. marching to music
3. clapping to music and clapping rhyming words in poems and songs
2. Gross-Motor Development: through
1. marching and clapping
2. playing organized games on the playground and in the room
3. using playground equipment
4. playing with balls
3. Fine Motor Development: through
1. small group and center activities requiring grasping and grabbing with the whole hand
  1. pouring buttons, rocks, sand and water
  2. sifting meal or sand
  3. scrubbing rocks and shells with a nail or tooth brush
  4. scooping beads, nuts, buttons with large scoop
2. small group and center activities requiring squeezing with the whole hand
  1. sponging off a table, or squeezing sponge at the water table
  2. using large tongs to pick up rocks, nuts, pom poms, or beads
3. small group and center activities requiring pinching
  1. picking up and stacking blocks or beads with fingers
  2. picking up and sorting buttons, corks floating in water, or pom poms with tweezers (strawberry huller, twizzers, and then tweezers)
4. small group or center activities with writing materials
  1. tracing shapes with child's finger (or crayon, marker, or pencil)
  2. tracing large letters with finger, crayon, marker or pencil
  3. drawing pictures, letters, or words with crayon, marker or pencil
  4. scribble writing or writing with crayon, marker or pencil