THANK YOU FOR COMING!

Welcome to Primary Literacy Night!

Here is a summary of the activities from this evening. Enjoy! BOOKFLIX
Get ready, set, READ!! We have an exciting, new reading initiative to share with you all. Our school has acquired a subscription to Bookflix, an online literacy resource that can be accessed from school and at home. Bookflix pairs classic fictional video storybooks with non-fiction books to reinforce reading skills and develop essential real-world knowledge and understanding. Bookflix is a great way for parents to spend time together with their children reading and having fun. Heres how you can get started; Go to http://bkflix.grolier.com. Then enter the username and password. Username: westminsterps Password of bookflix.

We would also like to thank: Starbucks, Tim Hortons and Indigo for their support and contributions this evening!

GAMES THAT PROMOTE LITERACY Possible Questions to Guide Your Talk

Who Am I? One child says, Who am I? The second child asks, Are you a person, place or thing? The first child answers, and then the question-answer volley proceeds until the mystery item or person is guessed. (Are you smaller than a car? Do you make noise? Can you be eaten? Are you scary? Are you soft? This models conversation patterns, teaches critical thinking skills and sharpens listening aptitude. Rhyme Time -What is appealing to you about this image? Language is made of sounds, and making rhymes is an early literacy milestone. This game involves parent-child interaction, which builds communication bridges as well as a wide vocabulary base. Some of the rhymes will be silly or nonsensical, but thats OK. Language has its serious side, but words can be a delight, too. Give a noun in a phrase, pausing so your child can fill in the blank. Start by example: why? The dog and a ___. (hog, log, frog) A star with a ___. (car, jar, or a nonsense word like dar) Jack Sprat and his ___. (cat, rat, mat, bat) - What grabs your attention about this image? -Tell me about the people in the picture. How do you think they feel? -How does the picture make you feel? Why? -What is it about the picture that you like/dislike and - What is the message in the photo? -Why did someone take this photograph? -Why did someone paint this picture? -What do you think the creator of the image wants you to think? -Who is the intended audience?

Library Mouse: Writing

Prepare blank page books and have lots of fun writing tools available for your child. Encourage your child to write about topics that s/he finds interesting. Youll be amazed to see what they write about. Its all about exploring print and illustrations!

Oral Communication Lets Talk

The Oral Communication strand focuses on the identification and development of the skills and strategies effective listeners and speakers use to understand and interact with others. It also emphasizes the use of higher-order thinking skills to stimulate students interest and engage them in their own learning. Ontario
Curriculum, Grades 1-8: Language, 2006, p.10

Fortunately, Unfortunately Older kids will love this word play game. It encourages the imagination and a sense of humor. One person starts a scenario by say, Fortunately The second person responds by saying, Unfortunately You alternate between fortunate and unfortunate things. Itll get the laughter going. For example: Fortunately, we are stopping for lunch soon.

Oral language is the basis for literacy, thinking, and relating in any language. Early Learning Kindergarten p. 18

Unfortunately, Mom left your sandwich at home. Fortunately, I have a bag of peanuts in my pocket.

Critical Talk with our Kids Unfortunately, the park we are going to is infested with aggressive squirrels.

   

 

Opportunities to build ideas and explain how they are thought of Its conversation that is not about being right or wrong Its about dialoguing, analyzing and judging texts in order to be a critical thinker Critical thinking and talk is open ended, no right or wrong answers, looks at various points of view, makes a judgment and is able to support that judgment Its accountable and purposeful It can be done anywhere and be based on any kind of text: newspaper, magazines, posters, advertisements, books, movies, old family photos, calendars, etc. It provides a foundation for other literacy skills

Fortunately, I speak squirrel fluently and will be able to talk my way out of trouble. Unfortunately, the park is a wildlife refuge and kids arent allowed to speak out loud there. And so on. Sack on My Back This is a memory game and tongue twister all packed into one! Each player takes a turn reciting the game prompt: In a sack on my back, I think Ill pack He or she adds a noun each time,

starting with A, then B, and so on. Each player will need to listen closely, so he doesnt leave anything off the list. In a sack on my back, I think Ill pack an apple, a basketball, a camera and my dachshund.

Mathematical Literacy - The Importance of Early Math Success

How else might you have solved the problem? Will it be the same if we use different numbers? What things in the classroom have these same shapes? How is this pattern like addition? What would you measure it with? Why? How are adding and multiplying the same? QUESTIONS AND PROMPTS TO HELP STUDENTS MAKE CONNECTIONS What does this make you think of? What other math can you connect with this? When do you use this math at home? At school? In other places? Where do you see ___________ at school? At home? Outside? How is this like something you have done before? QUESTIONS AND PROMPTS TO HELP STUDENTS REFLECT ON THEIR WORK What mathematics were you investigating? What questions (feelings) arose as you worked? What were you thinking when you made decisions or selected strategies to solve the problem? What changes did you have to make to solve the problem? What was the most challenging part of the task? How do you know? How does knowing ___________ help you to answer the question ___________ ?

Mathematics competency is a powerful predictor of future economic success for individuals and for society. The need for sound mathematical literacy has never been greater than it is today. Success in mathematics requires more than just computational competence. It also requires the ability to apply mathematics in solving problems, to process information from a variety of sources/technologies, and to communicate findings while making informed decisions.
Prompts to Support Children QUESTIONS AND PROMPTS TO HELP STUDENTS PREDICT, INVENT, OR PROBLEM SOLVE What would happen if . . . ? What decisions can you make from the pattern that you discovered?