ALL CHILDREN CAN LEARN!

Special Education and Language Development!

What is Special Education? 

Special Education is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability.

It is important to recognize language development and around the times a child should be developing the different aspects of language. Not only is oral development important to watch, but so is a child's physical development as well. 

These links are resources for parents and professionals to use to understand what their child should be doing or almost doing at certain ages. This is a way to track your child's development. 

Various links that show the different ages of language and developments for children. 

http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/devmile.htm

http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/language_development/

http://www.bcps.org/offices/special_ed/development.html

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/MilestoneMomentsEng508.pdf

This link is to help parents and caregivers to use. It provides various information about special education. 

http://nichcy.org/schoolage/iep/iepcontents/specialeducation

Helpful Tips for Parents!

http://countdownmd.org/countdown_order_tips.html

TIPS AND ACTIVITIES FOR PARENTS FOR ALL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE!

Below is my personal resource list for different articles and links that I believe are influential and beneficial for parents and teachers. 

LINKS:

• http://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/363%20understanding%20semantic.pdf
• 
  
• http://onlinespeechpathologyprograms.net/speech-sites/
• 
  
• http://www.speechlanguage-resources.com/educational-tips.html
• http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/parent-stim-activities.htm
• http://www.meddybemps.com/ParentsGuide/LanguageSkills.html
• https://www.assessingparenting.com/assessment
• http://olms.cte.jhu.edu/9673
• https://www.pbs.org/parents/readinglanguage/quicktips/home.html

More will be added throughout the year! :)

Assessments! 

There are many ways to assess a child's learning. Teachers have many ways to assess a child's learning. We can use informal assessments and formal assessments to determine where our students learning is at. Parents and families can conduct assessments as well. 

What is an Assessment?

A Assessment is a way to measure the an individual's learning and growth and it is a way to document the learners knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Assessments can be used to measure individuals growth or a learning community (class/group). 

Different Types of Assessments:

http://www.scholastic.com/dodea/Module_3/resources/red_tr_c03s03_assesstool.pdf

Parents Tips, Resources and links about Assessment:

It is important to know that the more information a parent or family member can give about their child and their home life is helping a educator understand and learn more about how to teach your child. 

http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/parenting-assessment-tools-3943.html

https://www.assessingparenting.com/assessment

English Language Learners Helpful Information!

English Language Learners are learners who first language is not English. These students can come from various cultural backgrounds and can come from homes that speak many different languages. It is important to work on their language development not only in English, but in their native language as well. 

This video is about the importance of everyone involved in their ELL's life to get involved to help make a difference in their education. 

Parent Links, resources, and Tips: 

http://schools.nyc.gov/Academics/ELL/FamilyResources/Activities+For+Parents.htm

http://www.teachersfirst.com/par-esl.cfm

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/23181/

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/15895/

* http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/studentsupport/psychologicalservices/pdf/ReadingActivities.pdf

Pragmatic Knowledge!!!

Pragmatic Knowledge: Involves the knowledge or awareness of the overall intent of the communication and how the language is used to achieve that intent.  It is used in social situations especially. 

Video about Pragmatic Knowledge.

Parents Resources:

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/pragmaticLanguageTips.htm

This link helps parents or caregivers help individuals use language in the correct way in social situations. 

http://preschoolspeech.com/wp/?page_id=176

This link is for helpful tips to expand pragmatic language at home.

Morphemic Knowledge (Morphemes)

What is a Morphemic Knowledge?

Morphemic Knowledge refers to the knowledge of word structure. 

What is a Morpheme?

A morpheme is a word composed of one or more meaningful linguistic units. The smallest unit of meaning in language is a morpheme. 

Two Types of Morphemes:

1. Free Morphemes: Examples of these would be, (house, turtle, book).

2. Bound Morphemes: Examples of these would be, (the final -S in houses and the -ing in going). 

Activities and resources for Parents: 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/414260865694091578/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/414260865693969072/

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/27876/ 

This link explains morphology and the importance it has in a child's literacy development. 

Syntax! What is it and What do you need to know?

Syntax is the structure of sentences. Syntax is the order of words in a language. It is certain structural rules that sentences have to follow in order to make sense and flow. 

TIP:

Parents can help just as easily as teachers can with syntax. Parents can correct children and their sentence structure by verbally saying the sentence the correct way. You do not need to tell the child they are incorrect, you just need to model the correct way. 

Here are helpful links to do so:

http://www.ehow.com/how_8538531_teach-syntax-kids.html

https://sites.google.com/a/sheffield.ac.uk/all-about-linguistics/branches/syntax/what-is-syntax

WHAT IS SEMANTICS?

Definition's of Semantics:

1. (Linguistics) of or relating to meaning or arising from distinctions between the meanings of different words or symbols.
2. Semantic Knowledge: refers to the word labels that specify concepts and also to the semantic networks, or schemata (cognitive structures in our memory that organize our conceptual knowledge). 
3. Of or relating to the meanings of words or phrases. 

What is Semantics? This Video will help you understand what Semantics is .

I believe that each part of language is important for not only our children to learn and know, but for us as well to know and understand the different parts of language.

"Children with larger and more developed vocabularies have more options for expressing what they want to say and, thus, have greater linguistic flexibility"( Otto, p.g. 7). 

TIPS AND ACTIVITIES FOR PARENTS:

*Label house objects with vocabulary words

* Use synonyms of words (Ex. Gigantic vs. Big)

*Talk about different words after reading with your child.

Resources:

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/383/ 

http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/semantic_gradients/

These resources can be used in a classroom setting, but parents can get a better understanding of semantics and how to do different activities with a child focusing on semantics. 

(My Resources for this blog)

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/semantic

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/semantic

http://youtu.be/GcBvGToIxgA

Otto, B. (2014). Language development in early childhood education. (4th ed., pp. 6-7). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson.

Parents and Phonological Awareness!

Parents! It is important for you to know what Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness is and why it is important for your child to learn. I hope from the little summary and image above you will have a little more understanding of the importance of Phonemics. 

Below are some links for phonemic activities and tips that you can do at home with your child. 

Each of these links has the main purpose to work on your child's phonemic awareness and phonological awareness. The various links include: activities to do while grocery shopping with your child, nursery songs to practice rhyming, tips, routines for reading time, and much more. I hope these links are helpful to you! 

http://pals.virginia.edu/parents-monthly-activity.html

http://pals.virginia.edu/pdfs/ParentActivities/PA_GroceryStoreSoundShopping.pdf

http://pals.virginia.edu/pdfs/ParentActivities/PA_MakeARoutineForReading.pdf

http://www.rif.org/kids/leadingtoreading (English)

http://www.rif.org/kids/leadingtoreading/es/leadingtoreading.htm (Spanish)

http://www.kidsfavorhits.com/

http://www.gardenofsong.com/

Communicating with YOU! IMPORTANT!

Communication Is IMPORTANT! 

Dear Parents and Family,

I just wanted to stress that I believe communicating with you is key to your child's educational success! So I will be trying to email, blog, and reach you in anyways preferable to you. I will be sending home a piece of paper with options of your communication preference. Please send this back, so I know your preferable way of communication. 

Thank you! 

Sincerely, 

Ms. Opolony 

Welcome!

Dear Parents and Family,

First of all, I would like to introduce myself. I am Ms. Opolony, otherwise known as Ms. O. I am your child's student teacher this semester! I am very excited to get to know your children as well as you this school year and I  am very grateful for the opportunity to teach your children as well. I am looking forward to having the opportunity to help your child grow and to learn. I am also excited to learn new things as a teacher  from your children as well.


First I will tell you a little about myself. I am a education major at Judson University. I am getting my bachelor's degree in Elementary Education (k-5), with a middle school endorsement (6-8), and a endorsement in ESL (English as a Second Language). I played soccer on the Women's soccer team at Judson University for four years and have a passion for sports as well as for reading. Some of my favorite book series are: The Hunger Games, The Selection Series, Defiance Series, and the Twilight Series. Besides enjoying reading my main passion is working with children and that is a main reason for deciding to go into the Education field.

Now that you know a little about me, I hope I can learn more about you and your child. I will be posting another blog with some questions that I would appreciate if you would take your time to  answer so I can learn more about you and your child.

Thank you  for taking your time to read my classroom blog. I hope to be in more contact with you soon!

Sincerely,
Ms. Opolony (Ms. O)




Contact information:
School email
Mobile number: 1847-772-4340
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