I Am Hiding!

I recently stumbled across "I Am Hiding" by Mercer Mayer and got a little too excited about how perfect it would be for targeting several language concepts.  Each page is very simple, with repetitive text that could be used for working on the pronoun, "I," the be-auxiliary, "I am," action words, and verb+ing.  It could even be used for targeting other pronouns such as "he" and "she" as you describe what the brother/sister is doing.   

Here are some simple ways to work on each of these targets as you read this book with your child, create a group activity for your class, or work with a student in therapy:

Pronouns: 

• When targeting "I" just have the child repeat the phrase on each page word for word. ("I am sneaking.")
• If the target is he/she, describe what the brother or sister is doing and have the child repeat the phrase.  Or ask them, "What is he doing?"  ("He is resting."  "She is looking.")

Be-Auxiliary ("I am"):

• Have the child repeat each phrase in the book. ("I am hopping")
• After reading each page, have the child act it out and describe what they are doing. ("I am creeping.")

Action words/verb+ing:

• Label each action for the child and have them repeat it.
• If they are at the phrase level, have them repeat each sentence after you read it.
• Again, simply having them act out the action on the page, and then label it is a great way to work on action words.  

Large Group/Small Group:

• Give each child a copy of the book so they can follow along as you read it. 
• Act out the actions on each page and have the children repeat the phrase from the book. 
• Have the children describe what other children are doing to target the pronouns he/she. "What is Sarah doing" "She is jumping."  or "Who is looking" "She is!")
• Play hide-and-go seek at the end and have the child 'seeking' use the phrase, "I am" as they are looking. ("I am looking."  "I am walking."  "I am stretching")
• Once they find the child that was hiding, ask the class, "Who did he find?"  Then have the class repeat either "her" or "him" to target those pronouns.  If you were still working on children's names, you could have them say the child's name. 

For additional activities, Speaking of Speech has a great section on targeting verbs, including "I am." 

Our Preschool Ball

It is probably no surprise that in several of our classes we have many, many girls who are all about princesses.  Each day they play with the princess dolls, dress up like princesses, draw or color princesses… etc. etc..  So to support that interest, and celebrate the fact that we have so many girls in the preschool this year (YAY!), we are doing a very girlie Large Group next week.  It will be everything pronouns as well!  Here is our learning card:

We will first talk about what a "Royal Ball" is and then watch a few seconds of this video from YouTube:

Next, we will each get a prince or princess mask to wear during our Ball.  We will focus on the pronouns "he" and "she" to announce each prince or princess:

While dancing with partners, we will focus on the pronoun "they."  We will dance to this collection of Disney Classics:

And if there is time, of course, some 'Frozen':

Last, we will play "Bibbidy, Bobbity, Boo."  Using our magic wand, everyone will take turns turing the group into something.  While pretending to be different things, we will focus on the pronoun, "we."

Since we will focus so much on pronouns, our weekly handout is another simple, but great one on teaching pronouns to little ones.  It is from Speak Listen Play.  Also, check out this post from a past Large Group that also has a wonderful handout on teaching pronouns!

Dancing with Scarves

Next week for Large Group we will be dancing with scarves!  Our focus will be on pronouns.  Check out the learning card below:

Our handout is from Speech and Language Kids.  Its a great one that gives 5 steps for teaching pronouns.