SMMART MUSIC: ALLITERATION/ ASSONANCE RING

Alliteration- n. The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables, as in “on scrolls of silver snowy sentences” (Hart Crane). Modern alliteration is predominantly consonantal.

Assonance- n. The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, especially in stressed syllables, with changes in the intervening consonants, as in the phrase tilting at windmills. www.answers.com

You can find lyrics of a song, nursery rhyme or in a book that shares several examples of alliteration or assonance, or you can make up several phrases of these forms and use them in a story that you create. You can find these concepts in the rhythmic lyrics of music, prose and poetry.

Give your child a bell or rattle. Share with her some examples of what alliteration and assonance would sound like. Tell your child that you are going to read her a story and she should listen for several words together that have the same letter sound. Every time your child hears alliterative or assonance words, your child should ring her bell or rattle.

You could even create several phrases using alliteration and assonance and give your child two different noise makers (bell, rattle, whistle). Have your child make a noise when she hears alliteration and a different noise when she hears the assonance phrase.

Lisa

THANKSGIVING POINT GIVEAWAY WINNER!

-(PRIZE CLAIMED)

The winner of the family four pass to each Thanksgiving Point venue is...

Jennifer Slaugh said...
One of my favorite things to do with my little family is go to Remember the Maine park in Vernal and let the kids dip their feet in the water or they have an awesome dinosaur musuem that my kids love

Thanks to all of you for participating!

So, Jennifer, you have until Midnight on Thursday night to e-mail me your mailing address (SMMARTideas@hotmail.com) and claim your prize! If Jennifer doesn't claim the prize, then I'll choose another random winner.

Lisa

SMMART MATH: Popsicle Fractions

This activity works well with those long, thin, colored icepops in a plastic sleeve.

Cut a popsicle in half.
Let your child place the popsicle halves side by side to indeed compare and see that half means two of the same size.

Draw sharpie lines on an icepop. Divide the pop in half and then in fourths with the lines. Ask your child which line we cut to cut the popsicle in half.

Count the number of segments. Where would we cut the popsicle to create ONE/Fourth? What about THREE/Fourths…as you count out three segments.

Divide a popsicle into thirds with a sharpie. Where should we cut the popsicle to create ONE/Third? TWO/ Thirds?...as you count out two segments.

Discuss that the popsicle in its entirety is the WHOLE.

You can even add... 1/2 plus ½ = whole popsicle
1/3 plus 2/3 = whole popsicle
¼ plus ¼ = half popsicle…or subtract.

So, have fun doing popsicle fractions before summer ends!

Lisa

SMMART SCIENCE: Sun and Moon Light

Explain the sun-moon relationship to your child. The sun gives off light and lights the earth during the day. The moon dimly lights the earth at night because it does not give off its own light. The moon reflects the sun’s light.

Demonstrate this principle with your child by having your child hold the sun (flashlight) and shining the light into a hand mirror. Explain that the mirror is like the moon and doesn’t give off its own light, but reflects the sun’s light.

.

Lisa

SMMART SCIENCE: Nutrition Segment on "Good Things Utah"

Here is the link for the video of Friday's SMMART SCIENCE Nutrition Segment on "Good Things Utah":

http://www.abc4.com/content/about_4/gtu/featured_on/story/SMMART-Ideas-Science-Nutrition/US_Hy0GdJ0O4wQeLANHeGg.cspx

Be sure to check it out soon!

SMMART GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!: Thanksgiving Point

Hooray! Hooray! My first Giveaway!

I had the priviledged experience of touring Thanksgiving Point last month. I had never visited the Children's Garden before. We really enjoyed the Noah Ark water feature.

Then, we were awed by the beauty of the Thanksgiving Point gardens. I think my favorite gardens were "The Secret Garden", and the "Carousel Garden".

We loved feeding the cows at The Farm as they stuck out and curled their tongues around the corn kernals.

And, of course, the fossil dig and interactive exhibits in the Dinosaur Museum were so much fun! Plus, did you know that Thanksgiving Point has a NEW hands-on SCIENCE MUSEUM in the works?!? (I have to make sure I'm still breathing!- We can't wait for it to open in 2011!)

Perhaps you took advantage of $2 Tuesdays this month...what a great deal! Well, if you didn't get a chance to partake of the $2 deal, perhaps you'll be lucky enough to win...

A FAMILY 4 PACK to EACH OF THE THANKSGIVING POINT VENUES!!!!!! (Am I screaming too loud?...Well, I'm excited for you!)

So, if you would like to enter to win a Family 4 Pack of tickets to: The Museum of Ancient Life, The Farm, The Children's Garden and The Gardens...

-(1 entry) Leave me a comment about your favorite places to visit with your kiddos. I'd especially love to hear about places maybe everyone doesn't know about. (Like I just discovered the Wild West Jordan Playground-it's very cool!) Even if you live outside of Utah, I'd like to hear where you enjoy visiting.

-(1 additional entry) Become a "FOLLOWER" of this SMMART blog so you can stay posted on the newest activity I post each week.

This giveaway closes on Friday, Sept.4 at midnight. I'll post the winner on Monday, Sept 7th. The winner must contact me by midnight-Tues, Sept 8th or I'll draw a new winner.

SMMART TIME-OUT FOR TIDBITS: Summer Reading Club

This summer our Tuesday mornings have been greatly anticipated as "Summer Reading Partay Days".

..."Hurry and get dressed, or you'll miss your reading partay!"


..."Hurry and eat your breakfast, or you'll miss your..."

Plus, it was another way to bribe my child to accomplish simple everyday tasks. (Oh, and I do know how to spell "party", I just like saying it like: "PARTAY!")

My neighbor, Miriam, is...well, yes, I'll say it!...GENIUS!

She organized and instituted a Summer Reading Club for a few of the neighborhood kids, ages 3-6. Miriam gathered a group of 9 moms that wished to participate.

• -We settled upon a "Nursery Rhymes" theme and were to provide 2 hours of projects, songs, books, role-play, snacks...that pertained to the nursery rhyme of our choice. In the past, Miriam organized a learning club where one mom hosted a Science morning, Reading morning, Art morning...
• -Each mom hosted the group of 13 children once in their home.
• -Miriam sent out to each mother the list of moms and their contact info, the list of children and their ages, the schedule of "Reading Club" dates and the nursery rhymes pertaining to each date.
• -Then we decided upon some basic guidelines:

Reading Club Rules:

1. If you or your kids are sick on your scheduled day, you will need to choose a day to reschedule.
2. You will only be hosting one time. That means 8 times you get a break from your kids!!
3. Each time it will be for 2 hours. From 9:00-11:00am. All story Club days are at this time.
4. Get another adult to help you or a couple of teenagers. With kids this young it's great to separate them into smaller activity groups and have them rotate.
5. All kids need to bring a water bottle with their name on it.
6. You provide the snack. It is fun to have it related to your theme.
7. Take pictures if you have two seconds to remember that.
8. Remind your own child before each time that this is NOT playgroup. They will not be able to wander the homes, get out toys as they please, etc. There will be down time-but it will be fairly structured (playbreak, or related movie clip) and the kids need to plan for this.
9. If a child is too difficult to handle, his/her mom will be called and asked to come help.
10. It's a good idea to have activities for them to go do when they are done with the projects-like playdough, books, coloring, etc. (I found that the children who are finished enjoy being helpers to help the other children finish up their projects.)

I was a little frightened to think about hosting 13 kiddos in my home for two hours! What if they are jumping on my couch? coloring on my carpet? or torturing the goldfish?

I must say that those kiddos were perfectly polite little people! It was a great experience! (Be sure to plan well and have everything cut out, available and ready to go.)

It was sooooo nice to have a structured learning time each week during the summer for my 4 year old...and she was able to socialize with and make some new friends.

Each mom came up with some great, creative ideas and projects for the children to experience.

So, I sure hope Miriam invites me again next summer to join in her learning group rotation! (Hint, hint...if you're reading this, Miriam.)

Lisa

SMMART READING: "PIECE OF CAKE" INVENTIVE WRITING IDEAS

.

Check out these pre-spelling ideas from http://Porterpreschool.blogspot.com

.

"ENCOURAGE WRITING. . .

.

1. First of all, have writing materials available for your child to use. I have markers, colored pencils, pens, pencils, and crayons etc. Note binders, address books, recipe lists, sticky notes, little pads of paper, chalkboards and white boards are great for the kids.

.

2. Don't be concerned with spelling the words correctly. That will come later. Let them write without the interrupted, "How do you spell. . .?" I always tell my kids, to write down the sounds that they hear. Some kids get so frustrated if they don't spell something perfectly. I think that frustration can ruin the flow of writing and thoughts.

.

3. Give your student or child plenty of opportunities to write.Have them:Write the shopping list. Make a card for someone's birthday. Make lists (of all the family members, favorite toys, favorite foods). Make lots of books (I just staple 5 pieces of computer paper together with 3 staples and they can create away)

.

Watch this 1:16 minute video to see how to make a 16 page book out of one piece of paper: (http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1000304/make_a_book_16_pages_just_one_piece_of_paper_100_origami_w/)

.

The ideas are endless. . .*Make sure your child sees you writing and that you also model to them how to write. Show them that you write from left to right, that you use finger spaces in between words."

.

Lisa