Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Helping Children with Communication Disorders in the Schools By: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

What kinds of speech and language disorders affect children?

Speech and language disorders can affect the way children talk, understand, analyze or process information. Speech disorders include the clarity, voice quality, and fluency of a child's spoken words. Language disorders include a child's ability to hold meaningful conversations, understand others, problem solve, read and comprehend, and express thoughts through spoken or written words.

How many children receive treatment for speech and language disorders in the schools?

The number of children with disabilities, ages 3-21, served in the public schools under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B in Fall 2003 was 6,068,802 (in the 50 states, D.C., and outlying areas). Of these children, 1,460,583 (24.1%) received services for speech or language disorders. This estimate does not include children who have speech/language problems secondary to other conditions.

How do speech, language, and hearing disorders affect learning?

Communication skills are at the heart of life's experience, particularly for children who are developing language critical to cognitive development and learning. Reading, writing, gesturing, listening, and speaking are all forms of language – a code we learn to use in order to communicate ideas.
Learning takes place through the process of communication. The ability to participate in active and interactive communication with peers and adults in the educational setting is essential for a student to succeed in school.

Why are speech and language skills so critical for literacy?

Spoken language provides the foundation for the development of reading and writing. Spoken and written language have a reciprocal relationship – each builds on the other to result in general language and literacy competence, starting early and continuing through childhood into adulthood.

What are signs that a communication disorder is affecting school performance?

Children with communication disorders frequently perform at a poor or insufficient academic level, struggle with reading, have difficulty understanding and expressing language, misunderstand social cues, avoid attending school, show poor judgement, and have difficulty with tests.
Difficulty in learning to listen, speak, read, or write can result from problems in language development. Problems can occur in the production, comprehension, and awareness of language at the sound, syllable, word, sentence, and discourse levels. Individuals with reading and writing problems also may experience difficulties in using language strategically to communicate, think, and learn.

How do speech-language pathologists work with teachers and other school personnel to insure children get the support they need?

Assessment and treatment of children's communication problems involve cooperative efforts with others such as parents, audiologists, psychologists, social workers, classroom teachers, special education teachers, guidance counselors, physicians, dentists, and nurses. Speech-language pathologists work with diagnostic and educational evaluation teams to provide comprehensive language and speech assessments for children.
Services to students with communication problems may be provided in individual or small group sessions, in classrooms or when teaming with teachers or in a consultative model with teachers and parents. Speech-language pathologists integrate students' communication goals with academic and social goals.

How can speech-language pathology services help children with speech and language disorders?

Speech-language pathology services can help children become effective communicators, problem-solvers and decision-makers. As a result of services such as memory retraining, cognitive reorganization, language enhancement, and efforts to improve abstract thinking, children can benefit from a more successful and satisfying educational experience as well as improved peer relationships. The services that speech-language pathologists provide can help children overcome their disabilities, achieve pride and self-esteem, and find meaningful roles in their lives.

Unit 3 of Inquiry : Math, English, Inquiry - Going Further, Reflecting and Demonstrating


This week,  Year 3 learned about:

MATHS
1. Number Facts game
The students learned to use maths language such as : odd/even, more/less than, between...and... etc. Students must think carefully and sort all the clues needed. Besides playing mentally in oral ways, we also played it mentally in written. So students were given a number and within 30 seconds they must be able to write 4 facts about that numbers.

2. Catch the Number game
This math game is to develop the mental math of the students. So, teacher mention a clue e.g catch the odd number between 11 - 20 then after that, teacher will randomly mention any numbers between 11-20 and when the odd number is mentioned, they must catch it by clapping hands (like catching something), the questions are varied like catch the number from multiplication 6, etc.

3. Solving 1 and 2 steps word problems
In groups and individually students must solve word problems. They were given a stack of questions that they can chose to solve first. We also continue the math workbook practice.

4. BarGraphs
In the class, as a group they must find any school appliances that using electricity/batteries. Then they list down and draw bar graphs. At home, they also do the similar activities.

English, Bahasa and Inquiry
Narrative Writing about :
English: My Happy Day
Inquiry :  How to save electricity
Bahasa: Pahlawanku

We are trying to develop the writing skills of year 3 students, they were practicing to write narrative paragraph with minimum of 100-150 words/story. They also learned to use W-H questions as guidance.

INQUIRY
Write comic about Life without Electricity
To know what they have learned and to develop their thinking skills, the students made a comic strip about life without electricity. 

VALUES/PSPE
The students learned how to reflect on their learning in group. By doing so, we hope that they know what they're strength and what things that they can improve to be better.











Tuesday, November 11, 2014

PSPE - Finding Nemo











Year 3 were focusing on being inquirers, risk takers, showing curiosity and confidence. We had PSPE activity of finding nemo. We had to find someone who can do.... or have ...... and ask that person to show/proof it, after that we write his/her name and write the answer.

We had 20 questions and had to find the "nemo". Some of the examples such as: find someone that can spell creative backward,  find someone that can explain the meaning of curiosity, find someone that can count 2014-2000 , and so on.

It looks an easy tasks but we really need to show confidence when we have to ask around to some teachers, and secondary students and being inquirers , risk taker and curiosity too.

Electricity Lab Experiments




Year 3 had some experiments about how electricity stored and transformed.  We learned that even in water and lemon there are electricity, even our body have static electricity.

We had some experiments that showing how electricity transformed into light and sound.  A battery is one sources of energy for electricity.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Students' FINDING OUT AND SORTING OUT about Electricity at ACE HARDWARE - Central Park


Today, Year 3 went to Ace Hardware - Central Park to find out more about electricity. We got a warm welcome from Ace Hardware staffs. There, we had a tour and demo about some appliances such as paper shredder, electric bicycle, LED lamp, etc.

We found out different FORMS of appliances that using electricity, the FUNCTIONS from different appliances and the CHANGE of energy.

It was a great day at ACE, since all of us become more knowledgeable.




 We tried how to use paper shredder. This is our first time trying how to use it. It was fun :)



We found out that sauna box is using electricity to make heat.





All of us, found that there are different types of lamp also the functions, such as LED lamp, bulbs, etc. Some lights are being used only for reading , table lamp, hanging lamp or also for decoration.



We had lunch before we go back to school at BK.




Maths word problems (solve it math videos)