S.m.A.R.T. Newsletter - May '17

S.M.A.R.T. Spaces
​Do your students use the Overhead Ladder? 

We love what is happening in the S.M.A.R.T. room at Park Christian School in Moorhead, MN.
At the start of the year, each rung of the Overhead Ladder has a handprint on it.  This is to help children see where to place their hand on the rung. It also assists in stimulating eye teaming. As students move rung to rung their eyes are turning inward together to see a single rung as they move forward.

Fast-forward to spring, and the Overhead Ladder now has a math component added in. As students move from rung to rung, they are reading numbers and counting. 
Think about the age level of the students you are working with.  What kinds of concepts might you add to this activity?

• Skip counting
• Number recognition
• Recite rhymes as you go across
• Sight words
  
  

Reference:
S.M.A.R.T. Curriculum Guide page 76
S.M.A.R.T. Pre-K CORE Program Guide 57

---

---

S.M.A.R.T. at Home
Sidewalk chalk can be a magical and affordable tool for summer play. How can you use sidewalk chalk to have some outdoor S.M.A.R.T. fun? We have several ideas for you!

From simple jumping and hopping activities to practicing spelling and math facts, you can engage your child in outdoor play and learning.

Ideas for 3s, 4s, and 5s
With the help of your child, make circles and color them in. Encourage your child to hop to the different colors you call out.
​
You could draw a letter or a number in the circle and practice letter or number recognition. Just call out a letter and have them hop to it!

---

Ideas for K-2nd graders
Draw a flower and create fact families for your child to get some extra addition and subtraction practice. As students jump from each number they can say the fact. 

7 + 5 = 12             5 + 7 = 12             12 – 7 = 5             12 – 5 = 7
​
Create a movement path with fun actions for them to do along the way!

For children of all ages
We love the idea of laying on their tummy and letting them draw whatever they desire. For more ideas using sidewalk chalk as well as other ways to be S.M.A.R.T. outside check out our S.M.A.R.T. Outdoors board on Pinterest!

---

Time Saving Tips          
The end of the year is closing in! Keep S.M.A.R.T. vision activities engaging by swapping out your materials. Here are a few different Tactile Trackers and mazes for you to download and use with your students.

We simply created a page with some bee clip art and hand drew a flight path for each bee. Download a copy below.

Tip: Make sure each maze has three paths to trace so that students will follow the correct procedure. Trace once with the left eye covered, once with the right eye covered, and once with both eyes open to encourage smooth pursuit eye movements.
​
Read our One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher article this month and try out Jenny’s idea for self-monitoring.

Reference:
S.M.A.R.T. Curriculum Guide page 148-150
S.M.A.R.T. Pre-K CORE Program Guide 64

Downloads:
Bees (PDF)
Bee Ladybug Mazes (PDF)

---

That's One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher!
No doubt you have realized that students find ways to rush through some S.M.A.R.T. activities! Slowing them down can be a challenge. What can you do to make sure students are doing eye movements correctly?

One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher, Jenny Browning, at Park Christian School in Moorhead MN, came up with a simple yet brilliant way to monitor students doing Tactile Trackers/Wagon Wheels.

Using an idea from a previous post, Jenny has each student monitor at what stage in the activity they are working. When students are to cover the left eye, they place a magnet on that image. When they are to cover their right eye, they move the magnet. The third phase, tracing the line with both eyes open, they move the magnet to the image of two open eyes. Students are given responsibility to do the activity correctly AND a quick glance over at this station allows Jenny to see if they are doing it correctly.

We loved watching this in action as each first grader went through this station. It was one of the best student-direct vision stations we have seen! Great addition to this activity Jenny! 

Reference:
S.M.A.R.T. Curriculum Guide page 148
​S.M.A.R.T. Pre-K CORE Program Guide 64