Buttons

Objective

a) to encourage speaking in 5-6 word sentences
b) to practice taking turns in a conversation
c) to reinforce the letter B sound


Points to Remember:

1. Don't correct your child's language in this activity. Instead, reply to their sentence correctly by adding a few more words. Such as, your child says, "It's purple" You can reply, "Oh, yeah, I see the little, purple button that you found."
2. Let the conversation happen naturally.


Lesson:

1. We were working on the letter B this week. I look a piece of construction paper and drew a large block-letter capital B.
2. I put out our box of various buttons. I think these buttons were from Grandma....thanks Grandma!





3. Take or sing about the sound the letter B makes. We sing the Leapfrog song,
The B says /b/,
the B says /b/,
every letter makes a sound,
the B says /b/

I continue to sing this throughout the lesson at various points

4. Allow the child to cover the letter B with glue.
5. Have the child look through the buttons and choose the ones he/she wants to put on her letter B.



6. Talk, talk, talk! Here is a little bit of the conversation Brooke and Kate had while decorating their letter B. These are sentences that Brooke said to Kate during the conversation:

"I found a purple one."
"A big one and a little one."
"There are lots of black ones"
"Wow, this one is special."
"Hey, I have the same one."
'This looks like a fairy ring."
"They are all circles."
"I found a little, tiny, baby button"
"You have the same one, the bottom and the top"
"There are two baby buttons."
"That is Mickey Mouse ears."
'This one is brown. I like brown."
"Look Kate, top, bottom, top, bottom, it's the same."

I just sat in amazement at the length of the sentences, the correct use of plurals, the adjectives, the shape identification, the connections to other things like fairy's and Mickey Mouse, and the sweet way the girls talked to each other while looking through the buttons.



Modifications:

1. Find other objects to talk about such as a bag of colored feathers, a box of various animal toys, or sea shells.
2. Do this for other letters. Make a capital F and glue on feathers, make a M and use colored marshmallows, etc.
3. Find something that interests your child and just let the conversation flow naturally.